There are 39 days until the 2008 Ryder Cup tees off from September 18th through the 21st, and everybody is trying to get to Louisville, Kentucky to represent the U.S. at Valhalla Golf Club. The Wanamaker Trophy, which goes to the winner of the PGA Championship, wasn’t the only thing that players were trying to get this weekend. They were also trying to earn an automatic berth on the U.S. Ryder Cup team by finishing in the top 8 in the PGA points race, which closed Sunday after the championship.
The first eight players of the twelve member Ryder Cup team were announced this morning by U.S. Captain Paul Azinger at a press conference. In what turned out to be quite the mix of both young and seasoned players, the team is comprised of Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley.
“Well, Phil Mickelson had a pretty good week this week and ends up leading the points list. Tiger Woods would be leading the points list, but unfortunately for all of us he’s not going to be able to be there,” Azinger said of the first selection for the team. “Phil is a good friend of mine and arguably I think one of the best players that’s ever lived, with 34 wins and three major titles. We’re going to have a great time. I’ve already sought a lot of Phil’s input with respect to course setup and we’ve talked about picks already.” Ben Curtis was the big story though, as he jumped 13 spots to clinch the automatic berth, from 20th to 7th. He was able to accomplish that by having a big weekend and finish second at the championship this weekend. With three more weeks to go until the final four players are selected for the team, Azinger feels that it’s really anybody has a shot. “I’m really excited about who we have on the team. The next three weeks are going to be really important for the remainder of the PGA Tour because as I look at it right now anybody can get on this team,” Azinger said. “I have some really good friends that play this TOUR that are out there with chances to get on this team, and there’s a bunch of guys who I don’t know, at all, who have an opportunity to get on this team, and some of them are close. “So I’ll do what’s best for us, what’s best for the American Ryder Cup Team, which is best for the United States of America,” he continued. “I’ll look beyond friendships, and just try to do what’s right and get the best players on this team.” The final four selections will be announced at a press conference on Tuesday, September 2nd. Another big story will be Kenny Perry returning to his home state of Kentucky to compete on the team. “I’m really excited for Kenny Perry to be on the team, being from Kentucky and I think we all are pretty familiar with Kenny Perry. He’s established goals for himself, and you know, he unfortunately had to withdraw this week, I guess he had a scratched cornea, I don’t know what that feels like; I don’t know how hard that is to recover from,” Captain Azinger said. “But I’m excited about Kenny Perry being on the team. I’ve known Kenny for a long time. We used to play against each other on the mini tours.” The U.S. team is hoping to bounce back after two poor Ryder Cup showings in a row, where they lost 18 1/2 – 9 1/2.
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