In the relative calm before the Europe and the United States resume their fierce Ryder Cup rivalry,players made the most of a chance to catch their breath at a sun-kissed Medinah Country Club. European captain Jose Maria Olazabal put his men through a light trot,sending them out to play nine holes before giving them the rest of the day off to relax and forget about the battle to defend the trophy that lies ahead. The US team,on the other hand,put in some serious practise but by the end of the day it was their table tennis prowess that was the focus of attention. Even if Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson blew the competition away in tandem on the table tennis table,they were not trying to pretend they have done the same as a Ryder Cup partnership. Famously at Oakland Hills in 2004,captain Hal Sutton played the ultimate hunch by matching Woods with his long-time rival in a combination that failed miserably. The excitement and tension will be ratcheted up another notch on Thursday when the captains unveil the all-important pairings. The resulting match-ups for Fridays opening foursomes have been the source of tremendous speculation since the players arrived at Medinah. One possible US pairing that Love must consider is Woods and Steve Stricker,who formed a successful partnership two years ago in Wales and won two of three matches against the Europeans in a losing cause.
