Ryder Cup Heads PGA Golf News

PGA Golf News - Paul Azinger's team will have a lot to handle against a better-equipped and more experienced European side captained by all-time Ryder Cup great Nick Faldo.

Tiger Woods' injury left the U.S. side without the world's top player -- even if he owns a less-than-spectacular Ryder Cup record -- and middling performances throughout the summer left Azinger scrambling to make four impactful captain's picks.

He ended up choosing Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan, J.B. Holmes and Chad Campbell -- with Campbell the only player among the four with previous Ryder Cup experience.

They joined a team that already included Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Boo Weekley and Ben Curtis, who locked up the eight automatic berths based on their position in the points standings following the PGA Championship.

Faldo, meanwhile, rounded out his 12-player team with the controversial selections of Ian Poulter and Paul Casey as his captain's picks. Those choices meant Ryder Cup veterans Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke -- especially Clarke, who has won twice this year -- were left off the team.

The European side is rounded out by Ryder Cup veterans Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Henrik Stenson and Miguel Angel Jimenez as well as newcomers Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson.

ESPN and NBC will split coverage of the matches, which run from Friday through Sunday.

PGA TOUR

VIKING CLASSIC, Annandale Golf Club, Madison, Mississippi - Last year, Chad Campbell fired an eight-under 64 in the third round on the way to winning the Viking Classic for his fourth PGA Tour victory.

Campbell closed with a three-under 69 in the final round, good enough to hold off Johnson Wagner by a shot, but he will not be on hand this week to defend his title.

Part of the United States Ryder Cup team, Campbell will be at Valhalla this weekend instead of at Annandale, which is hosting the PGA Tour's first non- FedEx Cup playoff tournament in a month.

The Viking Classic, missing the top Ryder Cup stars, features a field that includes world No. 22 Rory Sabbatini as its top player.

Seven of the last 12 Viking Classic champions will also be in the field, including Heath Slocum, John Huston, Cameron Beckman, Steve Lowery, Willie Wood and two-time winner Fred Funk.

The Golf Channel will have two hours of tape-delayed coverage of all four rounds.

Next week is the Tour Championship, where the top 30 players on the FedEx Cup playoff points list will make up the small field. Tiger Woods clinched the first FedEx Cup at last year's Tour Championship, but an injury has kept him from this year's playoffs.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

OREGON CLASSIC, Shadow Hills Country Club, Junction City, Oregon - There are only four more tournaments left on the Nationwide Tour schedule before the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship.

Kyle Thompson won last year's Oregon Classic but is not scheduled to be on hand to defend his title. He prevailed in a playoff in 2007 against Jon Turcott and Matt Jones.

Following this week's event, players will have four more tournaments (including the Tour Championship) to jockey for position on the money list. The top 25 money winners will earn PGA Tour cards for next year.

Next week is the WNB Golf Classic, won last year by Brad Adamonis in a playoff over Tjaart van der Walt, Vance Veazey and Ron Whittaker.

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

USGA SENIOR AMATEUR, Shady Oaks Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas - Last year, Stanford Lee defeated Sam Farlow 4 & 3 to win the USGA Senior Amateur.

Only for players 55 years and older on or before the day of the first round, this USGA championship has been around since 1955 and is open to competitors with a handicap index of 7.4 or lower.

It is one of 10 amateur competitions in the USGA's 13-championship annual schedule.

USGA SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEUR, Tulsa Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma - Anna Schultz won last year's USGA Senior Women's Amateur with a par on the 20th hole, defeating Robyn Puckett in a tough final.

This championship has been around since 1962. Only female golfers who are 50 and older on or before the first round, and with a handicap index not exceeding 18.4, are eligible.

Along with the USGA Senior Amateur, it is one of 10 amateur competitions in the USGA's 13-championship annual schedule.

PGA Golf World Rankings Shake Up After Villegas Win

Camilo Villegas, Colombia's first-time US PGA Tour winner, has leapt into the Top 20 on the World Ranking list for the first time thanks to his victory in the BMW Championship.

In beating US journeyman Dudley Hart by two shots and Anthony Kim and Jim Furyk by three in the third leg of the FedEx Cup play-off series at Bellerive in St Louis, Villegas hoisted himself 16 places into 18th position on the Rankings list.

Jim Furyk is back into the top 10 at No 9 following his third place finish.

Tiger Woods remains entrenched at No 1 despite not playing any golf since his left knee operation after the US Open in June and has now held the World Number One position for a total of 512 weeks during his career, a position he first attained eleven years ago on 15th June 1997.

