Poulter and the British press boil over

    Writing from Medinah, Illinois
    Wednesday, September 26, 2012

    In the United States there is the first amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press.
    In the United Kingdom there is no such guarantee. There is, however, Fleet Street, that bastion of bluster where some great and not-so-great newspapers are (and sometimes once were) headquartered, and where, if there is no news, there is no chance of blushing while making some up.
    That explains the line of questioning in the press tent on Wednesday after England’s Ian Poulter said he wanted to go out against the American team and “kill ‘em.”
    Blood in the water for the London scribes!
    Rory McIlroy, who followed Poulter into the tent, was asked if he was thinking like Poulter.
    “I think kill is a little strong,” McIlroy said. “I’d like to beat them.”
    Then came the suggestion that McIlroy, the world’s top-ranked player since winning the PGA Championship, was a “marked man.”
    “I’ve never heard that term before in golf,” said Phil Mickelson, stickhandling like Medinah member Stan Mikita. “Rory a marked man? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
    To Mickelson, this Ryder Cup is all about love and kisses.
    “The animosity is gone because we know each other well,” Mickelson said, throwing verbal rose petals. And as he left the podium, he said to the English-accented reporter who asked about the target on McIlroy’s back, “Nice try, though.”
    Both questioner and answerer laughed.

    The $11.4-million Man

    Brandt Snedeker is, if not the hottest player on the American team, the newly richest. That title comes from last weekend’s heroics in Atlanta, where he won the Tour Championship at East Lake and captured the FedEx Cup in the process. The payday: $11,440,000.
    “It’s been a crazy couple days, to say the least,” Snedeker said Wednesday. “I beat some of the best players in the world last weekend. I feel my game is exactly where it needs to be. Friday morning can’t get here quick enough.”
    Snedeker is one of four Ryder Cup rookies on the U.S. team. The Americans have lost six of the last eight Ryder Cups, but Snedeker pays no mind to that. He has his eyes on the cashless prize.
    “The biggest thing is not to put too much pressure on ourselves because there are so many guys in that room that want to win it for Davis,” Snedeker said. “To play a Ryder Cup on home – on U.S. soil with him as your captain, you don’t want to let him down.
    “He’s done everything the right way his whole life. If anyone on this planet deserves to win a Ryder Cup on U.S. soil, he does. So now our job is not to mess it up. We’re going to try to have as much fun as we can and make him look like a genius all week.”


    McIlroy, Woods and Sunday

    No. 1 vs. No. 2. Dan Jenkins called those meetings in college football “poll bowls.”
    Until the Bowl Championship Series came along, they were never guaranteed.
    They aren’t guaranteed in golf, either. With Rory McIlroy No. 1 and Tiger Woods No. 2, the prospect of a match-play meeting in Sunday’s singles play is mouth-watering.
    But it’s not guaranteed. In the Ryder Cup, each captain submits his lineup, like a baseball manager. Davis Love III won’t know where Jose Maria Olazabal will put his players in the order of play, and vice versa, in any of the five sessions.
    For singles, with 12 spots, the odds are against such a matchup. Wednesday, Love sounded more interested in the prospect than Olazabal.
    “We’ll have to see what happens,” Olazabal said. “I know you’re eager to see that match, but I think the Ryder Cup is more important than that single match.”
    Love has played in the U.S. vs. Rest of World Presidents’ Cup, where such matches can be arranged.
    “It would be neat to sit up here and match ‘em up,” Love said. “It would be pretty good theater. It would be fun. I don’t think I’m going to be the first captain to go to the other team’s room and try to rig the pairings. But it would be fun to watch, that’s for sure.”

    Around Medinah

    If you’re wondering how many people are cramming into Medinah’s grounds, the estimated number varies between 40,000 and 45,000 a day. PGA of America officials don’t want to say, but the first total is the number of general admission tickets that have been sold for each practice and competition day. The other 5,000 are the estimated number of tickets for the 77 corporate tents, and the other 20 equivalent tents, including three “Captains Club” tents and hospitality in the clubhouse and pro shop. That makes the six-day total from 240,000 to 270,000. The White Sox should draw so well for a homestand. ... There will be a flyover during Thursday’s opening ceremony, which will likely entail the shifting of flight patterns for planes inbound to O’Hare, about 10 miles to the east. On Wednesday, with a light east wind, jets, jumbo and otherwise, were flying over the course all day. ... The European team wore shirts with the Chicago skyline outlined on the front on Wednesday, the second attempt in as many days to win the crowd over. Tuesday, they wore the bright orange associated with the Bears and University of Illinois.
    – Tim Cronin