Captain Sam Torrance
opened Europe's Ryder Cup qualifying campaign on Wednesday,
saying the sport here had "fantastic" strength in depth.
Europe face the United States at the Belfry, England, next
September and Torrance insisted that both the selection process
and the golfing talent in Europe were up to the mark.
Ten of Europe's team will be decided by a points system
while Torrance will hand out wild cards to two more.
"I think we have the right system," he said. "A pound for a
point. You know where you stand. With the world rankings, you
don't know what you're playing for until Thursday morning.
"And I'm happy with 10 qualifiers. We've looked at the last
five or six matches and there's virtually no difference in who
would have made the team."
Torrance said European players who focused more on the U.S.
Tour could qualify through points from four majors and three
world championships. But he urged young hopefuls to give the
established players a run for their money.
Sam Torrance with the Ryder Cups. Allsport.
"I think our strength in depth is fantastic," he said. "I'm
actually pleased they have 10 spots to go for instead of less."
Torrance also said that both he and U.S. captain Curtis
Strange wanted a calm atmosphere at the Belfry with none of the
incitement which marked last year's American victory at
Brookline.
"We both know it's time to get the game and the match back
to where it was," he said.
"Without going into details he's going to be talking to a
few people, as I'm going to, and just making sure that
everything's cool, calm and collected at The Belfry.
"What we'll be trying to avoid is incitement, winding up the
crowd. That applies to the players, caddies, wives -- everyone.
"It just comes down to the fact that we just got a bit
carried away at the last one. It's very difficult to keep
yourself down, everyone gets excited.
"But it's just keeping it down to a minimum and letting the
clubs do the talking."
Defending European Masters champion Lee Westwood, currently
leading Europe's order of merit and certain of his third Ryder
Cup place, agreed with Torrance's claim of strength in depth.
"A few weeks ago nobody spoke of Thomas Bjorn as a
world-class player but he's finished second in the British Open,
third in the U.S. PGA championship and won last week, to prove
he is," said Westwood.
"And there is ample chance of players coming through and
making it into the side by just playing on the European Tour
without having to take into consideration the world golf
championships.
"Certainly, there are 30 players capable of getting into the
Ryder Cup side," he said.
The Englishman, however, was less emphatic about the
selection process.
"There should have been more wild cards," he said. "I'd have
been happier with eight and four, certainly nine and three."
With current European number two Darren Clarke in the field
here, Westwood is will be looking for the $225,000 first prize
to retain his order of merit lead.
Clarke trails him by $60,000.
Bjorn, who has overtaken the absent Colin Montgomerie to go
fourth in the rankings, also lines up, along with Nick Faldo.
Faldo said on Wednesday he would play at least 10 of his
next 11 events on the European Tour in a bid to seal his Ryder
Cup place early.
