North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Pettersson Puts Aside Ryder Cup Hopes
8/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
BY TIM PEELER
Pettersson, with a bit of a droll wit, answered with an open message to European captain Nick Faldo, who has two at-large picks for the team he will send to face the Americans Sept. 19-21 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
“Nick, if you are watching, I wear size 36 pants and an extra large shirt,” Pettersson in the latter stages of CBS’ Sunday coverage of the Wyndham Championship, which the native Swede won by two strokes over Scott McCarron.
Through the latest rankings, Pettersson is No. 13 on the Ryder Cup World Points list, with 126.2. The top 10 players from the combined world points and the European Ryder Cup points list automatically qualify and the other two players are picked by the captain. The
“I looked at the standings and I am not really that close to qualifying automatically,” said Pettersson Monday morning at Prestonwood Country Club, the day after his third career PGA Tour victory. “I need to play well the next couple of weeks. I would like to think I could still make the team if I play well. I would like to make the team without getting picked [as an at-large member].”
Pettersson and Tim Clark, another former Wolfpack All-American and veteran of the PGA Tour, will play in the first two rounds of the Fed-Ex Playoffs, The Barclays in
“Hopefully, I can play well the next two weeks,” Pettersson said. “If not, maybe I can still get picked.”
Pettersson knows it’s not easy. Two years ago, he seemed to be in good position to make the 2006 European Ryder Cup team after winning his first career PGA Tour event at the Memorial and finishing eighth at the British Open. He was in the Top 10 of the European Ryder Cup points in late August, but did not finish off strong enough to earn an automatic spot on the team.
“Thinking about it really affected my game,” Pettersson said. “Now, I just want to play solid and play the best I can. I don’t try to set goals or finish in certain spots. I just try to play the best I can.
“If I play well, the rest of it kind of takes care of itself.”
And that’s what happened this weekend at
“It’s a tournament I grew up watching and anytime you have the chance to win at home it is a fantastic feeling,” said Pettersson, a native of
“It was fun to play at home, but I feel like I had more pressure on me to do well. I managed to do well despite that.”
“It’s been a bit of a slow year for me,” said Clark, who has won $1.2 million on Tour this year and is currently ranked No. 40 in the World Golf Rankings. “I haven’t played badly, I just haven’t gotten anything going. It felt nice to make some birdies and have a strong finish at the Wyndham.
“I feel like I am playing well now. I hope to play well in these next two events.”
“I thought I would play better, considering I am healthy,”
Petterson and Clark were more than a dozen former and current men’s and women’s golfers from NC State to participate in the State Cup, the annual fundraiser for the Wolfpack golf programs. The two touring pros played the 165-yard par-3 No. 17 with all 14 groups in the modified low-gross and low-net event.
“NC State has done a lot for me and Tim,” Pettersson said. “We enjoy coming back and helping the school. It’s always an enjoyable day.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
