Couples and Janzen chosen
by Kite for US Team Mamaroneck,
New York, 18th August - The US Ryder Cup team was finalised this morning when
Tom Kite announced at Winged Foot that Fred Couples and Lee Janzen would be in
the 12-man team to compete at Valderamma Golf Club, Spain on 26th - 28th September.
Kite said he
had considered several players including himself but had selected Couples for
his Ryder Cup experience and Lee Janzen because of his record this season and
especially his performance in the USPGA Championship that finished this weekend.
He didn't pick himself because the demands of being captain may affect his ability
to play well. (Arnold Palmer was the last US player-captain in 1963.) Couples,
he said, was such a versatile player he could be paired easily with a number of
players in Ryder Cup competition which includes two-types of two-man play as well
as the singles. He
selected Janzen, 32, partly because of the way he played in the USPGA Championship,
especially on the final day when Kite and Janzen played together. Couples
is the 1992 Masters Champion and becomes the senior member of the team. He has
played in four previous Ryder Cups (1989, 1991, 1993, and 1995). Janzen,
the 1993 US Open Champion played in 1993 and despite winning two tournaments in
1995 was left out of the team that year. They
join 10 other players who were automatic selections because of finishing in the
top-10 in the Ryder Cup standings. These are Tiger Woods, the Masters champion,
Justin Leonard, the Open Champion, Tom Lehman and Davis Love III who has just
won the USPGA Championship, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Jeff Maggert, Mark O'Meara,
Scott Hoch and Brad Faxon. Woods,
Leonard, Furyk and Hoch will be making their Ryder Cup debuts. O'Meara is appearing
in his third Ryder Cup having played in 1993 and 1995. Maggert, Lehman, Faxon
and Mickelson will each be making their second appearance. The
European team will not be decided until 31st August when Seve Ballesteros announces
his captain's two choices the following day. The
US holds a 23-6-2 advantage in the series which dates back to 1929 but will be
seeking to regain the Cup after Europe won 14½ - 13½ at Oak Hill Country
Club in Rochester, New York in 1995. | 
