US team hears inspirational talk from army major before Ryder Cup

Associated Press

NEWPORT, Wales

Preparations for the Ryder Cup were intense and inspirational. There was laughter and a few tears. One thing players from both sides agreed on was the importance of rallying behind the flag.

And that was before anyone hit a shot Wednesday.

A rain-filled day at Celtic Manor shifted the attention to the team rooms, and even that became somewhat of a contest.

U.S. captain Corey Pavin gathered his troops for a motivational speech by Maj. Dan Rooney, a decorated F-16 fighter pilot from Oklahoma with the rare distinction of being an Iraqi war veteran and a PGA professional.

“It was pretty emotional, actually, but a good kind of emotion,” Pavin said. “It was very quiet when he was talking.”

The voice in the European team room came over the telephone, and it was chilling — Seve Ballesteros, the symbol of European pride and determination in the Ryder Cup. The Spaniard, stricken with a brain tumor, is unable to travel.

“We have enough motivation in our team room,” captain Colin Montgomerie said. “I was after some passion. And by God, I got it.”

Ballesteros sounded like he wanted to tee it up himself.

“Go get them so hard that they’ll all be caddies in the future,” Ballesteros told them, according to the Swedish Golf Federation web site.

Montgomerie said 21-year-old Rory McIlroy, in his first Ryder Cup, was “quite upset” about press coverage of his rift with Tiger Woods. McIlroy was quoted six weeks ago as saying he would “love to face” Woods at the Ryder Cup, and Woods offered a terse, “Me, too,” in his press conference Tuesday.