Strange to lead American team

Curtis Strange said he had no fears for the future of the Ryder Cup after being appointed yesterday as captain of the US team to defend the trophy at The Belfry on September 28th to 30th, 2001. Nor did he consider any further apology necessary in the wake of distasteful, triumphalist scenes by his fellow countrymen during the climactic moments at The Country Club, Brookline, last month.

Though the appointment was widely predicted, it seemed nonetheless odd that a player who had suffered so grievously at Oak Hill in 1995 should have wished to return to the battle, albeit as skipper. Strange, who was a wild-card choice of captain Lanny Wadkins, became the so-called goat of the American side after squandering a two-hole lead in the critical singles against Nick Faldo.

"Sure, some of it was tough to take, but I had a wonderful time at Oak Hill," Strange said. "I like the idea of going back into the fire. Perhaps that's the competitor in me. I have always believed that if you think you're good enough to win, you have to have the guts to lose."

At this stage, however, losing would appear to be the furthest thing from Strange's mind, in a Ryder Cup context. But his attitude was clearly conciliatory as he faced the inevitable questions about events at Brookline.

"I was not involved, but I watched it very closely, with everybody else," he said. "The reaction on the 17th might have been a little over the edge but we have apologised."

He went on: "We celebrated a bit too much and the line of etiquette was crossed. But I think it's important to note that (Jose-Maria) Olazabal thinks it's now OK. He's a big man, big enough to accept that there was no malicious intent. It was entirely spontaneous."

Against that background, Strange anticipates no problems on a return to The Belfry, where he was a member of the defeated US team of 1985 and the side which forced a tie in 1989 but failed to regain the trophy. That was the occasion when Strange produced a superb singles performance, finishing with four successive birdies to beat Ian Woosnam by two holes.

"The Belfry won't be as tough as people imagine," he asserted. "I played there twice and while the European fans rooted for their own team, as you would expect, they were wonderful to us."

He went on: "I have no fears for the future. Not at all. The Ryder Cup is growing very rapidly and there have been growing pains. But I believe the PGA of America and the European officials will do whatever is necessary to secure its future."

Strange then indicated that his sons Thomas (17) and David (14) will have a role at The Belfry. So will his wife Sarah - inside the ropes. When asked whether he approved of wives being inside the fairway ropes, he replied emphatically: "That's exactly where they should be. It's a team event and they should be very much a part of it."

And on another personal level, he has no intention of cutting back on his commentary work with ABC television, for which he covered last Sunday's victory by Tiger Woods in the Classic at Lake Buena Vista in Florida.

Woods won this event for the second time, despite closing with a one-over-par 73. He fired six-under 66s in each of the first three rounds, which gave him a share of the lead with Bob Tway entering the final round.

Strange said he would be cutting back on his own playing commitments, but planned to do 19 or 20 events for ABC next year.

Meanwhile, he is preparing himself for contact with his prospective European counterpart: Sam Torrance and Ken Brown being the frontrunners. "I know both of them very well and either would be a wonderful choice," he said.

On the question of playing for pay in the Ryder Cup, Strange was suitably diplomatic, expressing the confidence that the PGA would do whatever was necessary to resolve the issue.

In choosing Strange, the PGA of America will get a highly experienced man, with five Ryder Cup appearances and 17 victories to his credit on the US Tour, along with three in Australia and one in Japan. More importantly, his back-to-back triumphs in the US Open in 1988 and 1989 give him a significant status in the game, not least for the fact that he had been the first to emulate Ben Hogan's achievement of 1950 and 1951.

"It's a daunting challenge but one which I'm looking forward to very much," said the 44-year-old. "I'm here to win the matches and to bring 12 guys together for hopefully the best week of their lives."