NEWS: Only one member of the American Ryder Cup team will be missing from the field in the American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet next month.
Hal Sutton, who suffers from a sleeping disorder that has contributed to a dramatic loss in form in the past year and which has seen him slip outside the top 100 in the world, will be the odd man out.
Although the terrorist attacks of September 11th last which led to the postponement of the Ryder Cup for a year were traumatic, particularly for the American team members, there is no doubt that the AmEx event at the Co Kilkenny course has benefited immensely by having its dates moved to the week before the rescheduled match at The Belfry.
"I think playing in Ireland is very, very advantageous for this team for two reasons," said US team captain Curtis Strange.
"One is that 11 of them, as of now, are playing there and, two, it means then we don't have to deal with jet-lag the week of the Ryder Cup matches. So, this is the best-case scenario that could happen with us."
Apart from requesting a number of players to play practice rounds together earlier this week at Hazeltine, Strange also revealed that he hasn't said much to his players, "other than a few logistics about travel plans", because he knew the vast bulk were playing in Ireland and that he would use that week as the start of the real bonding exercise.
"I try very hard not to ever intrude on their preparation for any tournament for the last year. It's been hard not to, because it is on my mind all the time, but not on their minds all the time," acknowledged Strange.
Tiger Woods, the world number one, will head the American invasion.
The other 10 members of the US Ryder Cup team committed to playing at Mount Juliet on September 16th-22nd (with current world rankings) are: Phil Mickelson (2), David Toms (6), Davis Love III (7), David Duval (10), Jim Furyk (11), Scott Verplank (19), Scott Hoch (20), Paul Azinger (38), Mark Calcavecchia (45) and Stewart Cink (47).
Sutton's absence from the world championship field is due to a sleeping disorder which the player acknowledges he will have to deal with for the rest of his life, and which makes him the most reluctant of travellers.
He did, however, make the trip to play in the British Open - where he missed the cut - and there is no question of him being unavailable for the Ryder Cup matches.
"He's playing much better," observed Strange of Sutton, after playing a practice round with him here on Tuesday. "Hal's game never gets far off because he is a good striker of the ball, he's the kind of guy you want on your team. I don't give a damn how he is playing. He was a rock in 1999 (at Brookline) and I expect him to be near the same this time."
And Strange also observed that he wouldn't necessarily have to use all of his players during the foursomes and fourballs of the first two days at The Belfry.
"If somebody is not in good form, or if somebody gets the flu or something, they don't have to play until Sunday. That's part of the fun of the matches. You don't do battle with all 12 in perfect shape all of the time," he said.
