Ryder Cup Practice Session; Tiger Woods pairs up with Hunter Mahan
Speculations were rife that Steve Stricker would be the playing partner of Tiger Woods, but the rumours proved to be false as Corey Pavin finally declared the pairings to the team. According to a source the rookie, Hunter Mahan
will be the official partner of Tiger Woods.
The first clue of this pairing arrived on Tuesday in the practice session when Tiger Woods reached the first tee of the front nine with, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson. All four Americans were dressed in grey sweaters,
grey baseball caps and white pants. This was a confusing moment for the counterpart captain, Colin Montgomerie and his players. Although, it was quite obvious from the group, that one of them was the decided partner of the player who is being considered as
the greatest threat to the Europeans.
Although, Tiger Woods faltered in the current season, but he has been working on his form and his game has shown consistent improvement within three weeks. Moreover, according to the world number 1, he has been practicing swings
with Sean Foley, who asked him to play on the field with no shoes on. This will help him with the balance and the driving accuracy.
As for a record, Montgomerie and critics were presuming that Jim Furyk or Steve Stricker to be the best possible partners for the world number one. In fact according to the polls done in the newspaper from Wales, Stricker was tipped
to be the obvious partner considering the last five Ryder Cup records. Even, Tiger did not have a hunch that he would be paired up with Mahan, as he too was expecting either Furyk or Stricker.
In the 2006 Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk were made into a pair and the results were astonishing. The pair was unbeatable and the same pair went into the President Cup at Harding Park where they won all the four matches.
According to experts, there is no hard and fast rule for making a pair. However, it should be a fine blend of accuracy and length, so that a pair can compete at all grounds. Corey Pavin must have looked into this matter, therefore
he decided to pair a Ryder Cup veteran with a rookie. Moreover, if one studies the driving accuracy stats of both the players, they are nearly the same; that is 63%. As for the driving length, both of them fall on 284 which is a good sign for their compatibility.
As for Tuesday’s practice session, the American team stepped the Twenty ten course and posed for the photography session at the 18th tee which was in front of the club house. Later, they took the positions at the front
nine and started to tee off in overcast weather conditions. Owing to the prevailing thick fog, the session got delayed for one and a half hour. Despite the delay, Tiger was first of the 12 players to reach the 1st tee with a smile. To make it better,
he was greeted by the cheering spectators. However, he did not make them wait longer and smashed the first delight of the day. He hit a 465 yards tee shot and amazed his fellow compatriots.
This entertainment continued with Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker. They made pin point shots within 10 feet of the flag and tested the pace of the green hits in regulations from different angles.
On the other side, the European side came out of the club house when the sunshine peeped through the clouds. They were seen in quite predictable groups. The Molinari Brothers were paired up with Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlory
at the 11th tee. Jimenez, Hanson, Westwood and Kaymer were in the second group, whereas, Poulter, Fisher, Donald and Harrington were in the third.
This is it for the news regarding the Ryder Cup practice session that took place yesterday at Celtic Manor. Although the final pairings have been disclosed to the players but the media is still being kept away from this secret
till Thursday.
Tags: