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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Who will be Ryder Cup captain?

Associated Press

For those who think the Americans should reduce their Ryder Cup qualifying to one year like Europe, this should be a sobering thought — Stewart Cink leads the 2006 standings, followed by Hunter Mahan and Tiger Woods.

The standings for the next U.S. team began the week after the PGA Championship, and Cink got off to a good start by winning the NEC Invitational and tying for fourth at the Canadian Open.

The bigger question is when the PGA of America will select the next U.S. captain.

Hal Sutton and Curtis Strange were interviewed during the Funai Classic at Disney, so that would be a typical timetable. And it doesn’t hurt that Mark O’Meara, Paul Azinger, Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman traditionally play Disney.

Of those four, Azinger is a lock to be captain — it’s just a matter of which year.

No one displays a greater passion for the Ryder Cup than Azinger, who mixed it up with Seve Ballesteros and fought Nick Faldo to a meaningless draw in 1993 even though he had cancer.

O’Meara has said he wants to be Ryder Cup captain and he is a logical choice given his strong relations to Ireland, site of the ‘06 matches. But while O’Meara has the best record of any other candidate — five Ryder Cup teams, two majors, 16 career victories — he upset the PGA of America in 1997 over the money it makes off the Ryder Cup.

Lehman has that Ryder Cup spirit, although his record is lacking with only five tour victories. Pavin has 14 victories, a U.S. Open and an 8-5-0 record in the three Ryder Cups he played, although he is headed for his eighth straight finish out of the top 30 on the money list, and some wonder if he has lost touch with his peers.

One other player that should not be overlooked: Fred Couples.

He is immensely popular with the players and has played on five Ryder Cup teams.

Perry withdraws

Kenny Perry has decided to withdraw from the American Express Championship next week in Ireland, which could hurt his chances of getting into the Tour Championship.

Perry is 27th on the money list, and the $7 million World Golf Championship event has no cut.