BLOOMFIELD HILLS (AFP) — United States Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger would love his players to enjoy a home course advantage at next month's showdown with Europe.
The only problem is that Azinger cannot think of a way to achieve that. The course superintendent at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, is under instructions to set up the course however Azinger wants, but the captain is scratching his head.
"If there is a perceived advantage, I'll try to exploit it," Azinger said Wednesday on the eve of the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
"If there's something there, I'll try to find it, and if there's nothing there, there's nothing there.
"Europe's done a great job of exploiting course advantage on us for a long time. They have the advantage of going to sites that the European players all know and the American players don't know.
"We don't have that advantage here, because most of the Europeans who play Ryder Cup play this tour on a regular basis, so it's not like we can go somewhere where they wouldn't know the course.
"They have been able to neutralize our power in the past by bringing the fairways in at certain points and forcing guys like Tiger (Woods) and Phil (Mickelson) to hit clubs off the tee where they will all end up in the same spot."
The Ryder Cup is still six weeks away, but two-thirds of the American team will be finalized after the PGA Championship on Sunday.
The top eight players on a points list will make the team automatically, while Azinger will wait another four weeks to make his four captain's picks.
This is a change in two ways from previous Ryder Cups. The captain used to receive only two picks, and he had to make them immediately after the PGA.
By waiting another four weeks, Azinger will have a better chance to pick in-form players.
He says the top six players on the points list -- Stewart Cink, Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard -- are safe, while No. 7 Boo Weekley and No. 8 Steve Stricker are vulnerable, depending on how the PGA pans out.
"I realize that the four picks is going to be a little more difficult than I thought," he said. "There are a lot of really quality options for me now.
"I'm looking for guys who are playing really well and have a lot of confidence, and I've said that from the get-go, that I want players that are confident, and that makes a big difference.
"Experience is important, but it's also over-rated. Anyone who has played in the last six Ryder Cups has experienced getting their arse beat, so I'm not looking for experience."
With Europe having won five of the past six Ryder Cups, Azinger says it's only realistic that his team should be considered the underdog, especially with Woods absent as he recovers from major knee surgery.
Even though Woods has a relatively pedestrian Ryder Cup record -- 13 wins, 11 losses and 1 halve -- that at least is better than most of his recent teammates.
"I don't see one single positive that Tiger isn't on our team," Azinger said. "I can't imagine how you can argue a team would be better off without arguably the greatest player who has ever lived.
"It puts Europe, without question, in a favourite roll. In the past, when you looked at the teams on paper, you could maybe say that it would be close. But to argue that Europe wouldn't be the favourite this time around would be very difficult."
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