Nicolas Colsaerts and Sergio Garcia gave their first press conferences yesterday in this edition of the Ryder Cup that starts tomorrow at Medinah Country Club, in Chicago. The early bird was Nicolas Colsaerts. The only debutant of Olazábal’s team, who has written a page of history by being the first Belgian to play a Ryder Cup, down to reception at 06:20 am eating a banana. A car is waiting for him to take him to Medinah Country Club, where he is the first to appear before the media today. Colsaerts has been training in Spain for a few days: “I wanted to recover the good feelings from the Volvo World Match Play Championship I won in May at Finca Cortesin. I have also been training at Valderrama with Alvaro Quiros and Alejandro Canizares. It’s incredible the support I felt there, everyone congratulated me for making the team and wished me luck.
The Ryder Cup is much bigger than I had imagined. For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of being part of the team and finally the dream has come true. I can hardly believe I’m here with Olazábal, Sergio, Luke, Poulter, Lee… listening to their conversations and soaking it all in, something that is unimaginable for the rest of us mortals. I’ve realized how much the Ryder Cup means to them, it’s an indescribable feeling”.
At 7:45 am Sergio Garcia appears in the interview room, happy and smiling, ready to meet the journalists: “Being part of the Ryder Cup team is very special and can not be compared to anything. I can’t wait for Friday to tee off on the first tee.
In 2010 I was Vice Captain at Celtic Manor, a positive experience, although difficult to assimilate when you’ve been on the other side of the fence, which is where I like to be.
Chema is doing very well and is going to be a great captain. His mission is to give us good advice and make us feel comfortable so that each one of us gives our best, but this is like a soccer team, the players are the ones who win or lose the game. He can’t call the shots for us. I hope we play a little better than the Americans and win for him.
Having four of the top five players in the world (McIllroy, Donald, Westwood, Rose) in our team is important but… this is the Ryder Cup and it has nothing to do with other tournaments. Anybody can win a match, it depends on the moment, the situation, the pressure… many factors come into play.
Seve (Ballesteros) will always inspire the Ryder Cup team. This is the first one without him and it will be emotional, I have no doubt. I hope we win, not only for the Captain but also to offer it to Seve, I know he will be watching us and very aware of what happens here”.
At 1:00 p.m. Olazábal appeared at the Press Center: “The team trained well yesterday, they gave the course a good review; today and tomorrow I have told them to play only nine holes, they are two days of a lot of social activity -tonight gala dinner and tomorrow opening ceremony- and I prefer them to take it easy. Friday 36 holes, Saturday 36… it’s a lot of work, too much stress, and I want them to arrive fresh on Friday.
They are all playing well and, more or less, I have an idea of how the pairings will be on Friday. I know they are ready, willing to play all five games and give it their all, that’s what I expect from them.
I understand that some of them are very “twitter-ish” and of course I am not going to ban them, although I have asked them to be careful what they write, how they write it and at what time. A Twitter phrase taken out of context can have a different meaning and I have asked them to be cautious.
I think it has already escaped someone, so I’m not going to hide it: on Sunday we will wear navy blue and white as Seve liked”.
Olazábal greets the Junior Ryder Cup team
Olazábal’s activity is incessant and he goes from one place to another without stopping. As soon as he leaves the Press Center, he goes to the driving range where he greets the European Junior Ryder Cup team, which includes Covadonga Sanjuán and Ha Rang Lee, whom the Captain knows well since they have participated in several Lacoste Promises finals. “Girls, what a change, how you have grown! You have come a long way to get here and I am very happy that you are representing Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup. I remember when I saw you for the first time in Lacoste Promises; you, Cova, were the youngest of the group. I wish you continued progress and all the best for the future.
Garcia-Donald, couple in practice / Woods and Stricker, together.
Sergio García trained today in a training session paired with his close friend Luke Donald, along with McDowell and McIllroy. The Captain has decided that today they will play under the Foursomes format, and not Fourballs as they did yesterday. Donald and Garcia won two points in 2004 in Detroit, adding another two points in Ireland in 2006.
Sergio Garcia remains undefeated in Foursomes: since he made his debut at the age of 19 in Boston in ’99, he has played nine matches in this format, winning eight and drawing one.
Tiger Woods has returned to training with Steve Stricker; Phil Mickelson with Keegan Bradley; Jim Furyk with Brandt Snedeker; Bubba Watson with Webb Simpson; Matt Kuchar with Dustin Johnson; and Jason Dufner with Zach Johnson.
Ryder Cup figures
– 8 countries are represented in the European team: England (4 players), Northern Ireland (2), Belgium (1), Germany (1), Italy (1), Scotland (1), Spain (1), Sweden (1).
– 9 is the maximum number of countries that have made up the European team, in 1997 and 2002.
– No team, since the first edition in 1927, has managed to win all the individual matches.
– Steve Stricker, the oldest player of all participants, is 45 years old.
– Paul Lawrie is 43 years old
– 42, 4 months and 24 days, Furyk
– 42, 3 months and 8 days, Mickelson
– Rory McIllroy is 23 years old, the youngest of the two combined.
– Keegan Bradley, the youngest U.S. player, is 26 years old.
– 34.59 is the average age of the U.S. team.
– 32.8 is the average age of Europeans
United States: Captain Davis Love III
Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods.
Vice Captains: Fred Couples, Mike Hulbert, Jeff Sluman and Scott Verplank.
Europe: Captain José Mari Olazábal
Nicolas Colsaerts, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer, Paul Lawrie, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood.
Vice Captains: Thomas Björn, Darren Clarke, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Paul McGinley.
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