Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has insisted that Jesper Parnevik is a better choice for the team than Jose-Maria Olazabal. "Parnevik was always my favourite. I feel he's playing better than Olly at the moment. It's very important that you keep the ball in play in the Ryder Cup and Olly's main problem is his driving. Jesper is a very good driver of the ball," said Torrance.
Parnevik had surprised many by opting to play in the Air Canada Championship, a run-of-the-mill event on the USPGA tour, rather than the BMW International in Munich, which was the final Ryder Cup qualifying tournament. Olazabal needed to impress, and although he shot a 62 on Friday, three rounds of 70 were not good enough. Torrance admitted that he would have been given a big selection headache if the Spaniard had shot a 63 in the last round, and paid tribute to Olazabal's character.
"It's obviously very tough to leave out someone of his stature. He is a great player – there's no-one with a bigger heart, no-one that tries harder and no-one better in the team room," said Torrance.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
