My biggest memory from Wednesday was Nick Faldo’s press conference. Remembering that Faldo is now a part of the media, I can pretty much say that the guy has more distance for his counterparts than anyone I know. Don’t get me wrong, most of the questions he had to answer were really stupid, especially an entire line about some cameraman getting a shot of a piece of paper that supposedly has his teams displayed, but you could tell Faldo has no desire to be in a press conference.
My absolute favorite part of the day was spending an hour on the range with Ben Curtis, his caddy-for-a-week, the great Tony Navarro (Adam Scott’s current looper), and his teacher Steve Johnson. For those that don’t know that name, Steve has worked with Hank Haney for over 20 years. He’s also worked with the Kuehne’s as well as many other top professionals and juniors. Johnson started working with Ben a while back and has helped Curtis vault towards the top of the tour. Seeing the interaction between the two and getting to be a part of it was tremendous. Look for Curtis to play well this week.
Also, look for Anthony Kim to be paired with Phil Mickelson. No one has talked much about this but I’m letting you know it will happen. Watching the young gun with Phil is very cool. Anthony, as always, beats to his own drum, but it’s a drum that might help Phil find some needed excitement and a few very needed points.
While most people around the course are talking about the pairing of JB Holmes and Kenny Perry, I am more excited about local guys Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan. I think they blend extremely well and make for a very good pair. It’s also cool to watch our own Randy Smith walking the fairway with both guys. Think about it, the metroplex has 4 of the 12 Ryder Cuppers and 2 of the teachers. Not sure there are many cities that have ever done this well.
This being my first Cup, I am taking in everything. Even on Tuesday, you could feel the excitement. The crowds are much larger then I expected for practice rounds. With the Americans on one side of the course and the Europeans on the other, there has been really no interaction among the fans. The players aren’t talking much either. On the range, the teams separate and pretty much keep to themselves. About the only time that changed was Wednesday morning with everyone on the range: American, European, caddies, fans and dogs watching JB hit 400 yard drives into the stage set up at the end of the range for Thursday’s opening ceremony. Even Faldo was in awe. In the media room later he managed to get a little dig at Holmes when he said, “It’s good for us that there is more to the game then just hitting long drives.”
I guess the most amazing part of the last two days for me was watching the practice rounds of the Americans. I was, pretty much, the only media member on the course. Now, I do not know if the same is true for those covering the Europeans, but with over 1000 media members on site, it was actually eerie being alone watching the players. It was, however, actually very cool. It gave me a chance to watch things that no one else saw. A perfect example was watching Kim and Mickelson reading a putt together on the first green. After they were done, Phil’s caddy, Bones, went over to Anthony’s caddy and had a very long discussion. While I don’t know the actual conversation, I wondered whether he was telling him that Phil would prefer to read the greens alone or whether he was explaining to Anthony how to speak in “Phil.”
The biggest joker on the course was none other than Jim Furyk - something I would have never thought. Furyk is usually all business, but being one of the older players and in his 6th Ryder Cup, he is really taking a leadership role. He was wise-cracking hard on the 3 Southerners, playing both days with Bubba, JB and Perry. After the round, where he actually had to pull Kenny away from the crowd saying, “hey, Kenny, the election isn’t until November, come on and hit,” I asked him about playing with the “good ole boys.” Furyk explained he has learned an entirely new language. He also told me he would love to be the Captain of a Ryder Cup team.
What an amazing week so far: being at one of the best professional football games ever on Monday night; walking the Ryder Cup course with the likes of Ben Curtis, Justin Leonard and Chad Campbell; setting some 43 interviews with other ESPN Radio stations over the next 4 days; and looking so forward to this evening. There are very few people I would go out of my way to meet. Tonight there is a special media reception at the Muhammad Ali Museum and he will be there. I can’t wait to shake his hand.
