THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008
SPORTS
7B
PGA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pavin to lead as Ryder Cup captain; will aim for consecutive U.S. victories
United States team captain Paul Azinger waves to spectators while speaking at the Ryder Cup opening ceremonies at the Vailahole Golf Club, in Louisville, Ky. in September. Azinger will not return as U.S. captain in the Ryder Cup after leading the Americans to their only victory this decade. The PGA of America will announce the new captain, Corey Pavin, Thursday.
BY DOUG FERGUSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Corey Pavin has been selected as the next U.S. captain in the Ryder Cup, leading the team 15 years after last competing in the matches, two officials with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press.
Pavin, who will be introduced
as captain
Thursday morning
in New York, will be responsible for bringing the Americans consecutive victories in the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1993.
The officials spoke on
"It makes sense to choose Corey, with his history and everything in the event. I think he'll do a great job."
at Shinnecock Hills, during a career in which his grit, ball control and short game made up for his lack of power off the tee.
condition of anonymity because Pavin's selection has not been announced.
The 2010 Ryder Cup will be played at Celtic Manor in Wales. The Americans have not won in Europe since The Belfry in 1993.
He went 8-5-0 in his three Ryder Cup appearances, two of them on winning teams, but has not played since 1995 at Oak Hill. He was an assistant to Tom Lehman in 2006 in Ireland, where Europe won by a record margin for the second
The PGA of America elected not to give Paul Azinger the captaincy for the second straight time after the Americans, without Tiger Woods, ended a decade of losing to Europe with a $16^{\frac{1}{2}}-11^{\frac{1}{2}}$ victory at Valhalla.
JUSTIN LEONARD PGA golfer
straight time.
"It makes sense to choose Corey, with his history and everything in the event," Justin Leonard said. "I think he'll do a great job. As a team, we learned a lot this year that we'll be
able to apply to the Presidents Cup next year and the Ryder Cup in "10."
Only one other U.S. captain has been selected after such a long gap since playing — Dave Marr in 1981, after last playing in 1965.
The Americans have not had a captain in consecutive Ryder Cups since Ben Hogan in the 1947 and 1949. U.S. players lobbied for Azinger to return the night of their victory at Valhalla, and only recently has he said he might be interested.
It was Azinger who persuaded the PGA to modernize its qualifying process by basing the points strictly off money, emphasizing performance the year of the matches, and doubling his captain's picks to four.
"I would have liked the opportunity to do it again," Azinger said when contacted Wednesday. "But I support their decision to move on."
Pavin likely will face more scrutiny than any other captain since Lanny Wadkins in 1995, when the Americans were coming off consecutive victories. The only other U.S. captain since who tried to defend the cup was Curtis Strange in 2002, but the emphasis that year was on restoring civility to the matches and the one-year postponement brought on by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Even so, Pavin appeared to be the only logical choice from the PGA model — a major champion in his late 40s with Ryder Cup experience. Davis Love III, a lock to be captain one year, said in September he still felt he could make the team as a player.
PGA of America chief executive Joe Sterania seemed cool to the idea of a repeat captain, saying there were more candidates than Ryder Cups to go around.
Leonard thought Azinger was at least half-interested in returning, but was not surprised by the
decision.
"The PGA of America kind of views those Ryder Cup captaincies as a real career achievement," he said. "When you've played as many Ryder Cups as guys like Zinger and Corey and you see how important it is to those guys, it's natural for them to want to be captain. And the PGA of America realizes that."
"They want what's best for the event," he said. "At the same time, they want to spread that around."
The 49-year-old Pavin last won in 2006 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and thought he might make the Ryder Cup team. Instead, he served as one of the assistants for Tom Lehman as the Americans lost all five sessions for the first time in an $18\%$ - $9\frac{1}{2}$ European victory.
His best performance in the Ryder Cup was his last one, when he went 4-1 in 1995 at Oak Hill. His signature moment came in a fourballs match Saturday afternoon, when he chipped in for birdie on the 18th hole to team with Loren Roberts for a 1-up victory over Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer, giving the Americans a 9-7 lead going into the final day.
Pavin was among only four Americans to win singles matches, however, and Europe rallied for a victory to start a stretch in which it won five of the next six Ryder Cups.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Red Raiders' Harrell is 'no-brainer' for Heisman
LUBBOCK, Texas — Heisman Trophy voters probably needed no introduction to Graham Harrell before the season started.
