01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Ryder Cup experience, Brad Faxon says, is overrated.

Course knowledge at the Ryder Cup, Brad Faxon says, is overrated.

The United States Ryder Cup team, Brad Faxon says, is most definitely not overrated.

"I'm predicting an American win," Faxon said yesterday afternoon.

Which was hardly surprising, considering that not only did Faxon play on two Ryder Cup teams, he also had just finished a weekend of golf with former President George H.W. Bush in Kennebunkport.

"He's heading to the Ryder Cup on Friday," said Faxon, who, unfortunately, is not.

"I'd give anything to be able to do it again," said Faxon, who played at Oak Hill in 1995 and Valderrama in 1997. "It's the Olympics of golf. You're representing your country. Because I love the game of golf, and its traditions, I'd love to be playing."

The 35th Ryder Cup matches will be played this weekend at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., just outside Detroit.

The Americans, who won the last time the Ryder Cup was contested in the U.S. -- at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., in 1999 -- will be trying to reclaim the trophy after losing two years ago at The Belfry, in Sutton Coldfield, England.

That was the third win for the European team in the last four matches, despite a roster that generally is perceived to be not as strong as the American lineup.

"Typically, we look better on paper," Faxon said. "Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love -- we've got some big players. But it's all about whether they can come together and play as a team."

It's also about how well they're playing this particular weekend in mid-September.

"When you match up what we've got, with what they've got, you'd probably say it doesn't seem like it would be a contest," Faxon said. "But I'm not so sure that Ryder Cup experience isn't overrated, and that course knowledge isn't overrated.

"The Europeans have won on our courses (Oak Hill in 1995; Muirfield in 1987) and we've won on theirs (most recently at The Belfry, in 1993 and 1989). It's really all about execution -- who makes the putts when they need to.

"It's usually the players who are playing the best that do that, not necessarily the players who have the most experience."

Although he was on two losing teams, Faxon rates the Ryder Cup as one of the best experiences he's had in the game of golf.

"It's only every two years," he said, "and so few people get to play. I also thought the social part was as much fun as the competition. I loved hanging around the team room with the guys."

It isn't often that professional golfers get to share the camaraderie and sense of united effort and purpose that comes from being part of a team.

"The words 'team' and 'golf' don't normally go together," Faxon said.

Which is part of what makes playing for the Ryder Cup a unique -- and pressure-packed -- experience.

"The whole world is watching," Faxon said. "And there's all the media hype. But I've felt more pressure being in the last few groups at a major (championship)."

Faxon felt some pressure playing with former President Bush as, for the third year in a row, he tied the course record at Cape Arundel by shooting 62.

"He wants me to break it so badly," Faxon said. "It's a short course, but it allows me to hit driver off the tee, so I have wedge in to most holes. But it's not easy to shoot 62 anywhere. I'm not going to complain."

While the pairings at the Ryder Cup always are a hot topic of discussion, Faxon didn't think anyone would have anything to complain about this year.

"Hal (Sutton, the U.S. captain) has gone on record as saying he doesn't think you have to be friendly with a guy to play with him. Hal is a no-nonsense guy. He can bring people together.

"It goes back to the execution thing. So much is said about the rhyme and reason of which playing styles complement each other. But just because I'm a guy who scrambles more than most, and putts better than most, doesn't mean I'm going to play that way that particular day. That's the beauty of golf."