AZINGER UPS THE ANTE RYDER CUP RYDER CUP American's innovative

Sunday Herald, The, Sep 28, 2008 by Alan Campbell

'BRING your waterproofs, ' urged Nick Faldo, in one of his final gaffes before exiting as European Ryder Cup captain. The Englishman, having just watched his side go down 16.5-11.5 to the Americans, didn't endear himself to the Welsh organisers of the 2010 match at Celtic Manor with his insensitive exhortation at the closing ceremony.

Yet, in predicting rain for the Newport area in October two years hence, Faldo made a rare sound call at the end of a bad week in Valhalla. Tropical it certainly won't be, as the leaves come tumbling down.

Nor is there the remotest chance that Faldo will be invited to captain the European side again at Celtic Manor. The process of selecting the man to succeed him will get under way at St Andrews this week when the European Tour's tournament committee, led by chairman Thomas Bjorn, discusses the matter at the Dunhill Links Championship.

The job is Jose Maria Olazabal's if he wants it. The only problem is that he probably won't. The Spaniard, who was Faldo's assistant in Kentucky, is popular with the players and well qualified. But despite health problems, the 42-year-old still harbours thoughts about playing his way into the 2010 side.

Hell will apparently freeze over before Sandy Lyle is given the opportunity to captain Europe. In any event, it is time for another non-British captain, even if there will be an inevitable clamour for Ian Woosnam to get a second shot in the land of his birth. Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer have been the only two outwith these islands to take charge of the European side, and a third is now due.

If Olazabal declines, the tournament committee may well turn to its chairman. Bjorn, the first Dane to play in the Ryder Cup, is a passionate man who would relish the opportunity to captain the side if not playing in it.The only real blemish on Bjorn's record is his outburst against Woosnam when he was overlooked for the 2006 team, but while that wouldn't have played well in Wales it was understandable in the heat of the moment. If anything it underlined the Dane's commitment and desire.

According to some the role of the captain is overestimated, but in Kentucky Paul Azinger demonstrated just how vital thoughtful leadership can be.

Although it was his players who executed the American win, Azinger elevated the captaincy to a higher cerebral level.

Up until last week there had been two types of Ryder Cup leader. The first crossed his fingers and relied on his players to do the job for him. The second, and unsurprisingly more successful, went in for detail and team bonding.

While the latter group, which includes Langer and Sam Torrance, put time and thought into their pairings and singles line-ups, none had the tactical depth which Azinger revealed in the aftermath of victory. In retrospect the plan was simple, but by Ryder Cup standards it was imaginative and innovative.

Recognising that recent American sides have been accused of lacking the team ethos, Azinger split his side into three clusters of four, largely based on their personalities. He claims to have formed the idea after watching a documentary on special operations forces.

Thus the first "aggressive" group was Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan and Justin Leonard. They played together in the foursomes and fourballs, as well as leading off the singles. The third cluster, based on their steadiness, was Chad Campbell, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis and Steve Stricker.

They, too, played together and anchored the singles.

The second - and, as it transpired, crucial - grouping was that of Jim Furyk, JB Holmes, Kenny Perry and Boo Weekley.

Despite Kim's important demolition of Sergio Garcia in the opening singles match, it was in the middle order that the Ryder Cup was won and lost. Holmes and Perry, both from Kentucky, delighted the home galleries with pumped-up successes, as did the star of the show, Weekley. Furyk, meanwhile, sank the winning putt.

A vice-captain was assigned to each cluster, freeing up Azinger to lead from wherever the front happened to be.

His players might have won it for him anyway, but in adopting these sophisticated tactics Azinger gave them every chance against a European side who by comparison were disorganised and complacent. The revelation that Faldo more or less allowed the players to decide the singles batting order on Saturday night is particularly damning.

Amazingly, given his legendary attention to detail as a player, Faldo turned out to be a captain who kept his fingers crossed. His instinct proved correct in giving Ian Poulter a wild card, but that was an isolated moment of clarity before a dreadful week for the man in charge of the pre-match favourites.