Matt's Ryder Cup Notes

We're here to play Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell. Our fearless leader is still doing his best to suffer through being forced to spend a day following around the world's best golfers and mingling with thousands of of UK fans, so I'll have to relay all of the happenings of the Ryder Cup to you, my fellow nine-to-fiver, for him. I just got off of the phone with him and he had a couple of notes worth relaying. (1) Before Kenny Perry choked away a victory by missing a 10-foot putt on 17 and driving it into the water on 18, Matt sat down with his father, who was sporting overalls and keeping it real in a Kentucky way. According to Matt, Mr. Perry is "the nicest guy ever" and confirmed that he is a huge UK fan. When Matt asked him who his favorite player was, he replied, "That Jodie Meeks fellow seems like he's a real nice guy". I would have to agree. (2) There are a lot of people you would expect to bump into at Valhalla this weekend, but is former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson one of them? Matt had a brief encounter with one of the pioneers of plaid this afternoon when he took a break from trying to guess Mickelson's bra size. When Matt shouted a hello to him, Sanderson, unlike Dick Vitale, actually responded and said that he didn't think anyone would still recognize him. Matt not only said that he recognized him, but that he was wearing a plaid under shirt in his honor. Sanderson responded to this by looking straight at him and said flatly, "I really hope that's not true" and turned around and walked away. (3) Matt says that Justin Rose and Ian Poulter look like Ace and Gary. I haven't watched one second of Ryder Cup coverage yet and I think this might be the most astute observation yet. Rose and Poulter are two peas in an ambiguosly European pod. (4) The thing Matt was most adamant about, though, was that the crowd is absolutely nuts at Valhalla right now. The atmosphere is unbelievable and there are tons of people sporting UK gear. Things were rocking this morning and Perry had a huge following but this afternoon's pairing of J.B. Holmes and fan-favorite Boo Weekley has the chance to be completely absurd. So, after the Friday morning foursomes, the supposedly overmatched U.S. team won two and halved the other two. With the best-ball matches just beginning and UK's own teeing off later this afternoon, this has the potential to be a historic day in the landscape of local sports.