American sportswriter Dan Jenkins doesn't always confirm to the staidness that the PGA of America sometimes likes to project in the game. The Texan has a wit which US team captain Tom Kite, also from that august state, wouldn't mind borrowing when the heat is on.
When Jenkins was posed the question, who was the first Ryder Cup hero for England? he replied: "It was the barman who over-served Walter Hagen at Moortown in 1929, the evening before he lost to George Duncan 10 and 8." By the way, that was the only time Hagen was ever defeated in nine matches and five Ryder Cups.
A relationship that was cemented at Royal Troon in July - when Colin Montgomerie took Darren Clare under his wing and showed him how and where to play shots on the links so familiar to the Scot - looks set to be re-enacted in this week's match between Europe and the United States. As expected, Montgomerie and Clarke will play together in today's first official practice day. Montgomerie and Clarke have been paired in the first match, against Swedish pair Per-Ulrik Johansson and Jesper Parnevik.
Captain Seve Ballesteros's other selections are: Nick Faldo and Ignacio Garrido; Costantino Rocca and Jose-Maria Olazabal; Bernhard Langer and Thomas Bjorn, and Ian Woosnam and Lee Westwood.
The Ryder Cup is not the only international sporting event in the Sotogrande region this week. Enrique Zobel, who was one of those involved in the creation of Valderrama, is also the founder of the Santa Maria Polo Club in the area. So it is that the Zobel Cup polo tournament is being held down the road in San Roque for the next four days, with riders from all over the world.
Indeed, when Zobel decided to start polo in this region in 1966, he brought in a DC6 filled with "Tifton" turf from the United States and he enjoyed many years pursuing his other sporting hobby. Unfortunately, Enrique is now confined to a wheelchair as a tetraplegic, after a polo accident in 1991 which left him in a coma for almost 12 months. Despite learning his condition was irreversible, Zobel pursued a dream to establish the area as a magnet for the world's top polo enthusiasts and competitors this week enjoy a complex which features seven polo grounds and 400 stables.
For the last staging of the Ryder Cup, Jim Memmott was among 37 journalists assigned by his newspaper to cover the event. This week, he is ploughing a lone furrow at Valderrama. Understandably, this particular staging of the biennial event is of considerably less interest to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle than when the American city acted as hosts in 1995. So, the presence of the senior editor is considered quite adequate.
In his build-up last weekend, Memmott felt he had an ideal piece to illustrate the international nature of the event. Somebody had sent him a recent issue of The Irish Times in which we had reproduced the relevant pages from the Democrat and Chronicle's Monday morning report of Europe's victory two years ago.
"We knew the Ryder Cup at Oak Hill had a big impact on the golf scene," he said yesterday. "But it's only now that we're beginning to understand its international dimension."
In strict relation to par, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn has the best record of any European Ryder Cup player at Valderrama, insofar as he is six-over for his rounds played here. The only problem with that statistic, however, is that Bjorn's lone appearance was last year, when he was tied 20th in the Volvo Masters. As far as stroke average is concerned, the Valderrama expert is Bernhard Langer, who shot a course record 62 on his way to victory in the Volvo Masters in 1994. His stroke-average in eight appearances is 71.75.
Comparable performances by the other members of the team, in order, are: Nick Faldo - 71.79 (from six appearances); Colin Montgomerie - 71.97 (9); Ian Woosnam - 72.22 (8); Jesper Parnevik - 72.31 (4); JoseMaria Olazabal - 72.32 (7); Darren Clarke - 72.35 (5); Bjorn - 72.50 (1); Costantino Rocca - 72.89 (7); Per-Ulrik Johansson - 73.21 (6); Lee Westwood - 73.63 (2); Ignacio Garrido - 74.62 (2).
Life goes on. At a time when European Tour officials are up to ninety in the run-up to the Ryder Cup match, the little matter of next season's tour schedule props up. Interestingly, both the Murphy's Irish Open and the Smurfit European Open retain their coveted places in the calendar. The Irish Open will again take place on the first weekend in July (2nd-5th) at Druids Glen, to be followed (as this season) by the World Invitational and the British Open. Meanwhile, the European Open keeps its August slot, immediately after the US PGA Championship. The European takes place at The K Club on August 20th-23rd.
Next season's European Tour will feature a minimum 34 tournaments and five approved special events. The one new event on the calendar is the Qatar Masters in March, emphasising the worldwide growth of the tour.
