Jack Nicklaus has fanned the flames ahead of the Ryder Cup, insisting America will win because they have "better players".
Golden Bear backs Azinger's "better players"
Jack Nicklaus has fanned the flames ahead of this month's Ryder Cup clash, insisting he expects America to win because they have "better players".
Nick Faldo's European team head to Valhalla looking for an unprecedented fourth straight victory and are viewed by pundits and bookmakers alike on this side of the Atlantic as favourites to triumph.
However, Nicklaus - who played in six Ryder Cup matches and captained the US team in 1983 and 1987 - views the event differently and feels it is the Americans who will come out on top - even without the services of world number one Tiger Woods.
"Tiger won't be playing in the matches this year, of course. If he were, I'd consider the Americans big favourites," he told Golf Digest magazine.
"I still think they will win. I just believe we have better players. Europe has a lot of good players and a host of very promising young guys. But who among them has a great record?
"It isn't like the 1987 European team that had (Seve) Ballesteros, Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal.
"We probably didn't give them enough credit at the time, but history has proved those guys were great players. It was no accident they won.
"But there's no reason the US team should lose the Ryder Cup at Valhalla."
Contentious
Nicklaus also went on to insist that the event has become "too contentious" in recent times.
The 68-year-old, who has previously stated that the Ryder Cup is a "goodwill event" that ranks behind the majors in top golfers' priorities, reiterated his belief that too much emphasis has been placed on the outcome of the biannual fixture.
"I know I tend to sound ambivalent about the Ryder Cup," he continued. "On one hand, I think the matches have been made too important for the wrong reasons.
"Fundamentally, I believe the Ryder Cup is an exhibition by some of the best golfers in the world, great entertainment and an exercise in sportsmanship, camaraderie and goodwill.
"The individual performances, good or bad, don't determine who the best players in the world are. Nor does the side that happens to win determine on what side of the Atlantic the best golf is played.
"Too many people believe otherwise, and that helps to make the matches too contentious among the teams and their fans.
"I'm tired of hearing about the European dominance in the Ryder Cup. I'm sure for many years the Europeans got tired of hearing about American dominance and they're revelling about turning it around.
"But I just think American golf is better than perceptions based on recent Ryder Cup results."
However, should Faldo be looking for some motivation ahead of the showdown in Kentucky he could perhaps do worse that read out the thoughts of another American legend, Johnny Miller, who has all but written off European hopes.
Miller mouths off
"The Yanks are tired of getting whipped and this time they'll arrive in a mood to drain everything. Even without Tiger, they should win easily," Miller said.
