Pavin and reporter Jim Gray confront in heated exchange
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin exchanged heated words with Golf Channel reporter Jim Gray Wednesday afternoon at the Whistling Straits media tent after a press conference. The argument was the result of a story Gray wrote where he quoted Pavin saying that he had planned to make Tiger Woods one of his four wild card picks for the 2010 Ryder Cup team if Woods doesn’t play his way onto the team.
Gray quoted Pavin saying of Woods, “Of course I’m going to [pick him]. He’s the best player in the world.” According to Pavin, Gray falsely quoted him. Pavin took to his Twitter page Wednesday morning and wrote: “For the record, Golf Channel and Jim Gray has misquoted me re: picking Tiger. I never said such a thing and will not say a thing until 09/07,” referring to the date he must choose his wild card players.
After Pavin had finished answering questions Wednesday afternoon at a PGA Championship press conference, Pavin and Gray confronted each other at the Whistling Straits media centre where, in front of other media members, the two stood nose to nose in a heated argument.
Gray accused Pavin of being a liar and told the captain “You’re going down,” to which Pavin replied “You’re full of it.” When Gray tried to walk away Pavin egged him on saying “You’re just going to walk off?” Gray returned to the exchange immediately and the two men continued arguing in raised voices while Pavin’s wife Lisa jumped in when she saw fit to back up her husband.
“Let’s straighten this out right now,” Pavin said. “I had a conversation with Jim Gray yesterday just outside the locker room near where we registered, and he asked me a few questions, and his interpretation of what I said is incorrect.”
While Pavin is sticking to his story, during the press conference he didn’t deny that Woods was a possible pick."“I think Tiger would be an exceptional addition to the team, and he's certainly under considerable consideration." Pavin added that, "There's a lot of guys that I'm looking at, like I said. He's definitely high on the list."
Right now Woods is in 10th position on the Ryder Cup list while only the top eight players get an automatic berth on the U.S. team. Woods slipped from ninth to 10th after last week’s dismal performance at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where Woods final score was 18 over 298, the worst score of his career.
Other players outside the top eight vying for a captain’s pick are Dustin Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair, Rickie Fowler and Zach Johnson. Pavin will announce his wild card decision on September 7th and refused to speculate under what circumstances Woods wouldn’t receive a captain’s pick.
Pavin and Woods met and talked on Wednesday, though Pavin wouldn’t discuss what went on in their conversation and will be careful from now on about what he divulges to the media about potential captain’s picks.
“There's nobody that's promised any picks. It would be disrespectful to everybody who is trying to make the team,” Pavin said. “There's maybe 20 players that I would be looking at for those four spots. It's going to be very important to me to have everybody mesh and come together as a team."
European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie was also in attendance at the Wednesday press conference, and wasn’t shy about saying he hoped Woods would be included on the team, though not for the reason you might think.
Montgomerie thinks Woods adds excitement to an event, and the press would be good publicity for the Ryder Cup, even if Woods doesn’t play well. “There's a huge aura regarding Tiger Woods, still, and it's the one name that all our team will be looking for if they are going to play against him in any form of the Ryder Cup: Friday, Saturday or Sunday."
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