Mark James says he is ready
to stand down from his position as Ryder Cup vice-captain to Sam Torrance for
next year's match at The Belfry if asked.
James said he would consider
standing down if it was in the best interests of the match next year.
"I'm entirely in Sam's hands,"
James said. "It's a matter for Sam and whatever Sam wants and what's best for
the team I'll do. What you want is to win it and what's best for the team goes."
James says no one on the
Ryder Cup committee has spoken to him about his controversial book on the 1999
match at Brookline. In fact, James says he doesn't know who is on the committee.
He also confirmed that Ken Schofield, executive director of the PGA European
Tour, has not spoken to him about the matter.
James is highly critical
of Nick Faldo in the book, saying he will never be named a Ryder Cup Captain
because he is disliked by the players. However, James says he will have no problem
working with Faldo should Faldo make the team next year.
"Nick and I have had a run-in
before in 1994 and we were teammates in the 1995 Ryder Cup and it wasn't a problem
to me,'' James said. "I'll stand up and have an argument with anyone and if we're
playing in the Ryder Cup the next week it's forgotten. I hope Nick makes the
next team. He's one of our best players.
"I was hoping he'd make
the team I captained, because when you have a player like Faldo making the team
you know you have got someone who can perform under the most severe pressure."
James's book attacks many
players on the American team, particularly Tom Lehman. James blames Lehman for
whipping up the crowd against the European team before the final-day singles
matches. He also accuses the 1996 British Open champion of suffering from "moral
downfall".
Lehman sent a letter of
apology to James after the match, but in the book James says the letter was nothing
more than a waste of good ink.
Lehman hit back at James:
"I think it's really low class," he said following the second round of the Kemper
Open Friday. "I hope he feels good about it. I guess every good story needs a
villain and I'm glad he's found one in me. I hope he feels good about making
money out of taking shots at other people's character and integrity.
"I think he ought to be
proud that he's dragging the Ryder Cup through the muck. I'm a little angry.
I think it's crazy." James said he is genuinely surprised at Lehman's response.
"I'm amazed at Tom's reaction. I don't think I've been particularly harsh on
Tom in the book. I don't approve of his actions but I haven't launched into an
anti-Lehman chapter. There is not a chapter entitled 'I don't like Tom'."
James continues to state
that his reason for writing the book is so lessons can be learned from Brookline.
He says he did not write it to "stir up a hornet's nest". The Englishman is surprised
by the controversy the book has created, but says people need to read it and
learn from it.
"I think if people read
the book they might think something should be done about the Ryder Cup," he said.
"I think the 1999 Ryder Cup was devalued at Brookline. Simple as that. I don't
think my book will devalue it. My book explains maybe why a lot of people thought
it was devalued.
"Certain things happened
there that shouldn't be forgotten about. Things happen throughout history that
are not particularly nice but it's not right to say let's forget about it. Sometimes
you have to remember what happened, the things that went wrong and try to move
on."
