• Ryder Cup

Pavin backs rookies to stand tall

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker looked comfortable in each other's company on Tuesday © Getty Images

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Corey Pavin has backed his rookies to stand up to the pressure of the heat of battle at the Ryder Cup.

The USA has five rookies - Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Jeff Overton - on the team and they will be under the microscope in front of what is sure to be a partisan crowd in Wales.

Pavin is convinced the Celtic Manor crowd will be respectful to his USA players and believes his rookies are well prepared to take the event in their stride.

"My first Ryder Cup was Kiawah and I did not play as well as I would have liked to," Pavin said. "The golf course was hard for me; my next two I played a lot better. But I like these rookies. They are aggressive, positive players. It is kind of a different breed to the old days when I was playing. These guys are aggressive and positive and will come out firing. I have just got to make sure they are under control and looking at them today, they looked relaxed."

Recent Ryder Cups have seen crowds show courtesy to opposition teams, which was a huge improvement on some of the events of the 1990s when the galleries were particularly partisan. Pavin can understand why fans applaud and cheer when an opposition putt is missed, but feels it has been done in the right manner of late and expects the same to take place this weekend.

"The rookies will be prepared for it all," the USA captain said. "But I do not see a situation happening out there where people are going to applaud bad shots or missed putts. What I have seen in the past, and it has been nice the last few Ryder Cups, there is a nice pause when an American misses a putt. There is a pause before applause; that is the way it should be.

"There might be the odd comment here and there, but it is few and far between. I think the fans out there are respectful to both sides. The last few years, the home fans have been very respectful."

Pavin sent Tiger Woods out in partnership with Steve Stricker in practice on Tuesday and he believes they make an excellent pairing.

"They are both great players," he said. "Tiger has been No. 1 in the world for a long time and Steve was playing great last year. At the time [Presidents Cup] they were two of the top three players in the world. That is a pretty good combination. It is a solid combo. When they are playing their best golf they are tough to beat.

"When you partner up with somebody, when you win your matches you do get good chemistry. But you still have to perform and win your matches."

Pavin has yet to reveal his opening pairings and suggested there will be more changes on Wednesday.

"Hindsight will be good on Thursday when the pairings are announced," he said. "The guys are playing in groups for a reason and they will become obvious later. You will see different groupings tomorrow with practice, looking at a lot of different combinations."

Wind and rain is forecast for the weekend, but Pavin does not believe it will have much of a bearing on the outcome.

"Weather is not a big deal," he said. "You tend to ignore the weather and focus on your opponent and play the match. Whatever the weather is doing seems to be less important in the Ryder Cup, you don't pay much attention to it."

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