On the Thursday of Ryder Cup week at Brookline last September, we had the usual press conferences with the captains of both teams. When asked by Paul Kimmage of the Sunday Independent how Padraig Harrington had learned of his selection in the opening series of foursomes, Mark James, captain of the European side, replied: "I said `Padraig, you're playing tomorrow with Miguel (Jimenez)'."
Whether it was intended to embarrass Kimmage or not, the response brought peals of laughter from the assembled scribes, as I suspect James knew it would. The really interesting part, however, is that the Yorkshireman thought the exchange worthy of inclusion in his book Into the Bear Pit: The hard-hitting inside story of the Brookline Ryder Cup. It was accompanied by the comment: "I could not understand why this bit of dialogue, for instance, should have brought the roof down."
Judging by the book, there is much that James does not understand. For instance, in attempting to explain a fine of £1,500 imposed by the PGA European Tour for his non-conformist behaviour as a player in the 1979 Ryder Cup, he writes about being unlucky in falling foul of authority. He also refers to a generation gap between himself and the older team members, as contributing to their lack of undertstanding.
Now, when confronted with a storm of controversy over his treatment of Nick Faldo in the book, James is once more baffled by people's reaction. Nor does he find anything odd about his statement in the preface, that when informed there might be "a few bob" in a book on his experience as European skipper: "My ears pricked up and I started listening."
The Ryder Cup at Brookline was probably the most disttasteful in the history of the biennial series. This could be attributed to an unruly element in the attendance, who were clearly hostile towards the European side and to Colin Montgomerie in particular. In fact the player's father, James, was so upset by the invective being hurled at his son, that he found it necessary to depart the scene.
Then there was the unruly behaviour of certain members of the American team and their entourage. When Justin Leonard sank a 45-foot putt on the 17th green, apparently guaranteeing a halved match with Jose-Maria Olazabal and overall victory for his team, the green was invaded by triumphalist players, wives and hangers-on, oblivious to the presence of the Spaniard who actually had a putt to keep the battle alive.
It was this behaviour which Michael Bonallack, outgoing secretary of the Royal and Ancient, compared to a bear pit. Hence the title of the book. James claims to have written the book so as to protect the future of the Ryder Cup by lifting "the lid on events that have not been previously reported" and "providing answers to the key questions". In fact he does nothing of the sort.
For the most part, the book is a tedious re-hash of media information which was available at Brookline. But it was assured a certain notoriety by the manner in which James settled what appeared to be old scores with Faldo, culminating in the words: "Faldo's good luck letter (to the European team) was typed, and I think had his signature at the bottom. My first inclination was to throw it away, but first I decided to seek the views of a few other people, including some of the players, and everybody's reaction was the same: bin it. I had no hesitation accepting their advice."
Ghost-written for James by Martin Hardy, golf correspondent of The Express, the writing style suffers in common with most books of this genre - which explains the odd sensationalist snippet, such as the foregoing, by way of sustaining the reader's interest.
The only points of interest which were new to me, were the extent of James's dislike of Faldo and the fact that on the evening of the European defeat, Montgomerie had asked for David Feherty to be removed from the team room, because of having labelled the Scot "Mrs Doubtfire" on American television. Otherwise, I found the book tiresome and repetitive, and judging by the reaction on both sides of the Atlantic, James can hardly be said to have done anything for the future of the Ryder Cup, other than to inflame wounds which needed a lot more time to heal.
Meanwhile, by way of justification for his views, James writes that on his return to Europe from Brookline, he couldn't remember "reading a single thing I disagreed with, and our journalists are normally the first to have a go at our sportsmen when they lose". Indeed he described the reporting of events as "balanced and accurate". And the source of this splendid journalism? Why, the London tabloids, naturally, with such headlines as "United Slobs of America" (Mirror), "Horror Show" (Express), "Disgusting" (Sun) and "Disgraceful" (Daily Mail).
Now, there's an endorsement.