GOLF US TOUR:CHARLEY HOFFMAN says he has no hard feelings towards Corey Pavin about missing out on the Ryder Cup the day after the performance of his life.
“No disappointment,” insisted the 33-year-old, who took the second of the FedEx Cup play-off events by five shots with a closing 62 on Monday and then heard a wild card had gone instead to 21-year-old rookie Rickie Fowler, yet to win on the US Tour.
“I had all year to play my way on the team. And when you leave it up to the captain’s pick you can’t be disappointed, because you had your chance to earn your spot.
“If I was maybe nine or 10 (on the points list) like Anthony Kim or something like that I might be disappointed, but I wasn’t really even on the radar.
“Obviously I would have been honoured to be picked, but no disappointment there at all.”
Hoffman, up from 132nd to 51st in the world, finished down in 57th place on the qualifying table.
What he can do now, of course, is make Pavin question his decision by playing well again in this week’s BMW Championship in Chicago and then the Tour Championship in Atlanta in a fortnight.
Pavin might also secretly be keeping his fingers crossed Kim does not suddenly recapture some form.
The 25-year-old was a star of the last US team and looked a certainty for this year’s side even when he returned last month from thumb surgery in May.
But he was pushed out of the top eight and, after failing to make a cut since, he lost out to Fowler, Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson.
The world number 16 – higher than Johnson, Fowler and Cink – tees off at Cog Hill tomorrow in 34th place on the FedEx Cup overall standings and so needs to climb only four spots to make into the field for the final play-off event.
Cink is one place below Kim, while world number one Woods at 51st probably needs a top-five finish to advance – something he has not managed since the US Open in June.
European captain Colin Montgomerie will be watching with interest too, not only as Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter are still involved, but also because Paul Casey and Justin Rose – his two notable wild card omissions – are there too.
Donald’s second-place finish on Monday lifted him to fifth in the FedEx race, just ahead of Scot Martin Laird, while Rose is 10th, Casey 21st, McIlroy 29th and Poulter 44th.
The Lowdown
Course– Cog Hill GCC, Lemont, Illinois.
Length– 7,386 yards (6,754 metres).
Par– 71.
Prizemoney– €5.88 million (€1.06 million for winner).
Layout– Tight landing areas combined with heavily bunkered greens, the course is nestled in the Des Plaines River Valley, southwest of Chicago.
Defending champion– Tiger Woods. Runners-up– Jim Furyk, Marc Leishman.
Irish– Rory McIlroy (today's tee-time 6.20pm, Irish time).
On TV– Sky Sports 3 (Today: 20.00-23.00).
Weather forecast– The first three days of competition are expected to be disrupted by showers and perhaps even thunderstorms. Sunday may be the only clear, fine day in Lemont.
