It's dog eat dog in Ryder Cup race

THE ulcer is acting up again. It's something that Eamonn Darcy has learned to live with for the last 10 years

THE ulcer is acting up again. It's something that Eamonn Darcy has learned to live with for the last 10 years. In fact it was the price he had to pay for being a member of the victorious Ryder Cup team at Muirfield Village in 1987.

At this time, younger players along with some of the older brigade are asking themselves if they, too, are prepared to pay a price for membership of the team at Valderrama next September. "They need to look seriously at it," warned Darcy yesterday. "The old, good natured rivalry is gone: it's now dog eat dog."

Though the European Tour has a strong representation in the US Masters this week, most of the would be Ryder Cup debutants are on a two week break. They know that when they return to action in the Cannes Open on April 17th, the battle for places begins in earnest.

Realistically, Ireland has three challengers - Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley. Two of them, Clarke and McGinley, are with International Sports Management, headed by former tour player Andrew Chandler.

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With England's Lee Westwood and Scotland's Andrew Coltart also on his books, Chandler has no doubt as to how these players should be thinking. "They should be looking towards the moment when they stand on the first tee at Valderrama, physically shaking and wondering what's going to happen to them," he said.

That's the way Chandler felt in his first British Open. He never gained Ryder Cup status and he wants his players to make it, not for the percentages he might collect from their increased earnings but for the long term benefit to their careers.

"We (ISM) were handling Paul Broadhurst when he played in the Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island in 1991," he went on. "He did well with two points out of two but I can honestly say that it made absolutely no difference to his earning capacity."

But things are different now. "A current Ryder Cup player will find that his expenses are paid at European Tour events, which is a considerable perk," he said. "He will also get invitations to tournaments around the world. And a general heightening of his profile has to help with endorsements."

There is no thought of money, however, where Clarke's challenge is concerned. "After missing out on the last two Ryder Cups, I'm desperate to play this time," he said yesterday. "Money is the least of my concerns. I just can't wait to be out there doing my bit to keep the trophy in Europe."

Chandler strongly defended the decision to have Clarke and Westwood traipsing all over the world in recent weeks, from the European Tour to the Malaysian Open (which Westwood won) and on to the Argentine Center Open, in which Clarke was fifth and the Englishman finished eighth. Was the strain of such travelling not likely to inhibit their challenge for Ryder Cup points?

"Absolutely not," he replied. "They're young men in their twenties and they're flying first class. There's no strain in that. In fact Westwood plans to play 14 weeks in a row starting with the Spanish Open and I wouldn't dare stand in his way. Quite frankly I don't understand these young guys who plan their tournament schedules like Faldo and Langer - who are 40."

Meanwhile, Darcy feels that for most of the older players, there isn't the same incentive to suffer through the Ryder Cup again. And he vividly remembers the nine weeks he spent at number nine in the qualifying table, before earning an automatic place at Muirfield Village. As it happened, he went on to gain a crucial point by beating Ben Crenshaw with a memorable, five foot downhill putt on the 18th.

"In our singles match, we had only arrived on the opening green when I got the first taste of what it was all about," said Darcy. "This big American guy starts screaming, `kill `im Ben. Kill `im.' And later on, I heard the gallery hissing `miss it' when I stood over a chip to the 15th green.

"After that, I turned to Crenshaw and said to him: `You and I could have a nice match together but for these people.' I can see why the young players would want to get involved but they're going to get a terrible shock when they tee it up. Muirfield Village certainly left its mark on me.

As it happened, Darcy and several other members of the European team had to go directly from the US to St Andrews for the Dunhill Cup, which was played later that week. And I can remember him at St Andrews, eating soup when nothing else would stay down.

Like his Irish colleagues of recent years, Darcy had his moment of glory. In fact Des Smyth set the standard for them at Walton Heath in 1981 when facing the best American team in the history of the event, he came away with two points.

In 1989, Ronan Rafferty gained the distinction of beating the reigning British Open champion, Mark Calcavecchia, while Christy O'Connor Jnr had that memorable win over Fred Couples. Then, in 1991, David Feherty played the best golf of the final day when beating the US Open champion, Payne Stewart by 2 and I. And, of course, Philip Walton maintained this fine tradition at Oak Hill, two years ago.

"I don't agree with Eamonn about the sportsmanship going out of it," said Smyth yesterday. "The fact is that a lot of nonsense is written about the Ryder Cup. I spoke to players who laughed about some of the stuff that came out of Kiawah Island."

As to whether aspirants should put everything on the line in their determination to get on the team, Smyth went on: "I think they should. And if they're good enough to make it, they're good enough to take their place on the first tee. No player should have reason to fear it, provided he feels good about his own game.

Chandler maintains that he manages players not for individual events but from a career perspective. In that context, would it be damaging for a player's earning prospects if he were to crack, publicly, under the intense heat of Ryder Cup pressure?

"It would be wrong to suggest that it wouldn't hurt him but the impact would only be short term," he replied. Smyth concurred, adding that in the celebrated collapse of Curtis Strange against Nick Faldo at Oak Hill - "Curtis had set himself up for a fall by all the talking he did beforehand."

So, when decisions are made over the next few weeks, it seems that the response of the younger players will be entirely positive. But Darcy is convinced that some of the older hands will give it very serious thought.

"I accept that you haven't really fulfilled your career until you play in the Ryder Cup," he said. "But after you've done it a few times I can't see that there's anything left to prove, unless you happen to be a top player like Faldo or Langer. For them it becomes a matter of prestige, to be there among the game's elite."

He concluded: "Let the young guys do it. And if we happen to get two players on the team, which I believe we will, I won't have any fears for them. We Irish are naturally strong match players. Our, lads certainly won't have anything to prove where the Ryder Cup is concerned."