In addition to jockeying for FedEx Cup position, this week on the PGA Tour was supposed to be a week where the some of the American Ryder Cup hopefuls started to establish themselves as rounding into form to be one of Captain Azinger’s wild card selections. Perhaps a couple did that, most notably Scott McCarron and Jerry Kelly. Instead it turned into an American nightmare as Carl Pettersson dominated the field and firmly established himself as a likely European Ryder Cup participant. Captain Faldo was surely watching as he performed extremely well under the enormous pressure of winning his hometown event.

Looking closely at Pettersson’s record reveals that he plays tough American style courses very well, this would bode well for him at Valhalla next month. His best performances came at the most prestigious events. There was an eighth place at Bay Hill, Arnold Palmer’s home course. Then there was a fourth place finish in Dallas at the Byron Nelson, followed a few weeks later by a tenth place at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial tournament. Totally shrouded by all the Tiger Woods/Rocco Mediate hoopla was Petterson’s sixth place finish at Torrey Pines in the U. S. Open.

As thorough a man as Nick Faldo is, you can bet this little bit of information hasn’t gone unnoticed.

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