Just when you had nearly forgotten just how exciting the game of golf can really be, around comes the Ryder Cup, golf's greatest team showcase, to remind us what we've been missing.

We get four majors every year and while I grant they are golf's ultimate measure of greatness, there is nothing quite like the excitement of the Ryder Cup, which is only administered in very
small, biennial doses and leaves us exhausted but gagging for more after every edition. So buy in a weekend's supply of crisps, dips and Coke, lay out your most comfortable outfit for three days of televisual gorging and get set for yet another roller-coaster ride of intercontinental dueling.

Now, Germany's Bernhard Langer, the European captain, is a typically
Teutonic character, meticulous and clinical in every way. One has no reason to doubt his ability as a leader and inspirational force. Bernie has chosen, as his assistants, Sweden's Joakim Haegmann and Danes Thomas Bjorn and Anders Forsbrand, three very experienced and seasoned campaigners. Nevertheless, I have taken the liberty, Bernhard, of drawing up a few suggestions for you. This being your first time as captain, I felt my advice would be invaluable to you. So, here goes.

As Europeans, we desperately want to kick the Yanks collective butts again - it's so much fun and there is no such thing as too much of a good thing! Therefore, we have to send out our most accomplished players in the best possible pairings and get them points on the board! Now, I've put a lot of thought into the matter and come up with these conclusions. First morning, foursomes. A tricky ol' format and one that the likes of Poulter and Howell, not necessarily the most consistent of players, wouldn't be particularly suited to. Monty, regardless of form leading up to the event, invariably raises his game for this chance to see off the Americans. He will love this chance even more because it's on American turf. His last two partners, your good self Bernie and Paul Lawrie, aren't in the team this time but the irrepressible Darren Clarke is. Clarkey will probably want to play with Westwood at some stage but that might not happen. He and Bjorn saw off Tiger and Azinger in the opening game at the Belfry in 2002 and who better than he to play with Monty in the opening game again this time?

Second match out will want to be a solid partnership and the tried and tested Irish duo of gritty Padraig Harrington and the fighting fit Paul McGinley, who won the World Cup of Golf in 1997, have already been making noises about playing together. So out they go.

Third up is your gamble pairing: Luke Donald and Paul Casey. They played together successfully in the Walker Cup before and I get a gut feeling they'll do it again. Lukey is playing beautifully and Case will add a bit of flair to the team. Rookies they may be but bank on them to produce the goods and, seeing as you picked Monty and Donald, one would assume that you want to play them asap!

And finally, the Spanish duo of Sergio Garcia and the eccentric Miguel Angel Jimenez. The combination of youthful exuberance and
older wisdom will work perfectly in this pairing. Yes, Garcia and Westwood worked brilliantly last time but you cannot overlook the form of the wacky Jimenez and he would relish the prospect of teaming up with Sergio. It's a testament to the strength in depth of this European team that we can leave out the likes of Westwood for this first series. In fact, the strength of the team could be a problem, as the likes of Clarke, Harrington, Westwood, Montgomerie, Garcia and Jimenez will want to play all five matches. Anyway, here's that first line-up again, along with my predicted US partnerships:

1^st Day Foursomes:

On to the fourballs and we face a bit of a dilemma here Bernie. We will, of course, have thrashed the Yanks 4 - 0 in the foursomes but the question will be: Who can we drop? We have to bring in some of the guys who haven't played yet, obviously, share the glory around a bit. Now, I reckon you can get away with not playing Howell, the lowest ranked player in the team, until Saturday morning. But Poults, Westwood and Levet will be itching to spring into action. So we have to shake things up a bit. In comes Westwood alongside his mate Sergio and Levet can play with Jimenez, as he said he would like to after the recent BMW in Munich. Clarke, Monty and Harrington can't be dropped so McGinley has to go, we move Harrington alongside Big D and see what happens with Monty and Poulter - that elder statesman and young turk combination (Monty likes babysitting!). Casey and Donald won't like being left out but they will be straight back in on Saturday.

Hal Sutton, the American captain, also faces the task of fitting in several uninspiring rookies into his line-up (Chrises Riley and DiMarco who stampeded into the
team at the eleventh hour, and Kenny Perry who qualified last year but has been in poor form since). So, here's the fourballs:

1^st Day Fourballs:

The second day Bernie, and, sitting on a nice 8 - 0 lead, we can send out Howell alongside... who? There just doesn't seem to be a likely partner for Davey. It needs to be someone who has played before and someone with a bit of fighting spirit. Padraig Harrington will do nicely. We bring back in the Casey-Donald partnership and try a Clarke-McGinley duo, both of whom get on very well together and they won a half point together in 2002. This leaves Garcia and Westwood. Jimenez's age will mean he will have to rest at least once before the singles. He has played eight weeks on the trot now, so a break will do him good.

2^nd Day Foursomes:

And, finally, with the cup all but secured, it's time to revert to tried and tested pairings. Clarke and Monty come together again. Garcia and Westwood join forces for the third series in a row and Harrington and Jimenez are paired, (they gelled reasonably well when they were rookies in 1999), making room for Poulter and Donald as the one experimental partnership. Four more victories and the cup is back on the plane to Europe before the Americans know what hit them.

2^nd Day Fourballs:

With the singles to come, and in the event of a tight match, we revert to Sam's plan of putting the entire team out in order of strength, but with Monty leading the way like last time. The skill of the players in this European team is demonstrated when you look and see the likes of Casey and Poulter near the bottom. Hal will still use the old formula of a few good players at the top, some more at the bottom and fill in the gaps with the rest.

Singles Line-Up

Now, Bernie, nothing's to say that you'll take any notice of my words of wisdom.You might even take the ruthless approach of picking four partnerships and not breaking them up at all (Clarke/Montgomerie,
Harrington/McGinley or Jimenez, Donald/Casey, Westwood/Garcia would work for me!) and maybe only give the remaining three one series. That might be the best way to win the Cup. However, this year, for the first time in the history of the event, the two teams are evenly matched. In fact, the USA's lowest ranked player, Fred Funk (57^th in the World) is only nine places above David Howell in 66^th, Europe's lowest ranked player. In the BMW, all the European team, with the exception of Harrington, finished in the top-30, Jimenez winning the event. One would not be overly outrageous in saying that the European team this year has its best ever shot at upsetting the Yanks
on home turf. David Toms, Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell, Davis Love III,
Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk have all been erratic in recent times and the likes of Riley, Funk and DiMarco, while all excellent players, will hardly paralyze the Euros with fear. The evergreen Jay Haas, Masters champ Phil Mickelson and FORMER World Number One, Tiger Woods are the only three players on the American team with any really solid form.

It's all really bubbling up nicely. Deck out the sitting room in blue and gold and get ready for another mouth-watering feast of incredible golf. That's the thing about the Ryder Cup only coming around every two years: It's all the more sweet when it finally does arrive.

BazMcStay

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