North Carolina State University Athletics
test 2
8/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
CARY, N.C. Former NC State All-America golfer Carl Pettersson hadn’t even accepted his $910,000 check for winning the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro’s Sedgefield Country Club when he was hit with the question: Do you think this puts you in contention for an at-large spot on the European Ryder Cup team?
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. 17 on the World Golf Rankings and in the top 20 on the European Ryder Cup points list. The top 10 players on the latter list automatically qualify and the other two players are picked by the captain. The United States has selected its top eight automatic qualifiers with captain Paul Azinger set to make four at-large picks.
“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 Paramus, N.J., and The Deutche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. Those are the final two events before Faldo has to extend his two invitations.
“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 Greensboro’s Sedgefield Country Club, just a few miles from Pettersson went to Grimsley High School. He sizzled all weekend long, particularly Friday, when he shot a 61, the lowest round shot on the PGA Tour this year. He held off McCarron’s challenge Sunday afternoon to win his hometown tournament.
“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 Sweden who moved to Greensboro at the age of 15 from Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. “I had great support out there yesterday and the whole week.
“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.”
Clark also played well, ending up tied for sixth, his second-best finish of the year. He tied for second at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial earlier this year.
“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.”
Clark has battled wrist and neck injuries throughout his career, but has been fully healthy in 2008.
“I thought I would play better, considering I am healthy,” Clark said. “And I have the last four months. But I just haven’t put four rounds together.”
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.
PETTERSSON
I have played pretty solid all year.
It was set up really hard. Yeah, it was great. I know the pros enjoyed it, I hope the fans did too.
Go to new York tonight and get started ...
On Ryder cup. I thought about it a little bit. I was close to making it two years ago and it kind of affected my game last time. I looked at the standings and I am not really that close. 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.
I have two more tournaments to play. Hopefully I can play well the next two weeks. If not, maybe I can still get picked.
Emotions: it is a tournament I grew up watching and anytime you have the chance to win at home it is a fantastic feeling. I had great support out there yesterday and the whole week. It was fun to play at home, but I feel like I had more pressure on me to do well. I managed to do great and it was good.
ON State Cup
I owe a lot to the school. NC State has done a lot for me and Tim. We enjoy coming back and helping the school. It’s always an enjoyable day.
I’ve shot 61 before, but it was an 11 under at Disney. It was just one of those days that you get everything going your way. It could have been better. Every round of golf, you could have/should have done better. But it was fun. 5 pars, 11 birdies and 2 bogeys.
I shot 59at Treyburn. New York and Deutche Bank.
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, it kind of takes care of itself.
CLARK
It’s been a bit of a slow year. I haven’t played badly, I just haven’t gotten anything going. It felt nice to make some birdies and have a strong finish. I feel like I am playing well now. I hope to play well in these last two events and put four rounds together and do well in a tournament.
Health-wise, I have been good this year actually. I thought I would play better considering my health. I have played well the last four months, I just haven’t put four rounds together.
The next few events, I need a top three or so. Obviously, a win would be great. I just need to go out and play well.
He played great. I got off to a good start and his second round was just phenomenal. I was trying to catch up the whole way. That course lends itself to some low-scoring if you play well. I think it is good for the tournament and good for the tour if you have a tournament like that so that if guys shoot well.
We certainly owe a whole to NC State and to Richard for the way our careers have gone. It’s nice to come back and see Richard and all the other people we have met along the way. It’s a chance to give a little something back.
