When the 1995 matches were at Oak Hill, Lanny Wadkins proudly announced his primary course setup ploy. "Since I get to decide how much rough there'll be, I can tell you right now there will be plenty," he said. "You're going to see rough up to your knees. You can bet on that." Nevertheless, Europe edged the U.S., 14½-13½.
Besides captaining the 1997 team, Ballesteros redesigned Valderrama to defuse the Americans' power advantage. That Ryder Cup, the first for Tiger Woods, included narrow fairways with bizarre contouring ordered by Ballesteros, capped off by a strip of rough bisecting the par-5 17th hole's landing area. "I never care much for a par 5 where you hit driver, sand wedge, sand wedge," said Tom Lehman.
In 1999 Ben Crenshaw asked that The Country Club's rough allow for recovery shots, but he otherwise opted to leave the setup to the PGA of America. That was the last time Americans won the Ryder Cup.
The Europeans have continued to look for ways to mute American length off the tee, with 2002 European captain Sam Torrance shifting the tee back and at an awkward angle on the short, par-4 10th hole. Even though Mark James once famously said of the hole that a layup guarantees "you're looking at a safe 5," Torrance defended the controversial decision to make the fun and infamous drivable hole less vulnerable.
Most recently, Ian Woosnam went on a tree-planting binge to clog up the K Club's dogleg turning points prior to the 2006 matches. Woosnam also made sure his team knew the planned hole locations in advance, a similar advantage Azinger and Valhalla's Wilson are expected to exploit.
While the PGA's Haigh relishes the challenge of setting up a course for match play and supports the Azinger cut, he is not likely to inject pro-American setup ploys unless asked. But Wilson plans to remind Azinger that the par 3s provide "all the tee space you could want," a not-so-subtle hint that he would like to see tee locations varied and the prospective yardages shared only with the home team. Azinger seems prepared to listen.
"Europe's done a great job of exploiting, I feel, golf course advantage on us for a long time," says Azinger. "If there is a perceived advantage, I'll try to exploit it."
Even if it means a last-minute abandonment of his very own cut of grass.
- Text Size:
- Small Text
- Medium Text
- Large Text
