BY HALF Mark James and Sam Torrance, who at times were either inadvertently or deliberately not overly communicative when it came to the game's subtleties, were both changed men as Ryder Cup captains, and now it could be that Ian Woosnam is following suit.

In the immediate aftermath of his appointment, Woosnam wasn't exactly that articulate, however, he then appeared to be warming to his task the more media conferences he was obliged to do.

But earlier this week, he didn't cover himself in linguistic glory when asked about how he felt September's matches at the K Club would pan out. "It's 50-50 who's going to win, " responded Woosnam with no irony.

In fairness, he did remember to mention that Europe just happened to crush America by a record margin of 18 and a half to nine and a half at Oakland Hills in 2004, but Woosnam must have had "ve and zero on his mind in this his 500th European Tour event which he confessed felt like his "5,000th".

NO NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE TIGER

On the subject of Ryder Cup captaincy, Fred Couples has indicated that he would like to be in the frame to lead the USA at Celtic Manor in Wales in 2010.

Even though he'll almost be 51 at the time and playing mainly on the Champions Tour, he doesn't think that would affect his chances of getting the job.

"Would that count not being out on the PGA Tour so much? I don't know. Do I really need to see Tiger Woods, and ask him how he's feeling?"

GARCIA FINDS WENTWORTH TAXING

It's not every tournament these days that the European Tour gets one up on the PGA Tour, but the BMW Championship leaves the Fed-Ex St Jude Classic in Memphis in the shade.

While the St Jude Classic has only two players, David Toms and Chris DiMarco, in the world's top 20, Wentworth boasts eight with Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, David Howell and Darren Clarke.

That total should really have been nine, but apparently Sergio Garcia . . .the world's highest ranked European player at number seven . . . has stayed away for tax rather than golf reasons.