http://www.rte.ie/sport/golf/2010/0930/rydercup.html
Good Q & A piece with Greg Allen.
RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen has been listening to the captains, watching the players and keeping an eye on the course all week at Celtic Manor.
Here, he answers Brendan Cole's questions on the key issues that will decide the 39th Ryder Cup.
1) The captain can't win the Ryder Cup for his team, but some would say he can he lose it. Which captain will be more influential this week?
I think that Colin Montgomerie will be marginally the more influential captain and maybe that's because he has more Ryder Cup experience than Corey Pavin. Also I think that because Monty hasn't won a major championship this is the biggest week of his career and he has admitted that several times.
In contrast, Pavin was a winner of the US Open in dramatic fashion in 1995 and I can't imagine that he would really place winning a Ryder Cup as American captain ahead of what he did at Shinnecock Hills 15 years ago.
Monty and Pavin are so different. It's really hard to compare them. Pavin can talk for a whole press conference and not say anything you would want to jot down while you could use up the ink in a biro scribbling Monty's thoughts and musings.
But Pavin does have one ace to draw on: an inner steel and passion for this competition which he has showed in bucketloads through his career - remember him wearing that Desert Storm military style hat at Kiawah Island in the infamous 'War on the Shore' in 1991.
He may not be as bright or articulate as Monty but his straightforward heartfelt passion for the Ryder Cup will resonate well with his players I think.
One issue though which could have a real bearing is the make up of the back room teams. Pavin's assistants all sing off his hymnsheet in polite chorus while Monty has surrounded himself with some lieutenants who won't be shy at expressing their disagreement should they feel that way. That may lead to healthy open debate and for Europe's sake let's hope in does.
2) What bearing will Tiger Woods have on this match?
There's been fair amount of speculation that this Ryder Cup offers some kind of a redemptive opportunity for Tiger Woods to pluck something from his season by being part of a winning American team. I partly agreed with that idea for a while but after giving it more thought and watching Woods this season, I am not sure Tiger's heart will ever be in the Ryder Cup in the same way as most of his team mates.
He might get a warm and fuzzy feeling feeling by contributing handsomely this week and he may even regard it with a lot more emphasis than he has done since making his disappointing debut in Valderrama in 1997 (when he won only one match out of five). But it's a kind of 'leopard not changing his spots' vibe I think. Like many elite sportmen and women, Tiger is esssntially selfish and self driven.
Although he was a team player for his university college team at Stanford in his pre-professional days, he was disappointing while playing for the American amateur team at the Walker Cup here in Wales in 1995. He was, as indicated, no better two years later on his first Ryder Cup appearance. He has won less than 50 per cent of the points available to him in his entire Ryder Cup career during which he has been World number one on an almost sequential basis.
And, over the years, he has made no secret of his lack of desire to be a full part of the team thing. He went to bed early after America won at Brookline in 1999 and had to be cajoled to come down and join in the celebrations.
He has famously gone out at 6.30 in the morning on practice days in previous Ryder Cups, two hours or more before the majority of his team mates have gone out for a scheduled practice. And who will forget the variety of exasperated expressions he pulled when he partnered Phil Mickelson at Oakland Hills in 2004.
No Tiger is all about Tiger. If he contributes more than two points at this Ryder Cup he will be batting above his average and he has barely an average game coming here. I don't see him as a catalyst for American success, but that's not saying America won't win. It is almost a 50-50 match as I see it with home advantage maybe carrying it for Europe.
3) Monty has turned the chance to set the course up in Europe's favour - has he let an advantage slip or is this a bit of a non-issue?
I've come across a couple of theories about the general non-tweaking of the course by Monty (and it looks like he may now change the setup on 15 to suit Europe).
But in general I'm not sure I buy either of them.
Firstly, he says he wants the 'best team to win'. As we know from sport, it's never as simple as that. When Colchester beat a great Leeds team in the FA Cup in 1971 (still a sore point for me), I don't think anyone thought that Colchester were a better football team. But home advantage at Layer Road made a very significant difference as did the condition of the pitch.
But Monty says he wants Celtic Manor to be a 'fair course' and for the best team to win. He was saying this while seated beside Corey Pavin who was motionless, which is not unusual.
On this occasion there was good reason to remain quiet and still as the American captain could hardly have wanted to turn Monty away from clearly handing back some of the advantage of the Ryder Cup being played on Europe's home soil.
