U.S. Ryder
Cup players defended their team on Wednesday in the wake of a barrage of criticism
of the Americans from European team members, and said Europe sounded like sore
losers.
"They just
got pounded into the ground on Sunday and they're embarrassed by it," said Davis
Love, on the eve of the Buick Classic at Callaway Gardens.
"It's
too bad there's all this bickering when it was the greatest Ryder Cup ever," Love
said. "It's sad that they're whining so much. I guess when you get pounded like
that you have to find some reason for it."
The U.S. team made the biggest final day comeback since the Cup was first contested
in 1927 to reclaim the trophy in suburban Boston on Sunday, but that achievement
has been somewhat overshadowed by the war of words that has followed.
European captain Mark James, assistant Sam Torrance and several team members have
slammed the U.S. players for mobbing Justin Leonard after he sank what turned
out to be the winning 45-foot putt on the 17th green in Brookline.
It was a premature celebration and a serious breach of golf etiquette since Jose
Maria Olazabal still had a putt of his own that could have kept the match going.
Olazabal, after
waiting for the Americans to calm down, finally took a stab at his 25-foot putt
but missed.
Leonard, along with U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw, apologized on Sunday for the incident.
"If grudges are held there's nothing I can do about it," said Leonard.
The Europeans have also criticized the boorish behavior of some members of the
gallery at The Country Club for heckling players and even, in one instance, for
spitting at James's wife.
The American players said they did not condone unruly fan behavior, and Love suggested
that alcohol sales be cut off early in the day to curb potentially abusive fans.
But Love added
that poor fan behavior has been seen on both sides of the Atlantic.
Love recalled the Cup competition at the Belfry in 1993 and "people poking umbrellas
through the fence trying to trip us," and "how long have they been calling our
wives flight attendants and blonde bimbos?"
He said at Valderrama in 1997 "people were downright ugly to us.... coughing and
yelling and cheering when we missed a putt."
David Duval, in a television interview on ESPN, said fan abuse was not restricted
to European players.
"We
were getting harassed by our own crowd," said Duval, who had downplayed the importance
of the Cup before the competition, referring to it as an "exhibition."
"I was the target of a lot
of stuff for some of the things I've said leading up to the event," said Duval.
"We were in
a tough spot the first two days. We were getting killed and we had to stand by
and watch the (European) celebrations through the course of each round.
"What's the difference? On
Saturday afternoon Jesper Parnevik pitched in from about 50 yards on the 12th
hole. I had to wait for a couple of minutes for him and Sergio (Garcia) to get
done dancing around and screaming and yelling and hooting and hollering.
"We weren't complaining. That's
part of the event, the emotion. One of the most integral parts of the Ryder Cup
is it is a partisan event."
Love said he believed the Europeans practiced gamesmanship to try and throw off
the Americans.
"They
were playing slow on purpose. I'll bet you a million dollars their strategy was
to slow play because it frustrated us," he said.
"Nobody
heard Mark O'Meara complaining about (Padraig) Harrington taking 10 minutes to
get off a shot at 18."
James was quoted as saying he and other Europeans may not want to return to the
United States to contest the Cup.
"Fine,"
said Love about a competition created to foster comraderie between golfers from
the opposite sides of the Atlantic.
