Columnist Peter Benton: U.S., Europeans prep for Ryder Cup

Peter Benton

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2002 | 8:47 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

The 34th Ryder Cup matches will be played Sept. 27-29 at the DeVere Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England. The matches had originally been scheduled for Sept. 28-30, 2001, but because of the heinous events of last Sept. 11, they were cancelled.

After several discussions with the PGA and its counterpart in Europe, it has been decided that future Ryder Cup matches will be rescheduled and played in even numbered years and the Presidents Cup will now go to odd-numbered years.

The PGA Tour has also confirmed its widely anticipated move of the next Presidents Cup from 2002 to 2003. The event -- in its fifth edition -- will take place in November 2003 at the Links Golf Course at Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estates in George, South Africa.

The rescheduling positions the 2002 Ryder Cup immediately after the American Express Championship on the global calender.

That $5 million World Golf Championship event will get under way Thursday at Mount Juliet in Ireland, making it easy for Ryder Cup players to move on to northwestern England for "the match."

I am willing to wager that both Ryder Cup captains, Curtis Strange (U.S.) and Sam Torrance (Europe), are biting their nails and gnashing their teeth regarding some of their players.

Poor old Strange (who, incidentally, made the decision that his players would wear clothing with 2001 logos so "we don't forget why we're playing a year later") must be turning even grayer given the poor play of David Duval and Hal Sutton.

They, along with Stewart Cink, appear to be the weak links on a team that should retain the Cup it won in 1999 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., with a score of 14 1/2-13 1/2.

Mind you, Torrance's 12-man team appears to be in even worse shape, as Lee Westwood, one of his stalwarts when the teams were selected early last year, has hit rock bottom.

The top European just two years ago and No. 4 in the world in May of last year, Westwood has gone 22 months without a victory and 11 months since a top-10 finish. Furthermore, he stands only 129th in the world rankings.

However, as any golfer knows, the game is very unpredictable. When these players tee it up next week, it will be a whole new ball game, and it could very well be the Duvals and Westwoods who emerge as heroes.

Germany's Bernhard Langer is no doubt the iron man on the European Ryder Cup team.

This amazing 45-year-old, who has battled putting problems that would have driven lesser men crazy, is representing Europe for the 10th time, having only missed the 1999 team since his first foray in 1981. His overall record is 18 wins, 15 losses and 5 halves.