Faldo Sits Top Players, Europe Still Succeeds

LOUISVILLE, Sept. 20 -- European captain Nick Faldo's benching of Sergio García and Lee Westwood in Saturday morning's alternate-shot session, a format in which both have thrived over the years, was among the more curious decisions of this or any other Ryder Cup in recent memory. Still, he got away with it when Europe won two and tied another match without them.

"It's a physical and mental battle this week," Faldo said after the morning matches. "I really believe what I've seen that we've got to give some guys rest. If you've got four fresh guys going out starting right now [in best ball], they are really going to be pumped up from what they have just seen."

Faldo said Saturday night that Westwood did not play in the morning because he did not want to send him out with a partner he had not practiced with during the week, "one of my golden rules," he said. As for Garcia, he said, "Sergio was very tired after Friday's first round. He asked to be rested and I said, 'fine, we'll rest him Saturday morning.' "

But Westwood said: "I wanted to play. I never asked to sit out. I've never missed a match. This is the Ryder Cup. I would play with my arm hanging off. A couple of blisters are not going to stop me. But Faldo is the captain. He wanted some fresh legs for this afternoon. At the end of the day, it's a team."

García and Westwood had played together in alternate shot Friday, earning a half point with a tie when the American team of Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk lost the final hole. García had an 8-0-1 record in alternate shot and Westwood was 6-2-3 in the format, and had not lost in Cup competition in his last 12 matches.

Faldo took considerable heat in the European media. John Hopkins, the longtime golf correspondent for the Times of London, wrote on the newspaper's Web site Saturday that "Nick Faldo is off his rocker" and called it "the most extraordinary decision of the 16 Ryder Cups that I've covered."

Leonard Wins Again

Justin Leonard sat out the afternoon best-ball session after he and his partner, fellow Texan Hunter Mahan, remained undefeated (2-0-1) by rallying from two down after seven holes to earn a draw against Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Graeme McDowell in the alternate shot.

Leonard won the first Ryder Cup match of his career on Friday and said he's having a far better time than he did in 1997 and '99, even though his historic 45-foot putt at the 17th hole in Sunday singles earned the clinching half-point necessary for the United States to win in '99 at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

"Maybe it's because I'm playing better," Leonard said. "I think it's because I haven't been here in nine years. Golf is no longer the most important thing in my life. I've got my family, I've got my faith and I'm enjoying this. I felt pressure this week, but not the knee-shaking, heart-stopping pressure I felt in '97 and '99 because this was the singular, most important thing in my life. That's no longer the case and I've been able to enjoy this week more because of all that."

A Special Guest

Michael Jordan has been all over Valhalla watching the matches from behind the spectator ropes the first two days of competition, perhaps in preparation for a possible role at the 2009 Presidents Cup in San Francisco. Fred Couples, president of the U.S. team at that event, has said he may name Jordan as one of his assistants.

The Ryder Cup is "my favorite event," Jordan told the Charlotte Observer. "I love the competition. There's no money. It's all about pride."