Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 17, 1993 TAG: 9308170127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TOLEDO, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
Citing the need for a couple of gritty veterans, Watson selected Floyd and Lanny Wadkins as the wild-card picks for his 12-man Ryder Cup team on Monday.
"The way Tom has been playing, it might have been better for him to pick himself and pick me as an alternate captain," Floyd, 50, said by telephone from his home in Miami.
That, however, was never an option for Watson, who finished fifth in the PGA Championship on Sunday and is playing better now than at any time since his glory days in the late 1970s.
"I said all along that I'd be a playing captain if I played my way on to the team, but that I would not pick myself," Watson said. "I'm sticking to that.
"I'd dearly love to play. When we get over there, I'll be wanting to play. But Raymond knows how that is."
In 1989, Floyd was a non-playing captain, and "he told me `You just don't know how much I want to be out there playing,' " Watson said.
Watson also knows how it feels to be selected to the team - and how it feels to be passed over.
Watson was picked by Floyd to the '89 team but was passed over by captain Dave Stockton in 1991.
That was on his mind, Watson said, when he spoke by telephone with Curtis Strange Sunday night and told him he had not been picked.
"He told me he would have chosen himself. He wanted to play that badly," Watson said.
He said strong consideration also was given to John Daly, Jeff Maggert, Larry Mize and Fuzzy Zoeller.
"And I got a telegram just recently suggesting I ought to pick Arnold Palmer," he said.
He made it Sunday night when he and wife Linda were returning to their hotel room after the PGA Championship.
"She said, `Well, who'd you pick?' I said, `Raymond and Lanny,' " Watson said. Watson said he telephoned both of them Sunday night.
"In the end it came down to, who do you want to make that 3-foot putt when it's all on the line? Who do you want to make the 6-footer that Bernhard Langer missed the last time?" Watson said.
The selections of the two veterans completed the 12-man squad that will defend the Ryder Cup against the best European players at the biennial matches at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England, Sept. 24-26.
The other 10 team members came off a points list that closed Sunday with the conclusion of the PGA Championship. They are PGA champion Paul Azinger, Fred Couples, Tom Kite, U.S. Open title-holder Lee Janzen, Corey Pavin, Payne Stewart, John Cook, Davis Love III, Chip Beck and Jim Gallagher.
Keywords:
GOLF JANZEN, COOK, LOVE AND GALLAGHER WILL BE MAKING THEIR FIRST
APPEARANCES ON THE AMERICAN TEAM.
"WITH FOUR ROOKIES, THAT'S THE RIGHT MIX," WATSON SAID. "FIVE ROOKIES WOULD BE TOO MANY, THREE ROOKIES WOULD BE NOT ENOUGH NEW BLOOD.
"IT'S A STRONG TEAM," WATSON SAID. "IT'S A STRONGER TEAM THAN THE EUROPEANS. BUT THE HOME COURSE ADVANTAGE FALLS TO THEM, AND THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE."
THE UNITED STATES WILL DEFEND THE CUP IT REGAINED BY A SINGLE POINT AT KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C., IN 1991. THE EUROPEANS HELD THE CUP THE PREVIOUS SIX YEARS.
THE EUROPEAN TEAM WILL NOT BE FINALIZED UNTIL AFTER THE GERMAN OPEN, ENDING AUG. 29.
THE TOP NINE MEN FROM A POINTS LIST WILL MAKE THE TEAM, AND EUROPEAN CAPTAIN BERNARD GALLACHER HAS THREE WILD-CARD PICKS, TO BE ANNOUNCED AUG. 30.
THE TOP 10 ON THE EUROPEAN LIST, IN ORDER, ARE NICK FALDO, ENGLAND; COLIN MONTGOMERIE, SCOTLAND; BERNHARD LANGER, GERMANY; BARRY LANE, ENGLAND; MARK JAMES, ENGLAND; SAM TORRANCE, SCOTLAND; CONSTANTINO ROCCA, ITALY; PETER BAKER, ENGLAND; JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL, SPAIN, AND IAN WOOSNAM, WALES.
by CNB