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Golf Digest, Sept, 2001 by John Hawkins, Tim Rosaforte

Love: He has more fun than people would expect, playing video games with Katherine Crenshaw [the Crenshaws' 11-year-old daughter], goofing around with O'Meara and some of the girls. Julie Crenshaw: He taught Katherine how to play Bloody Roar [a video game]. Wednesday night at the gala, she's in a long dress, he's in his tux, and they're playing.

Love: Somebody said something about Tiger's fist pump. Hal says, "Hey, I invented that! I was doing that before you was born."

Julie Crenshaw: Tiger's the future of the Ryder Cup, and you need him to love it and want to play in it. When he said, "I'm happy. I wake up with a smile on my face; I'm happy to come in and see my friends," that was it.

Sutton: Tiger always seems guarded, but he didn't seem guarded sitting on that piano. It was like, "OK, I'm going to let you all know me for a minute." I understand why he's that way, but he felt comfortable in front of all of us.

Maggert: I noticed a big difference between 1999 and 1997. In '97, he really didn't know how he fit into the team, mainly because of his age. He tried so hard at Valderrama, but sometimes when you try that hard you get in the way of yourself.

Pate: I remember Tiger had taken some heat about things he said over the course of six months. He thought he had to clear the air, and he did. And that was real good. But he's not the guy who's going to sit there and talk everybody up.

O'Meara: I think he's slowly accepting the responsibility of being a leader, a guy who needs to stand up and make the call so young players can rally around him. He's a great competitor and he wants to win, but I'm not sure he wants to show all his cards to his fellow competitors.

Lietzke: He was a little out of character most of the week. He was extra quiet on the golf course and off the golf course. I felt the urge to watch him celebrate afterward, and he became a little more outgoing. That's the Tiger we're learning about.

Morning glory

Hoping to pull off the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history, the U.S. players arrived in small groups Sunday morning. They needed to win 811/42 of 12 points to beat the Europeans, a total not achieved in the singles matches since the U.S. did it to win by six points in 1979.

Andrew Coltart: I was walking to our van when Tom Lehman came out and got in with me. It was strange--just him and me chatting, then he got up and walked out just as Darren Clarke was getting in. For whatever reason, he decided it wasn't the right thing to do. I saw no reason why we couldn't go over in the same van.

Lehman: I figured they'd want to ride together. It wasn't like, "You guys are here and I'm leaving." It was more like, "I feel like I'm imposing. I don't want to cramp your style." I would have ridden out with Coltart, but two of their team members, that's a different story. I didn't think it was a big deal, and I hope they didn't think it was, either.

Sutton: I got there early and told the trainer, "You've got to work a miracle on me." I told my wife when I laid down Saturday night, "I don't know if I can do this tomorrow or not." My shoulder was bothering me. I don't know if it was from pumping my fist or not. I was just tired. I had gone all the way, and all my matches had gone almost to the end.