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CNN Live At Daybreak

Ryder Cup Players Named

Aired August 20, 2001 - 08:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Near Atlanta, two golfers gunning for their first major tournament victory -- the winner: David Toms. Toms won in a decisive, last-whole shoot-out yesterday. He beat Phil Mickelson, who is still seeking his first victory in a major tourney.

David Toms joins a select grouping of golfers. He's been picked for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Tiger Woods will lead the team next month against a group from Europe. Woods fell short in his bid for a third straight PGA Championship this week.

Brian Hammons is an anchor with The Golf Channel. He joins us to talk a little more Ryder Cup.

Good to see you.

BRIAN HAMMONS, ANCHOR, THE GOLF CHANNEL: Good to be here.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the top 10 players according to points.

HAMMONS: Well, Curtis Strange has a very strong team going over to Birmingham, England this year, of course led by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and David Duval, guys who have been there before. And that is very important.

David Toms makes the huge leap into the top 10. He's a first- timer on the Ryder Cup team. So is Stewart Cink, who is a very accomplished player. He had a good Presidents Cup, which is a similar format against an international team. So he has international experience now.

And then Curtis's picks today were somewhat interesting. He chose Scott Verplank and Paul Azinger as his captain's selections. So he has another guy who has been in the wars in Paul Azinger. And then he's got a first-timer in Scott Verplank. So it's an interesting choice he made.

PHILLIPS: And there's a little bit of concern now in England vs. in Scotland. Scotland is very disciplined, very strict. And then we have a different mentality in England, don't we?

HAMMONS: Well, we know the controversy of what happened in Brookline in 1999, with the premature celebration on the green after Justin Leonard made the bomb to basically clinch the Ryder Cup for the United States. That didn't go over so well in England.

If the Ryder Cup were played in Scotland, you probably wouldn't have a problem over there, because the fans are terrific. They know the game. They're very polite. But they are playing in Birmingham, England. And I know there is a lot of concern over there, because that is soccer country. And they are concerned that there might be some soccer mentality creeping into the proceedings. And it might get pretty ugly, as far as what happens with the crowd.

PHILLIPS: We're going to take a look right now at the top five standings. We've got a graphic here.

Here we go: Tiger Woods. Then we've got Phil Mickelson, David Duval.

HAMMONS: Mark Calcavecchia played great this weekend at the PGA Championship. And there's David Toms, who's going to be going over there for the first time. But David Toms, I think, was right at top of the list for a possible captain's pick if he didn't get into to the top 10 this week, because he drives the ball very straight.

And when you get into the alternate-shot format, that's very important. So I wouldn't have been surprised had David Toms been a captain's pick if he didn't get into the top 10.

PHILLIPS: Number six: Davis Love.

HAMMONS: Yes, Davis has been there a lot. Scott Hoch has experience. Jim Furyk, this will be his third Ryder Cup team. Hal Sutton, he is like an SEC football coach, to me: just a tough guy that you want to have on your team. And he's going to be a future captain. And Stewart Cink, this is his first Ryder Cup. So there's a lot of experience on that team.

PHILLIPS: Normally, these guys are playing against each other. Now they're in an environment where they are playing as a team. Have you witnessed any sort of, I guess, special stories that have come out of the relationship among these guys during a time like this?

HAMMONS: Well, all of those guys will tell you that this is pressure like they've never known before in golf, because in golf, if you lose a tournament, you let nobody down but yourself and maybe your family. But in this situation, when you're representing your teammates and your country and they are all relying you on, and you play poorly and you lose, then you are letting your whole country down; your letting your teammates down.

And that is not a pressure that golfers feel very often. So they will tell you that the most nervous they have ever been in their entire career is during the Ryder Cup, because it's not -- they are not just not playing for themselves anymore. They are playing for the red, white, and blue.

PHILLIPS: And they don't get paid for this either. And I know David Duval was very outspoken about this, thinking the guys should get paid, right? But you though there was a bit of a misunderstanding when all this came out?

HAMMONS: There was a big misunderstanding. They weren't asking in 1999 for money to put in their own pockets. They were asking for money to give to charity. Now they do that. A significant amount of money is given to each player to give to their favorite charity, and all is right with the world with the players.

They weren't asking: Look, if I'm going to play for my country, I have got to get paid.

That was never the case. They wanted to be able to give money to their favorite charity. And they now do that.

PHILLIPS: Who are you going to be watching, quickly, before we let you go?

HAMMONS: Well, I think on paper, the United States team is clearly the strongest team. But they were in 1999 as well, and it took a miraculous Sunday to win the Ryder Cup.

PHILLIPS: I'm sure we'll be talking again.

HAMMONS: I hope so.

PHILLIPS: Brian Hammons, with The Golf Channel, thanks so much.

HAMMONS: Thank you.

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