Ryder Cuppers Rounding Into Dismal Form As Cup Nears

With four of the five contenders for the $10 million FedExCup prize and the format leaving the points chase up to a riveting algorithm race, attention is already turning to how the Ryder Cuppers are faring.

Luke Donald has the round one lead while Paul Casey is right there so…oh well, one bit of good news for Monty. I was, however, surprised by Donald's quotes about the omission of Casey in this Lawrence Donegan story.

"I was certainly – what's the right word? – surprised he wasn't one of the three picks," he says. "I thought his name would have been before mine. He's a great match player, with a great matchplay record. He hits the ball long and straight off the tee, which is not a bad thing to have around Celtic Manor, and he is a decent putter. I'm not sure if we should blame Monty or the selection process for what happened."

Meanwhile as Casey eyes a possible $13 million payday, Padraig Harrington fired a 68 at the Vivendi Pro-Am and trails by seven. But he offered some Yogi Berraesque thoughts on his beleaguered game.

“If I had putted well it would have been a tremendous score,” Harrington said. “You have to hole putts to shoot a low number. I could see the two weeks of practice I’ve just done and I got stalled over the ball a bit, but another three rounds will do me no end of good.”

On the American side, Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton are stinking it up, but at least Bubba knows why, according to Jason Sobel.

"The golf course doesn't set up good for me," Watson said. "I've never played good here -- never played close to good here -- and that's the difference. Just not a fan of the golf course. It just doesn't set up good for me."

As for Overton, his round was doomed from the beginning.

"I missed a 2-footer on the first hole, then hit a bad 8-iron on the second hole," he explained. "It's just one of those things where I really didn't get into the round right away, for some reason."