Ryder Cup: Jimmy Walker ready to impress for USA on debut
Thursday 25 September 2014 16:44, UK
United States rookie Jimmy Walker is in confident mood as he prepares to compete in the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
Walker has been a consistent performer on the PGA Tour this season, securing three victories in the opening eight tournaments of the year.
The 35-year-old has recorded top-10 finishes in the three US-based majors, with 10 top-10 positions in all, while missing just four cuts in 27 events.
Walker can also draw on the experience of almost losing his card in 2009, when a five-foot putt in his final tournament of the year kept him on the tour, as he looks ahead to one of the toughest tests of his career.
"I've been playing professional golf for a long time, I've been on a couple of tours, made some big putts at key times, keeping my card, that type of stuff,” he said.
"Something along this week is going to rival those feelings of what I felt then so I'm sure you'll have those types of emotions.
"It might be different, I don't know, I haven't done it but I do know that I believe in my preparation and what I've done to get here and that's all that matters.
"I know this is a new event for me but I've done a lot so I don't feel like a rookie, no. I think we all have good nerves. That's why we're here."
Meanwhile, Walker’s team-mate Webb Simpson has revealed he made a personal plea to team captain Tom Watson to include him in his plans.
Chris Kirk and Billy Horschel were among the in-form players who missed out on selection and having made the cut, Simpson has vowed to help exact ‘revenge’ for Europe’s dramatic Ryder Cup win at Medinah in 2012.
"I basically expressed everything I could to let him know how bad I wanted to be on the team,” Simpson said of his telephone conversation with Watson.
"I tried to acknowledge that it was a tough decision for him. Chris Kirk had just won, Billy Horschel has been playing good golf and Bill Haas had not missed a cut all year.
"I knew it was a tough decision, and in terms of percentages, I wouldn't have been surprised if he had picked the other guys.
"It was kind of one of those things where I knew on paper, he had a few really good choices.
"But I made my final plea, I told him, 'I want revenge on what happened in 2012 and I really, really want to be on that team'.
"He decided, whatever I said - maybe it was nothing I said - but he picked me. I think the emotions were relief and excitement."
