ShareThisThe images from Ireland in 2006 offered a vivid illustration of the vast difference between Ryder Cup glory and defeat. There stood the Europeans on a K Club balcony, smiling and laughing and joyously drenching each other in champagne. And there sat the Americans alongside the edge of one green, raising their arms in frustration as another disobedient putt slid past the hole.Of course, similar scenes unfolded at Oakland Hills in 2004 ... and The Belfry in '02 ... and Valderrama in '97 ... and Oak Hill in '95.Not to suggest this has turned into golf's equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters thrashing the Washington Generals, but it sure seems headed that way. Europe enters this week's 37th Ryder Cup, starting Friday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on an unprecedented roll in the game's most prestigious team competition.The U.S. had not lost the event three consecutive times -- until '06. The U.S. had not endured a whipping as lopsided as the one it absorbed at Oakland Hills -- until it happened again at the K Club. The U.S. had not legitimately approached a Ryder Cup as the clear and overwhelming underdog -- until now. If not for a dramatic final day rally at Brookline in 1999, the U.S. would be riding at six consecutive Cup losses.So it makes sense, then, for this year's American captain, Paul Azinger, to tinker with tradition. Azinger, in a bold and radical attempt to revive his country's sagging fortunes, has tried everything short of renaming the event.Too much emphasis on the previous year's results? Here's a new points system.Not enough control for the captain? Here are four at-large picks instead of two.Not happy with the format? Flip it and play foursomes first.Once the tumult cleared, Azinger found himself without Tiger Woods (recovering from knee surgery) and with six Ryder Cup rookies on his 12-man team. This lack of Cup experience seems like a treacherous formula, though Azinger raised a salient point in response."We've lost five of the last six," he said, "so anybody who has played in the Ryder Cup in the last 12 years, most of their experiences are bad experiences."In changing the selection process, Azinger sought to reward players who shined in 2008 rather than '07. He ended up with six players who have won at least one PGA Tour event this year: Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley.Azinger also hopes the course conditions at Valhalla -- the host captain decides how to set up the course -- will help the U.S. stop its skid. The American team includes several players who drive the ball long and not always straight -- most notably J.B. Holmes, Mickelson, Kim and Cink -- so Azinger ordered modest rough and wider-than-usual fairways."I think Europe has been able to exploit an advantage, trying to neutralize powerful teams," Azinger said earlier this month. "I just didn't want anyone to feel handcuffed off the tee (at Valhalla). Well, I don't care if Europe feels handcuffed, but I don't want our guys to feel handcuffed."Much as the Americans will feature a cluster of Ryder Cup newcomers, so will the Europeans. Four Cup rookies made the European team -- Justin Rose, Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson and Graeme McDowell -- and captain Nick Faldo bypassed veterans Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke in making his at-large choices.(E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick@sfchronicle.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
U.S. needs change of Ryder Cup luck
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