Pavin calls in four assistants

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February 5, 2010

Corey Pavin has named no fewer than four vice-captains for the Ryder Cup match at Celtic Manor in October.

Corey Pavin has named no fewer than four vice-captains for the Ryder Cup match at Celtic Manor in October.
They are Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman, Davis Love and Paul Goydos.
Pavin himself acted as assistant to Lehman at The K Club near Dublin four years ago when Europe team recorded a record-equalling nine-point victory over the Americans.
Love, who is seen as a probable future captain, still wants to make a seventh appearance as a player, but has accepted Pavin’s invitation.
Sluman served as Jack Nicklaus’s vice-captain in three Presidents Cup matches, but being part of the backroom staff will be a new experience for PGA Tour player Goydos.
He described it as “an unbelievable honour”, but said he will also be trying to play his way into the side.
“If they do make the team I will come up with an alternative,” said Pavin.
Much of the credit for America winning back the trophy in Louisville in 2008 was given to captain Paul Azinger and his use of assistants Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton and Olin Browne.
Floyd and Stockton were both ex-captains, Browne a popular US Tour player and the trio were each given four team members to handle during the week.
Opposite number Nick Faldo, in contrast, had only Jose Maria Olazabal in an official capacity following the resignation of Paul McGinley and drew criticism for calling on son Matthew and radio presenter DJ Spoony as additional helpers.
His successor Colin Montgomerie is planning four vice-captains like Pavin. None has been announced yet, but McGinley and Dane Thomas Bjorn are pencilled in and Olazabal, a near-certainty to lead Europe in 2012, is likely to be offered the chance to come on board again.
Although they are the holders, the United States have not won on European soil since The Belfry in 1993. They were subsequently beaten at Valderrama, once more at The Belfry and then at The K Club.

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