Players put their wild-cards on the table

CONCERTED lobbying among leading European players to permit four wild-card picks on this year's Ryder Cup team could damage Ireland's two European Tour events. The Smurfit European Open is particularly vulnerable, given its position, as the penultimate qualifying event, on August 21st-24th.

The current position, whereby skipper Seve Ballesteros has only two wild-cards, means serious aspirants are forced to play in as many qualifying events as possible. Their commitment will be especially evident when the race hots-up in earnest in early July, with the staging of the Murphy's Irish Open.

With four wild-card choices, however, the pressure would be eased considerably on certain leading candidates who might no longer feel the need to qualify automatically. And, as a consequence, tournament fields would suffer.

Ballesteros has left us in no doubt that he wants change. And he has been staunchly supported in recent weeks by Ryder Cup stalwarts Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer. Indeed, Sweden's Per-Ulrik Johansson, a member of the 1995 team, has also thrown his weight behind the lobby for change.

"I feel very strong about it, as do many players, that the captain should have four picks," said Ballesteros. "It was the first thing I said to Ken Schofield (executive director of the European Tour) when I was approached to be captain. But the committee decided to have only two.

"They said why should we change things when we won last time. So, there is nothing I can do about that." Still, it is clear that the players think otherwise.

Indicative of the pressure created by limited wild-card choices was the situation prior to the naming of the 1991 team for Kiawah Island. Entering the German Open, which was the final qualifying event, Ireland's Eamonn Darcy was in seventh place in the table and seemingly certain to return to the team after a lapse of four years.

With Bernard Gallacher having three picks, Darcy felt so sure of his position that he decided to give Germany a miss. But in an extraordinary turn of events, he was passed by David Gilford, Sam Torrance and Paul Broadhurst among the top-nine automatic qualifiers.

Then Gallacher named his three wild cards - Nick Faldo, Mark James and Jose-Maria Olazabal - which meant that the Irishman was out in the cold.

There is no reason why Europe couldn't change the terms of reference, even at this late stage. The manner in which they choose the side is their own business. Similarly, the Americans have always done things their own way.

Wild-cards were introduced on this side of the Atlantic in 1979, the first time that a European team was brought together. On that occasion, Europe's skipper, John Jacobs, was permitted the luxury of so-called captain's picks.

Interestingly, his two choices were Peter Oosterhuis, who was campaigning in the US at that time, and Des Smyth, who was also outside the top-10 in the Order of Merit but had beaten Nick Price to capture the European Matchplay title that year. Indeed, I can recall the excitement at Portmarnock where Smyth was present for the announcement of the team during the Irish Open.

The policy was retained for 1981, but then abandoned for the 1983 matches at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Still, there was no move from the Americans.

Perhaps it was the narrowness of Europe's defeat on that occasion that caused a change of heart. Either way, wild-cards returned for the 1985 matches at The Belfry, when Tony Jacklin gave the nod to Faldo, Ken Brown and Jose Rivero, the last-named being controversially preferred to Christy O'Coanor Jnr.

Europe then retained three wild-cards for 1987. 1989, 1991 and 1993, before reverting to two picks at Oak Hill in 1995 when Faldo and Ian Woosaam were the choices. Among that total of 14 wild cards from 1987 to 1995, the only Irishman chosen was O'Connor Jnr, who was surprisingly called up by Jacklin in 1989.

Meanwhile, the US adopted the system in 1989 when Lanny Wadkins and Tom Watson became their first two choices. And it was ironic that Wadkins should have been responsible, as US skipper two years ago, for arguably the most notorious failure in the 16-year history of the process.

"I'm delighted to have Curtis," he said, when naming fellow Virginian, Curtis Strange, who still hasn't won an American tournament since retaining the US Open in 1989. "I needed somebody with heart and guts."

Wadkins went on: "He brings to the Ryder Cup what a Ray Floyd or a Tom Watson brings. I think Curtis will have a great Ryder Cup for me at Oak Hill. I have a lot of faith in him."

When it was all over, Strange had lost spectacularly to Faldo after being one up with three to play, so giving Europe their most important singles win. A once-proud player was forced to admit: "No matter how hard the press beats me up, I deserve it. They won't be any harder on me than I am on myself."

Two months later, he added: "It was a tough couple of weeks afterwards. It's still tough to think about it, because I felt like I let the other players and the captain down."

A few months on from that, Strange's 14-year-old son, Thomas, was "talking" on the Internet. Asked who his favourite golfer was, he answered "Curtis Strange." To which came the reply: "Nice job in the Ryder Cup."

Not surprisingly, Strange has since had second, thoughts about the wild-card system. "What we're doing now just adds controversy to one of the greatest events in golf. Why surround it with controversy?"

With or without wild-cards, it seems that the controversy is destined to continue, except that now, it has become a numbers game.