Do the Americans Need to Change their Ryder Cup Selection Process?

The PGA of America, captain Tom Lehman, and American golf fans are sweating the possibility of another Ryder Cup embarassment next month. Having lost 7 of the past 10 US v Europe grudge matches, including the most lopsided defeat two years ago at Oakland Hills, the Yanks will take a very inexperienced team into the unfriendly confines of Ireland's K Club, September 22-24.

Four of the 12 who will represent the Red, White & Blue are solid -- Tiger Woods and his favorite partner, Jim Furyk, plus Phil Mickelson and President's Cup hero Chris DiMarco.

David Toms is a lock, but his play has been spotty since his heart condition surfaced last fall. Lewisville's Chad Campbell is also assured a spot, but his game seems to have disappeared since a 5th place finish at the EDS Byron Nelson in mid-May -- Chad missed the cut at Westchester, Winged Foot, and the Western, and finished a distant 65th at the British Open.

The next four spots look to be Ryder rookies -- Vaughn Taylor, TCU grad JJ Henry, Zach Johnson, and surprise Byron winner Brett Wetterich.

The unknowns are Lehman's two captain's picks. The odds-on choices are veterans Davis Love III and Fred Couples, currently 15th and 16th in the revamped Ryder points scheme but both periodically suffering serious injury issues. And neither fits Lehman's preference for players who are moving up the charts with solid recent performances.

Dallas native Scott Verplank, fighting through his own health problems, jumped to 18th with his fourth place tie at the Buick Open (but slipped to 20th this week). He'll need another Top 10 in the PGA to crack the automatic 10 berths. Verplank suggested recently that the Ryder rankings are skewed by the influx of international players on the PGA Tour. Points are awarded only for a Top 10 finish, so if the low American in an event is 11th he gets the same number of points as a US player who misses the cut -- zero.

The most obvious solution is to use the Official World Golf Ranking (which, of course, has its own flaws). For this year's Ryder Cup, that would create a team of Tiger, Phil, Jim, Chris, David, and Chad ... plus DL3, Kenny Perry (who's hot streak was a year ago), Verplank at No. 9 (33rd in the OWGR), Boom-Boom Couples, Zach, and Stewart Cink ... with Stewie's buddy Ben Crane of Southlake just outside the Top 12.

Or maybe golf should adopt part of baseball's All Star approach -- fan balloting. Long John Daly would be a near automatic if ballots were available at Hooters. Tim "Lumpy" Herron might be a top vote-getter. Couples, too. Maybe Dallas native Justin Leonard. And of course, the ever-affable Fred Funk. Heck, Lee Trevino would probably receive a few write-ins.

Who would you like to see on the US Ryder Cup team?

-- Rick Adams

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