The Texas Tech quarterback had produced Heisman-like numbers for two years, Just like his predecessors in coach Mike Leach's passer-friendly offense.
senior year, except in the standings. That's where Harrell set himself apart.
With Harrell leading the way, the Red Raiders had their first 10-0 start in 70 years, beat a No.1 team for the first time and climbed higher in the polls than ever before, to No.2.
The numbers were similar his
Along the way, Harrell moved within two touchdown passes of breaking the NCAA career record and set plenty of Big 12 marks — likely earning a spot among the
Last week, Leach called Harrell a "no-brainer" to win the Heisman because of his leadership, poise and courage.
"He doesn't have the supporting cast a whole bunch of those other guys have and yet he's more productive, he's got more yards, more touchdowns, more, more, more." Leach said.
where Harrell had one first-half touchdown while Tech fell behind 35-7 in a showdown with one of the Heisman favorites, Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford. Harrell said his 4,747 yards and 41 touchdowns probably won't be enough to overcome Tech's only loss.
finalists headed to New York for Saturday's Heisman ceremony.
"In the past it didn't matter so much about a team, but now I think that's all it does matter, is how well your team did," Harrell said.
But here's the problem: a late season 65-21 loss at Oklahoma.
Rookie linebacker is a 'playmaker'
Denver Broncos linebacker WesleyWOydard storms Oakland Raiders running back Justin Fargas at the goal line during an NFL football game in Denver on Nov. 23.
BY ARNIE STAPLETON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos were about to go down for the count when rocket-armed quarterback Jay Cutler came to the rescue along with a most unlikely sidekick — an undrafted, undersized and largely unknown rookie linebacker named Wesley Woodyard.
NFL
During Williams' absence, Woodyard has recorded 50 tackles in his five starts on the weak side, leading Denver (8-5) to the brink of a playoff berth with four wins in five weeks.
Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme, whose Panthers (10-3) host the Broncos on Sunday, said he's impressed with Denver's entire makeshift defense — but one guy stands out above the rest.
Or so everybody thought.
Things looked bleak for the Broncos when D.J. Williams, fresh off signing a six-year, $32 million contract that solidified his standing as Denver's defensive leader, went down with a knee injury on Nov. 2.
"I'll tell you what, the more film you watch ... Woodyard keeps on making plays, especially the last couple of weeks," Delhomme said.
Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey had just chewed out his teammates for lacking a nasty attitude and the bungling Broncos were sitting ugly at 4-4 with a three-game losing streak.
The injury-riddled Broncos, who had already lost strongside linebacker Boss Bailey for the year and would lose middle linebacker Nate Webster the following week, turned to a free agent from the University of Kentucky who is generously listed at 230 pounds and was ignored in the draft because he's too small.
Woodyard said he's ready for a reduced role if that's what it comes to.
"D.J.'s the captain of our defense. You've got to give all respect to him. I'm ready to accept my role on the team like I did in the preseason," Woodyard said. "I'm going to be a playmaker whether on special teams or defense."
It doesn't seem likely the team's savior will spend much time on the sideline in December, though.
"If he keeps playing like that, they'll find a way to keep him on the field," cornerback Dre' Bly said.
Two weeks ago, Woodyard had 13 tackles, 11 of them solo, and forced a fumble by Favre in Denver's statement win over the New York lets.
One possibility is keeping Woodyard where he is and moving Williams back to the middle.
Against Kansas City last week, he led the team with eight solo tackles and broke up a pass in another crucial win.
"Wesley's one of those things you call a diamond in the rough," teammate Kenny Peterson said Wednesday. "He's 200-what?
Two-hundred-30 pounds.
Williams is inching his way back to health, and that begs the question: How can the Broncos possibly take Woodyard out of the lineup when Williams returns?
The way Woodyard sees it, the more depth at his position, the better.
"Oh?" Peterson reacted, surprised. "I was going to say 210 soaking wet with two jogging suits on.
"Yeah, he's a playmaker," coach Mike Shahan said. "We'll try to keep him out there as much as we can. He's fun to watch, both on defense and special teams."
"But he hits like a 280-pound guv"
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