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University of North Carolina Athletics
Davis Love Ready For The Ryder Cup
September 21, 1999 | Men's Golf
Sept. 21, 1999
By Jimmy Golen
The Associated Press
BROOKLINE, Mass. -- There was never really any doubt that Davis Love III would be able to play in his fourth consecutive Ryder Cup.
"I'd have to break my arm not to play," he said Monday after hitting some practice balls at The Country Club. "If I felt I wasn't going to help the team, fine. But I feel fine now. I'm actually shocked at how good I feel."
Love was at the PGA Championship in mid-August when he first felt a pinched nerve in his neck, a pain that went from his shoulder to his back and even caused some numbness in his fingers. He played the next two weeks at the Sprint International and the NEC Invitational before doctors told him to shut it down completely.
That's what he did - no hunting, no picking up his two children and definitely no golf - for 19 days. He didn't even put up plywood on his Sea Island, Ga., home when Hurricane Floyd threatened.
The layoff led to talk that he would not be ready for the Ryder Cup, which begins Friday, alternate Bob Estes even made a special trip to this Boston suburb to play a practice round. But Love said the time off has served him well, adding that he might even be available for two matches a day if his play merits it.
"I'm more excited about playing than I've ever been before," he said. "I'm sure my game is not 100 percent. But health-wise, I'm 100 percent."
Love, 35, hit balls again for the first time on Friday, starting with a 9-iron and slowly working his way through the rest of the bag. He planned a practice round today - his first 18 holes of golf since the final round of Firestone almost three weeks before.
The two teams have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to play practice rounds before play begins in earnest Friday with the first of two days of alternate-shot and best-ball matches. On Sunday, there will be a dozen 18-hole singles matches.
One point is awarded for each victory, and a half-point for a draw, with the United States needing 14˝ points to win the cup. As defending champion, Europe would retain the cup if it ends in a 14-14 tie.
A Concorde carrying most of the European team - some were already in town - arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston on Monday. They were greeted by Gov. Paul Cellucci and Lt. Gov. Jane Swift, then escorted by state troopers to a waiting bus.
Airport workers crowded the scene, first posing with the supersonic plane that usually lands in Boston only in emergencies - the last was in 1996 - then crowding the check-in area for the captains' news conference.
European captain Mark James, with the Cup in tow, launched into a diplomatic stump speech that belied the importance of golf's most pressure-packed tournament.
"While we would obviously like to bring the trophy home, or retain it, the main purpose is to enjoy the week," he said.
ut James' diplomacy had its limits. When the time came for him to pose with U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw and the Ryder Cup itself, James pulled the trophy away in jest, as if to say that Crenshaw would have to win it to touch it.
"We were just fooling around," Crenshaw said with a laugh later.
ut he also said he "took note" of the fact that James came in with the Cup - the Europeans won it at Oak Hill in 1995 and retained it at Valderrama in '97 - and got to leave with it as well. That left Crenshaw to give his news conference standing next to an empty pedestal where the trophy had rested.
For Crenshaw, it was a stark reminder of the week's goal.
"They're the holders," he said. "We're very intent because of the last two Ryder Cups. We've got a lot to prove."
