Pavin talks injuries; impressed by recent play of young guns

PGA.com Interactive Producer T.J. Auclair caught up with Corey Pavin during the U.S. Ryder Cup captain's preparations for the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas. During their conversation, Pavin talked about the injuries to Anthony Kim and Tiger Woods and also said he was impressed with the young guns.

By T.J. Auclair
PGA.com Interactive Producer

The 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in City of Newport, Wales, is still months away, but U.S. Captain Corey Pavin is excited about what he's starting to see in the standings.

Several under-the-age-of-30 players, namely Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan and Dustin Johnson are among the top 10, while the likes of Nick Watney, J.B. Holmes, Ricky Barnes, Bill Haas and Rickie Fowler are inside the top 20.

"It's great to see that," Pavin said Wednesday in Dallas, where he is preparing for the HP Byron Nelson Championship. "That was one of the big positives of the team in 2008. There were young players on that team who had won tournaments. There were six rookies at Valhalla and I think that made a difference. It's great to see them playing so well and I hope they keep playing well. I want it to be real competitive up there and I've made it clear to everyone that they have to play well to make my team. The young guys want it so badly and so do the veterans."

So what is it with all the younger players stepping up? For years and years, the U.S. Ryder Cup team was loaded with veterans, seemingly fielding the same core players every two years.

That trend was broken at Valhalla with the six rookies and Pavin believes a new trend has started.

"It's just a cyclical thing," Pavin said. "A group of young players are coming up and winning. For a long time on our side we had veterans making it over and over again. It had to change at some point in time. A lot of young guys are winning, finally. It was a negative before without new players. It's very positive for us now, you know, having that new blood. It's positive for the Europeans, too. Just look at Rory McIlroy. That was a hell of a final round he had at Quail Hollow. He played great. He made the cut on the button and then went out and won it by five. It was pretty impressive. Those kinds of weekends come few and far between."

The one question mark amongst those young guns, health-wise, is Kim. He's currently ranked No. 2 in the U.S. standings, but withdrew from the Players Championship three weeks ago to get much needed surgery on his left thumb.

Pavin said once he saw that Kim had withdrawn from the Players, he contacted the 24-year-old to inquire about the thumb. At that point, Kim had already had the surgery, which is expected to have him shelved 10-12 weeks and will cause him to miss the U.S. Open and the Open Championship where Ryder Cup points are worth double.

Being absent from the PGA Tour no doubt means Kim will plunge in the standings. He knows that, which is why Kim stressed to Pavin during their conversation after the surgery that he very much wants to be a member of the U.S. team in Wales.

"I told him I was glad he made so many points before the surgery," Pavin said. "I want to see how he's playing when he comes back though. I'd like him to come back and play well; obviously, we just have to see what he does. I'll assess the situation when it happens."

That said Pavin called Kim the "prototypical Ryder Cup player," because of the intangible enthusiasm he brings.

"I told him that he's the type of player you want on the Ryder Cup team," Pavin said. "He's very talented and enthusiastic. He wants to win his matches. He's as competitive a person as I've seen on Tour in a long time. But again, you still have to make the team. All those things have to come together. Let's put it this way, he's the type of player I look at as a prototypical Ryder Cup player."

In terms of the veterans, Pavin is understandably pleased with the play of U.S. stalwarts Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson. Furyk has two wins already in 2010 and is currently No. 3 in the standings. Mickelson, meanwhile, had a slow start to the season before winning the Masters and finishing second at the Players Championship to hold the No. 1 spot.

"Furyk has made a big move and Phil looks to have solidified a spot - I don't know the math, but I don't think Phil can fall out now," Pavin said. "I think Phil loves the Ryder Cup and the competition. I saw him at Augusta on Wednesday and reminded him he wasn't in the top 8 yet [at the time]. He said, 'Don't worry, Captain,' and went out and won the Masters. That was good. Phil did well there. I want him playing well. I can't tell you how many Ryder Cups he's played in, but I think it's every one since 1995. He's got great experience and he's definitely a guy you want."

Finally, there's the matter of the man currently holding on to the No. 10 spot in the U.S. standings, Tiger Woods.

After a brilliant tie for fourth at the Masters that seemed to pipe down the naysayers who wondered how Woods would perform after a self-imposed, five-month exile from the game, things have turned sour on the course.

Woods dreadfully missed the cut at Quail Hollow - just his sixth career missed cut on Tour - and then withdrew from the Players on the seventh hole in the third round with a neck injury. Two days later, Hank Haney resigned as Woods' coach and then Woods said he'd be sidelined for a while with an inflamed neck joint.

"It's good that the neck injury is not a disc or something that requires more than rest," Pavin said. "Again, Tiger's another player I'm looking at, obviously. But as I've said with everyone else it depends on how he performs to see what position he's in and how I feel about that. Just because he's Tiger Woods and undoubtedly has an incredibly awesome record in the past, it comes down to how he plays over the next few months. We'll sit down and have that conversation when the time comes."

As for his own game, Pavin is happy with where he is at the moment. His last three starts on the Champions Tour have yielded a second-place finish, a tie for 17th and a seventh last weekend in the Regions Charity Classic.

"I'm hitting the ball as good as I ever have," Pavin said. "My putter has let me down a little. Last week I was 13 under for three rounds at the Regions Charity Classic and felt I left a lot on the greens. I'm excited about how I'm playing right now."