Captains agree to agree

Ryder Cup countdown: Philip Reid reports from the Belfry as the34th edition clicks into full gear.

This Ryder Cup is different. The evidence is there from the moment you swing into the Belfry, where the first sight that greets you are flak-jacketed policemen with Heckler and Koch MP5 machine guns clasped to their chests, held much as a caddie would hold a flagstick, only with more menace.

Security for these rescheduled matches - the 34th edition of the competition - is tighter than ever. Of course, the reason is a good one: the terrorist attacks of September 11th last year, which caused the postponement for 12 months of the Ryder Cup, but with the original teams, changed everything.

As Darren Clarke remarked yesterday, "it's a sporting event, and it is not life or death."

There are, nevertheless, some poignant reminders of the attacks that resulted in the deferral of the matches for a year, not least the decision of the Americans to have 2001 - rather than 2002 - emblazoned on their team gear.

US captain Curtis Strange, who oversaw a meeting of 10 of his 12 players in Mount Juliet on Sunday night after Tiger Woods' win in the American Express World Championship, insisted, however, that the Americans believed that the security arrangements were appropriate and that they would have "no problems at all, no worries" about playing the match in the current world climate.

"We've travelled all around the world and played competitive golf. We feel quite comfortable and safe," added Strange.

Indeed, as if to deflect attention away from the serious nature of security arrangements for this week's match, the rival captains, Strange and Europe's Sam Torrance, engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse that revealed few secrets about their proposed line-ups.

Strange, though, was at pains to emphasise that Woods - who expressed his displeasure last week at being unable to prepare for this competition in the way that he would do for a normal tournament, which involves practice rounds at the crack of dawn - was aware of his responsibilities as a team player.

"It's all been handled," insisted Strange. "Tiger's a team player. This whole week takes you out of your normal routine for any player, not just for Tiger Woods. Any player. When you come here, you have to be part of a team."

And, as far as any spill-over from Brookline in 1999 is concerned, when American players danced on the 17th green after Justin Leonard holed an outrageous putt, both captains insisted they expected this Ryder Cup to be played in the spirit in which the event was initiated.

"I think we are going to see a great match," said Strange. "I think we are going to see a hard-fought match. Hey, that's what the Ryder Cup is. If people don't get excited and people don't root for their own team, then it wouldn't be as much fun.

"Sam and I played in this before it got so big. Now it has got bigger, but it has always been hard-fought and patriotic and loud and boisterous. That's why we enjoy it."

Torrance, too, anticipates a close battle, despite the drop in form of so many of his players.

"You can't get a more tension-filled atmosphere than the Ryder Cup. It is the toughest format in golf, and probably the most loved format," said the Scot.

"But tensions do run high, every now and then, every six or seven years, one or the other side just bubbles over and you realise you've done something wrong, and you just start over."

Meanwhile, players will not be allowed to have any practice putts on the greens during their matches. The two captains agreed this measure prior to the postponement last year and have agreed that it will remain in place for this year's matches.

Also, a slow play policy - although not as rigid as exists on either the European Tour or US Tour - will also be in place.

"I think we've seen lately, at the President's Cup and at the Seve Trophy, where fourballs can take up to six hours. If that happened here, we wouldn't get finished," said Torrance. "There has to be some regulation on it . . . it is really just to keep an eye on them and make sure they are not dilly-dallying."

Strange agreed the new slow play policy with Torrance, but claimed that the ban on practice putting could be more significant.

"A couple of minutes adds up seven or eight times. It is not a strict policy, but it is a policy if they continue to be slow."

In fact, anyone found guilty of slow play - after a number of warnings - will forfeit the hole.

Official practice rounds begin today, and will take place tomorrow and Thursday. Play begins on Friday morning with fourballs in the morning and foursomes in the afternoon, but neither captain would guarantee that all 12 members of their sides would see competitive action before the singles on Sunday .

"That is my plan, to give everyone at least one match, but it is not guaranteed," said Torrance, while Strange seemed to backtrack from his assertion two weeks ago that he would play all members of his team in either foursomes or fourballs before the singles.

"It's my opinion that I want everybody on the team to play at least once before the singles . . . but if somebody is suffering a minor injury, or doesn't feel well, or somebody goes south with their game, then I won't play them."

The phoney war is over, the battle lines are finally being drawn.