As Tiger Woods walked off the ninth tee, angling toward his shot in the rough, Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite placed his hand on Woods' shoulder and whispered while the young man nodded.
Neither would say what Kite said, but the brief exchange between the 47-year-old veteran of seven Ryder Cups and the 21-year-old rookie underlined a challenge facing both teams at Valderrama Golf Club this week - keeping the rookies calm.Nine of the 24 players in golf's most pressurized event - four Americans, five Europeans - will hear their national anthem for the first time at a Ryder Cup opening ceremony on Thursday.
How those newcomers perform in spotlight when the 32nd Ryder Cup starts Friday will be critical.
"You've got to put them under your wing, shield them from the bullets and let them go and play and be themselves," Nick Faldo said Wednesday.
"That is what we want to help them with," said Faldo, who will play in his record 11th Ryder Cup. "Take a little bit of pressure off them and set them free."
Woods, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and Scott Hoch are playing their first Ryder Cup for the United States. Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn, Ignacio Garrido and Jesper Parnevik are making their debuts for Europe.
"If you don't enjoy pressure, you are in the wrong place," said Leonard, who won the '97 British Open and was second in the PGA Championship. "I'm not saying I'm a great pressure player," Leonard said. "But that's when I learn the most about myself."
While the Americans have only Davis Love III Mark O'Meara and Fred Couples with experience in more than one Ryder Cup, Europe has six men who have played in a total of 34 Ryder Cups.
"I was under Nick's wing in 1993, and he gave me a lot of advice," said Montgomerie, who is playing for the fourth time.
"But the No. 1 thing he always told me was always remember no matter how nervous you are, the other guy is just as nervous, so just get on with it," Montgomerie said.
In addition to Faldo and Montgomerie, the European team has a wealth of experience with Bernhard Langer (eight Ryder Cups), Ian Woosnam (seven), Jose Maria Olazabal (four) and Costantino Rocca (two).
Both teams gain experience from their captains. Kite was one of the best competitors in his seven Ryder Cup appearances, as was European captain Seve Ballesteros in his eight.
There is a vast stylistic difference, however, between Kite and Ballesteros. While Kite offers gentle words of wisdom in a casual way, Ballesteros is direct.
On one hole, Clarke shanked two shots from a downhill lie in a bunker. Ballesteros climbed down into the bunker and showed him how it was done. "I worked it out in five seconds, so I don't know why he even needs to ask," Ballesteros said when asked if he had any hesitation about helping out.
"If I see something I can fix I will go straight away, even if it is Faldo, even if it is in the tournament," Ballesteros said.
*****
Additional Information
Ryder Cup rosters
Name Age Cups Points
Tiger Woods 21 0 0
Justin Leonard 25 0 0
Tom Lehman 38 1 2
Davis Love III 33 2 5
Jim Furyk 27 0 0
Phil Mickelson 27 1 3
Jeff Maggert 33 1 2
Mark O'Meara 40 3 2 1/2
Scott Hoch 41 0 0
Brad Faxon 36 1 1
Lee Janzen 33 1 0
Fred Couples 37 4 7
Average 32.6 1.2 1.9
Captain: Tom Kite, 47, played in seven Ryder Cups.
---
EUROPE
Name Age Cups Points
Colin Montgomerie 34 3 7
Darren Clarke 29 0 0
Bernhard Langer 40 8 17 1/2
Ian Woosnam 39 7 15 1/2
Per-Ulrik Johansson 30 1 1
Lee Westwood 24 0 0
Ignacio Garrido 25 0 0
Thomas Bjorn 26 0 0
Costantino Rocca 40 2 3
Jose Maria Olazabal 31 4 13
Nick Faldo 40 10 23
Jesper Parnevik 32 0 0
Average 32.5 2.8 6.6
Captain: Seve Ballesteros, 40, played in eight Ryder Cups.
WHERE/WHEN: The 6,819-yard, par-71 Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain. Runs Friday through Sunday.
WHAT: The biennial competition between 12-man teams from the United States and Europe.
HISTORY: The first official match was in 1927. The United States has won 23 of the 31 matches, with two ending in ties. In 1979, the team from Britain and Ireland was expanded to include all of Europe. Europe won in '85 and '87 and kept the Cup with a tie in '89. The U.S. team won in '91 and '93, and Europe took the Cup back in '95.
FORMAT: Eight alternate-shot matches, eight better-ball matches and 12 singles matches, each worth one point for a total of 28 points. In a tie match, each sides gets 1/2-point. The first team to get 14 1/2 points wins. In the event of a 14-14 tie, the defending champion keeps the Cup. There is no prize money.