2010 Ryder Cup: Corey Pavin worried as pressure mounts
Corey Pavin has admitted that his team is considered to be the underdog when it comes to the 2010 Ryder Cup preferences.
The Captain of the United States team sees his team’s chances of winning getting decreased especially after the recent polls, which suggest that the European team is in a better position than its American rival. The criteria against which
these polls seem to have been conducted were the past performances of the teams, their number of Ryder Cup wins and also, the betting favorites.
However, Pavin wrote on his tweeter page claiming that such polls won’t affect his team’s morale; after all it was his team that had ended the spell of three consecutive defeats for U.S., two years back in Valhalla. It’s a positive sign
for the whole team as their captain has his faith in them. The Americans will head into the battle as the defending champions while history also shows that it is not easy to steal the Ryder Cup crown from the reigning champions.
Still, there are certain odds that are against the Americans. Firstly, they have never claimed a victory on the foreign soil. This is evident from the dry era since 1930 when Tom Watson led the U.S. team into victory by 15-13 at Belfry. Secondly, the Europeans
have the edge of home soil this time and they are also used to the course, whereas the Americans only travel there for the tours. To make it worse, Colin Montgomerie gets to set up the golf course the way he wants. This means that his players would have a
fair idea of what strategy to plan and how to execute it on the final day.
There is yet another factor that goes against the American team which is the travelling issue. Travelling is always difficult as it carries fatigue and tiredness along with it. Last but not the least, there is also the issue of fan following and support.
As it would be home soil for the Europeans, therefore, they will surely have the most fans. This signifies that they would have more support which can go against the Americans and damage their capabilities.
Meanwhile, Pavin believes that the quality of players in each team has many similarities. While Monty has Bubba Watson, Pavin has Graeme Mc Dowell. While Harrington may be the big weakness in the European team despite his bucket of experience, Tiger holds
the same for American team. Therefore, both the teams seem to have some balance.
Moreover, recent trends show that Americans might have an edge over the Europeans despite a few odds. It is the Americans who have won in the last three tournaments. For instance, Matt Kucher took the lead at the Barclays while Martin Laird
was the runner up. Then at Duetsche Bank Championship, Charlie Hoffman emerged as the winner followed by Luke Donald. Most recently, Dustin Johnson won the BMW Championship with the runner up being yet another European, Paul Casey.
Finally, coming back to Pavin; he seems worried for his team as according to him, at times like these pressure starts building up. Corey Pavin has been a former Ryder cup player who despite producing birdies at the 18th hole still
remained nervous in his times. So, Pavin don’t worry. If you yourself got through the tough times as a player, then your players will too under your leader ship.
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