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| Sun 29-Sep-2002 11:35 (GMT) |
| Notebook: Elin's Torn Loyalties |
SUTTON COLDFIELD, England (PA) – Elin Nordegren has been Tiger Woods' No. 1 fan as well as his girlfriend this week.
She faithfully walked all four matches with Woods, rooting him on.
On Sunday, she'll do the same. But she may have some conflicting loyalties.
Woods will play Sweden's Jesper Parnevik in the last singles match. Nordegren was nanny to Parnevik's children when she met Woods.
She's also Swedish, but that didn't stop her from wearing a cross with an American flag design on it while following Woods on Saturday.
BUSH ON COURSE: Former President Bush was on hand Saturday to cheer for the American team.
He rode around The Belfry in a golf cart to watch some of the matches. Later, he talked briefly to the players in the team room.
Asked what message Bush delivered, Strange said:
''Just good luck, enjoy the day, good luck, go get 'em.''
Strange said Bush was not planning to give the team an inspirational speech. His son, President George W. Bush, gave one to the 1999 team that rallied to win on the final day. He was governor of Texas at the time.
ILL TIGER?: Tiger Woods failed to come into the media room for questions for a second straight day, leading one journalist to ask Strange if his star player was sick.
''No, he's fine,'' Strange said.
Asked if Woods was just sick of being asked questions, Strange said that wasn't his department to worry about.
''I'm not in charge of that. I have other duties. When I finish, I have to make pairings and I have to do this and I have to come over here. I really don't know why he hasn't come over here.''
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The crowds at The Belfry have been large and appreciative of the European team. Torrance is trying his best to get them to be even more vocal on Sunday.
The European captain stacked his best players at the beginning of the lineup for the 12 singles matches, hoping that they will ignite the crowd and spread momentum to other players.
It's completely opposite of the European strategy at Brookline, where the best players were held until last and the momentum swung to the American side.
''Of course they'll be behind my side,'' Torrance said. ''There were more Europeans than Americans and they'll be for us. It's a tremendous advantage, the home advantage.''
GLASS HALF FULL: Before the Ryder Cup began, it was pretty much expected that Europe would have to take a lead after the team matches because the United States is traditionally stronger in singles.
The U.S. team has won more singles matches in nine of the last 11 Ryder Cups, including the 8½-3½ pasting in 1999 that gave America the Cup.
After playing to an 8-8 tie after two days, however, the Europeans were putting a little different spin on things.
''I'm not disappointed that we're level going into the last day,'' Westwood said.
Neither was Garcia, who teamed with Westwood to give Europe three of its eight points.
''If we play well, we're better than anybody,'' Garcia said. ''So we've just got to go out and play well, have a good start and get it done early.''
DIVOTS: Tiger Woods made seven birdies and could have added two more on short putts if Love hadn't already birdied those holes. Still, he needed Garcia and Westwood to miss short putts to win his best ball match. ... Woods is now 2-2 this year and 5-8-1 overall in Ryder Cup play. ... Parnevik's pairing with Garcia was the first time he has played in this Cup. ... Nick Faldo, who has more Ryder Cup points than anyone (25) is spending the competition in a broadcast booth as an analyst for NBC.
Copyright © 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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