Shooting for the Cup With Backspin

SOTOGRANDE, Spain — For a 70-year-old silver trophy barely more than a foot tall and not much good for anything except hugging, the Ryder Cup is sure getting a lot of attention.

On golf’s world stage, the Ryder Cup never has looked as large as it does now, when the 32nd version of the U.S. crossing sand wedges with Europe unfolds here among the cork tees at Valderrama Golf Club, only about a Tiger Woods tee shot from the Mediterranean Sea.

More than 700 million are expected to watch the Ryder Cup on television. This also may come fairly close to the number of strokes it will take to play the 17th hole, which has everything except a windmill and a grinning clown’s head.

The United States leads the series, 23-6-2, but in the last six Ryder Cups, starting in 1985, Europe has prevailed four times. The U.S. has won twice in that span and lost the last Ryder Cup in 1995 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

That’s the bad news for the visiting team. The good news for the U.S. seems to be that the Ryder Cup may have reached a turning point that is even bigger than the one out there on the road between Marbella and Malaga.

We should begin to find out if it’s true today when the first four matches of better-ball, called four-ball in the Ryder Cup, begin at 9 a.m. That’s midnight in Los Angeles.

The pairings for this morning were announced just after the three-hour opening ceremony, which was so long that Miguel Angel Martin’s wrist healed before it was over.

Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson play Jose Maria Olazabal and Costantino Rocca. Fred Couples and Brad Faxon play Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood. Jim Furyk and Tom Lehman play Jesper Parnevik and Per-Ulrik Johansson, and Woods and Mark O’Meara play Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie.

Those are the morning pairings, but the way things are going, there may be another pairing shaping up that’s just as important: young vs. old.

Europe’s key players are aging faster (and maybe not as gracefully) as a bottle of fine vino tinto. Faldo, Rocca and Langer are 40. Ian Woosnam is 39.

In the meantime, some of the key players on the U.S. team are so young, their golf carts have training wheels.

Woods is 21. Justin Leonard is 25. Phil Mickelson is 27. Even Davis Love III is only 33. Scott Hoch is the old guy at 41, with Mark O’Meara close behind at 40.

Then there are the world rankings. The U.S. Ryder Cup team has 10 of its 12 players in the top 21. There are only five European Ryder Cup players in the top 25.

So it’s not exactly beyond speculation that time may be running out for some of Europe’s top players. How that might play into this Ryder Cup remains to be seen, much like Montgomerie’s opinion that Woods might not like it too much in the close quarters of Valderrama’s fairways.

“I guess we’ll find out if Colin’s assessment of Tiger’s game is accurate,” Tom Kite said, his jaw set firmly.

The U.S. captain said he felt good about his first pairings, which left Leonard on the sideline along with Hoch, Jeff Maggert and Lee Janzen. Furyk, a rookie like Leonard, gets into the action quickly. Kite privately informed each player of his status Thursday morning.

Seve Ballesteros, Kite’s European counterpart as team captain, handled the pairings differently. Parnevik didn’t find out from Ballesteros until he was on the putting green after his practice round.

“I said ‘Oh, well, that’s nice to know,’ ” Parnevik said. “I told Seve, ‘Why not just let us warm up tomorrow and 20 minutes before we play, you tell us who the guys are?’ ”

Parnevik laughed. Chances are there aren’t going to be too many of those things going around beginning today.

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Ryder Cup Pairings

This morning’s better-ball pairings (Afternoon alternate-shot pairings announced after those four matches are played):

* Davis Love III-Phil Mickelson vs. Jose Maria Olazabal-Costantino Rocca.

* Fred Couples-Brad Faxon vs. Nick Faldo-Lee Westwood

* Tom Lehman-Jim Furyk vs. Per-Ulrik Johansson-Jesper Parnevik

* Tiger Woods-Mark O’Meara vs. Bernhard Langer-Colin Montgomerie.

* Held out of morning play: U.S.--Scott Hoch, Lee Janzen, Justin Leonard and Jeff Maggert. EUROPE--Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Ignacio Garrido and Ian Woosnam.

Ryder Cup

* Today-Sunday

* Valderrama Golf Club, Sotogrande, Spain.

* TV today: USA,

8 a.m.-6 p.m. (delayed)