Let the Ryder Cup mind-games commence

US Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has been indulging in mind games praising the European team ahead of the tournament. The American skipper was waxing lyrical over Nick Faldo’s team as he analysed his opponent’s prospects.

“You brought a great team over here again,” he told Faldo. “I’ve been kind of marvelling at how well all of you guys have been playing.” This was nice to hear since “kind of marvelling” is one of Polite Applause’s favourite pastimes too.

And did he stop there? You can bet your plaid pants he didn’t. More gushing Azinger after the jump.

He then went on to praise players that Faldo had not even picked! “I’m not going to try to justify why Nick didn’t pick Darren Clarke,” he said, suggesting that there was no justification for not picking Darren Clarke. “He just brought over 12 pretty darned good players and he had a couple more that he could have chosen. If it was 14 players, I’m pretty sure I know who the other two would be, but it’s only 12.”

Is he trying to make Faldo jealous of his affection for the European team? A sneaky ploy…