Sure the rough is up but the fairways are wide enough and the rough is not so long as to deter the big American hitters like Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, and Tiger from whipping out their driver from the bag as a reflex action.
The second theory is clearly related to the first and that is that maybe Monty wants to be remembered as the captain that led his team to victory without resorting to 'tricking up' the course. That way, he could claim the high ground as being a 'fair minded' captain who did not like to take advantage of the 'home' situation.
That's all fine and well but if Europe lose narrowly, will his players thank him for not maximising home advantage?
4) We saw Jim Furyk excel in the rain when winning his $7million but is either team likely to excel in tougher conditions?
I think it is fair to say that European players, especially those from Britain and Ireland (more than half the team), are more accustomed to playing in cool conditions combined with wind and rain. On the PGA Tour in America, they have many rain affected tournaments but it rarely gets cold.
Jim Furyk winning in the rain at the Tour Championship in Atlanta last Sunday where the temperature was in the 80s was a lot less unpleasant than what is forecast here this Friday.
So in bad weather, I would say Europe will be marginally better prepared mentally. A large home support in wet weather will also be a big help. Just remember how Shane Lowry thrived with a partisan home following at Baltray in the wind and rain at the Irish Open last year.
There's also the fact that American players don't travel in great numbers to play in European events while European players travel frequently to play in America. So by that token alone, home advantage is greater on this side of the Atlantic than what the Americans experience when they host the Ryder Cup.
Throw in some typical weather here, and yes, it's definitely advantage Europe.
Remember also that Europe won all five sessions of play at the K Club four years ago in generally quite unsettled weather conditions.
5) Which team will win this match and which players will stand out on both sides?
Europe should win by around three points in quite a close tense finish if only because of home advantage. I don't see a significant difference between the teams.
The average world ranking of the Europeans is almost identical to the Americans and both teams have four players in the world's top ten. Europe may have had more players in form this season but when you look at the world rankings and see four Americans in the top 5, it's a statistic that cannot be ignored.
Admittedly, Tiger and Phil haven't been blowing hot of late, but you can counterbalance that by saying that neither has Padraig and you could also factor in Lee Westwood's injury lay-off which may have taken the edge off his sharpness.
So I really only see home advantage separating the sides. Five of the last six Ryder Cups have been won by the home team and it is a compelling reason to back Europe on a murky looking weekend weather-wise which won't be to America's advantage.
It is much harder to predict who will be the significant players. Luke Donald stands out for Europe, not just because of his brilliant recent form, but also because he has a terrific Ryder Cup record of five wins and one halved match in seven outings.
I think there will be a lot of attention and focus on Rory McIlroy, partly because of his remarks which appeared to have tugged Tiger's tail. I think he will have a good Ryder Cup whether or not he gets a chance to face down Tiger, which may well happen over three days. It would be great if they went head-to-head in singles on Sunday, but Pavin has ruled out any collusion between himself and Monty to make a Tiger-Rory duel happen.
Rory McIlroy will be the centre of attention in Celtic Manor - the young star has publicly said he wants to face Tiger Woods.
Rory's flamboyant reputation and big-hitting game will get the home fans going and with Graeme McDowell beside him, he will have a best friend and also someone who excelled in Ryder Cup play two years ago - albeit on a losing team in Valhalla. Monty will be looking for a serious contribution from Rory and Graeme and also from the Molinari brothers who could be an inspirational force for the home team as well, judging by the manner of their World Cup win together last November. Edoardo in particular is one to watch out for this weekend.
Hard to be sure who will partner Padraig Harrington. Could be Jimenez or Donald with whom he has played very well in practice. I think it was hugely important that Harrington was able to walk into the team room this week after showing fine form in Paris last weekend and he has a serious point to prove to Monty who expressed so much faith in him by picking him over Casey.
From an American perspective, I think Dustin Johnson will stand out this week. Hunter Mahan was a star in Valhalla and was undefeated in five matches and he really buys into the Ryder Cup team thing so he will be a big player for America I think. And the likely partnership of Stricker and Tiger could be a critical over the first two days in terms of being inspirational for the US.
Final result, (I think): Europe 15.5 USA 12.5.
"Since coming back to Ireland, Leinster really has become my home.............." Leinster & Ireland's No. 1 THP
