Friday, Sept. 24

	On Saturday, Steve Pate will play with Tiger Woods and all the hoopla that goes with him.

We spent a lot of time talking about what we need to do, and everyone still has a lot of confidence. We're down 6-2, which none of us expected, but there are still a lot of matches left to be won. There are a lot of points still out there and we're going to go out to get some.

This thing isn't over by any means, regardless of what some people might think.

I didn't play Friday, which is obviously disappointing. No one wants to sit, especially when you think you can do something to help your team. But being the captain is a thankless job. Only eight guys can play in both sessions on Friday and Saturday, so some guys aren't going to go. But there aren't any hard feelings here at all.

This is a team, so you just have to be ready when you're called. I wouldn't want Ben Crenshaw's job, but he's doing his best to try to win the Cup back. You have to put the team ahead of any individual stuff, which is how it should be.

On the bright side, I'm playing Saturday morning in the foursomes with Tiger Woods. That's going to be interesting, isn't it? The crowds will be out, just like anytime Tiger plays. But this will be magnified because of the event, and that should be pretty exciting.

I'm ready to go. I'm heading back to the hotel, getting something to eat and going to bed. I'll get out here early and be ready when we tee off.

Speaking of the crowds, they've been pretty impressive. They've been enthusiastic and vocal, but I didn't see anything that you might call unsportsmanlike. It was just enthusiastic, which is what you like to see.

I was out there in the afternoon watching the matches and it was good to see everyone getting into it. As I've said, this event is something else. You really have to be here and see it to believe it.

The European team played some great golf. Their young guys didn't show a lot of nerves and they made some big putts when they needed them. Even though the score doesn't indicate it, I really don't think we played that poorly.

It wouldn't have taken much to make things go the other way. We didn't sink some putts when we needed them and that was the difference. A big difference, as it turned out. But we'll be back Saturday. We're not going to lay down, that's for sure.