World No 2 Phil Mickelson managed to hold off the charging Vijay Singh with a stronger finish at the BMW Championship on Sunday, but Singh remained in third place ahead of the European trio of Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Henk Stenson.

Latest leading positions:

1 Tiger Woods 17.01, 2 Phil Mickelson 9.29, 3 Vijay Singh 7.67, 4 Padraig Harrington 7.48, 5 Sergio Garcia 6.86, 6 Henrik Stenson 5.39, 7 Ernie Els 5.33, 8 Steve Stricker 5.16, 9 Jim Furyk 5.10, 10 Stewart Cink 4.93

11 Anthony Kim 4.88, 12 Lee Westwood 4.80, 13 Geoff Ogilvy 4.74, 14 Justin Rose 4.73, 15 Adam Scott 4.70, 16 KJ Choi 4.57, 17 Kenny Perry 4.27, 18 Camilo Villegas 4.27, 19 Miguel Angel Jimenez 4.13, 20 Trevor Immelman 3.95

Steve Stricker Anxious Over Ryder Cup Call

Steve Stricker faced an anxious wait for the Ryder Cup call that would crown his season after signing off in style at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday.

Despite coming agonisingly close, the 41-year-old American has never represented his country in the biennial team competition and made a Cup debut his top priority for 2008.

U.S. captain Paul Azinger is scheduled to announce his four wildcard picks at a New York hotel on Tuesday and Stricker is widely expected to be first in line.

"Hopefully I get a call tonight or early tomorrow morning," Stricker told reporters after chipping in to eagle the par-five last for a three-under-par 68 in the final round at the TPC Boston.

"I really made it my number one goal to be on this Ryder Cup team this year. And I fell short probably by two guys. If Tiger (Woods) is playing, I miss out by another spot."

Stricker finished in ninth spot in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, one place outside the automatic qualifiers.

Had world number one Tiger Woods not shut down his season in mid-June to have reconstructive knee surgery, Stricker would have ended up 10th.

One of the best putters in the game, Stricker played for the U.S. at the Presidents Cup in 1996 and again last year. That experience only hardened his resolve to represent his country at this month's Ryder Cup in Louisville, Kentucky.

"Tasting that Presidents Cup last year and the excitement and the fun that we had amongst the players, it whets your appetite for that kind of competition," he said.

"Playing on that team last year definitely made me want to make it on to the Ryder Cup team."

Stricker has been one of the steadiest players on the PGA Tour for the last three years but said he had suffered from self-imposed Ryder Cup pressure over the last month.

"I've been a little tense when I've been out there," he said. "I haven't been as calm, bad shots have been affecting me a little bit more than normal just because I know there is a lot riding it seems on every shot.

"I've been trying to push it to the back of my mind but it's been difficult."

A four-times winner on the PGA Tour, Stricker has posted five top-10s in 19 starts this season, including a playoff loss at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January.

"I have played well enough this year and last year," the Wisconsin native said. "I think I was 13th or 15th in the Ryder Cup standings coming into this year and I made my way up into the top eight or top nine for a while.

"I feel I have done somewhat what I could except for winning a tournament. Every other year I've been in this situation, I've put so much pressure on myself that I haven't been able to play.

"This year, I think I have learned from those previous failed attempts. I kind of took a 'I don't care' attitude even though deep down, I really do care."

Singh top attraction at PGA

Vijay Singh, the three-time major winner, will be main attraction at the PGA Wyndham Championship beginning on Thurday.

The 45-year-old has 31 career USPGA Tour victories and has earned $3.9 million in 17 tournaments this year. He could turn a good year into a great one with another victory.

"I'm pretty confident. I'm hitting the ball really well, which is good, tee to green I'm really well," the world number five said.

"I'm working on my putts a little bit. I feel good about the way I'm swinging the club."

Commenting on a shorter course than the PGA Championship's Oakland Hill course which was criticised last week for the way it was set up he said: "It's (Sedgefield) a fun golf course to play."

Davis Love III knows he must play well this week to be considered for selection by American Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger for the 12-man team going to Europe.

Love III needs to finish in the top-30 to have a chance of qualifying for next week's Barclays Championship. He is currently 150th on PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list and with a career record of nine wins, 12 losses and five halves he is a long shot for Valhalla.

Azinger announced on Monday that he is looking to bring new blood into the team which means that Love's losing record could work against him.