From the time he was appointed captain of the US Ryder Cup team, Paul Azinger has been determined to do everything he could to regain the trophy and prevent Europe from winning it for a fourth time in a row, for a sixth time out of the past seven and the eighth time since 1981. Azinger, a very steely competitor and a very patriotic man, improved the selection system for the US team by increasing the number of picks and gave himself more time to make his chjoices.

Are Azinger and the PGA of America now trying to work out a way of getting Tiger Woods, the world No 1, to Louisville to support his team-mates, even though he is doing some well publicised rehabilitation after his knee operation and does not expect even to hit a golf ball until early next year? There is reason to believe that some such stunt is in the making.

Earlier this week Azinger revealed that he intends to have an open telephone line to Woods during the three days' of competition. "Tiger is very astute," Azinger said during a press conference in New York. "I didn't think it was fair to ask Tiger to participate in the selection process in any way. But I am kind of curious how he feels as the event unfolds throughout the week. He's really intelligent and he has a great golf mind, so I'm looking forward to talking to him."

Azinger was asked whether he would encourage Woods to be in attendance, for a few hours or a few days, and he was coy in his answer. "It has not been confirmed," he replied. Note the words he used, which suggests that it has been brought up and an answer is awaited. "Tiger's focused on rehab and he needs to do what's best for his body," Azinger continued.

It was pointed out to the US captain that Woods had been seen in New York recently for the launch of a new video game and that therefore a trip to Kentucky might not be too demanding. "We haven't talked about about it yet," Azinger said. "I'll talk to Tiger but we haven't discussed that."

Let me make a prediction: Woods will appear in the US team room at some time during the three-day event. Either he will be there in person or he will have recorded a stirring message to his countrymen. This will be the first Ryder Cup in which an eligible Tiger Woods has not played but it will not be the first in which he does not make an appearance.

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Playing golf at Carton House near Dublin recently I came across the following sign on the 1st tee of the Montgomerie course, in front of which runs a river. The sign was so quintessentially Irish I thought I would reproduce it here. It read:

"The River Rye is the border between Co Meath and Co Kildare. On the tee your ball is in Meath. When it lands it should be in Kildare."

Needless to say, while all of our golf balls took off from Co Meath and some did indeed land in Co Kildare, some did not.

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Two decisions made recently are worrying. The first is by the Ladies Professional Golf Association in the US, the LPGA, namely that the Korean players who dominate the LPGA tour must learn English in order to promote themselves better in the US. The LPGA have said that the Koreans have to improve their English by the end of next year or they will risk being suspended.