Pavin facing daunting task

US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin accepts he faces a daunting task in trying to lead his team to their first victory on European soil since 1993.

Although the US ended a run of three successive defeats by beating Europe in Louisville, Kentucky last year, Pavin knows his players will have to hole putts at the right time if they are to triumph at Celtic Manor, Wales in 2010.

"The bottom line still is the players on the team have to play well and make putts, chip well and win their matches," Pavin told Reuters on Wednesday. "My job is to make sure the players are in a frame of mind to best serve that purpose.

"It's going to be a different story playing overseas," added the 49-year-old American, who competed in three Ryder Cups as a player.

"We haven't won on foreign soil since 1993 so it's going to be a challenge and it's going to be tougher than playing in the United States. It always is but I am looking forward to the challenge."

On Tuesday, Europe followed the example set last year by inspirational US captain Paul Azinger in increasing the number of wildcard picks available in their selection process.

For Celtic Manor, European skipper Colin Montgomerie will have a team made up of nine qualifiers and three wildcards, a change from the 10+2 system adopted since 1995.

While applauding the move, Pavin believes the most significant factor is to have a system embraced by the entire team.

SEEING MERIT

"Europe obviously would have seen the merit of us doing that the last time, going from two to four," Pavin said of Azinger's decision to double his wildcard choices.

"Certainly the more picks a captain has the more flexibility he has in creating his team. But you have to balance the fact you want players to earn their way on to the team and not have too many picks.

"I thought what Paul did was very good," added Pavin, speaking on the telephone from San Antonio where he will be competing in this week's Texas Open.

"He kept the team together. But the best part of the whole system he had was the fact the players believed in it. It doesn't matter in some cases what system you have as long as the players believe in it.

"They gain confidence from it and they think they are in the best shape to perform. It was a good system, it was a system the players believed in and it added up to good play."

Apart from the revamped selection system, Azinger's meticulous preparations for last year's Ryder Cup also included an unwavering focus on team bonding within three distinct groups of four players.

Asked if he would follow Azinger's successful lead, Pavin replied: "I think I will do some of that but almost every captain has done that in the past to some extent. Paul took it to a different level and it was a good system, no doubt.

"I remember back in 1991 when I played, Dave Stockton was pairing Steve Pate and myself in February in exhibition-type things. So he already had that in mind seven months before the Ryder Cup."

The 2010 edition will be played from Oct. 1-3.