Ryder Cup: GWAG WARS

Posted by Sport.co.uk on: 18 September 2008 - 16:48
Author: Sam Hunter Jones
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As a rule, golfer’s wives and girlfriends (or GWAG’s for short) tend to be the more understated and discreet of the sporting world’s significant others. But that doesn’t stop us considering the various merits of this year’s crop of Ryder Cup girls, or for that matter, asking the question: who would win in an entirely subjective (and rather un-PC) GWAG-Off, Europe or America?


Europe

Jocelyn Hefner (Paul Casey) 8
Casey may not have endeared himself to the American public with his notorious ‘hate’ comments but he seems to have secured himself at least one fan stateside: Jocelyn hails from Arizona and is herself an accomplished show jumper (but disappointingly is not related in any way to namesake Hugh).

Laurae Westwood (Lee Westwood) 7
Sister of Andrew Coltart, a member of the unsuccessful 1999 Europe Ryder Cup team, Laurae grew up in a family of fanatical Scottish golfers and met Lee whilst she was working as a beauty therapist at the ’95 British Open. After a childhood spent playing the part of ‘golf orphan’, following her brother around on various junior tours, Laurae had vowed never to marry a pro golfer but was apparently won round by her brother’s tour buddy and his notoriously laid-back attitude.

Emma Stenson (Henrik Stenson) 9
This stunning Swede may have met her husband on a course in her homeland but the scratch golfer used to play competitive golf for South Carolina before she wed the 2006 Ryder Cup winner last year and settled in Dubai.
 
Kate Rose (Justin Rose) 8
Splitting their time between their Florida and Putney homes, Kate and Justin have been married for just shy of two years now. As a British former international gymnast, Kate knows what it takes to compete at the highest level, having won the European Gymnastics Championships in 1992, and is apparently never the last person to give her husband advice regarding his fitness and form, admitting that she’s “probably a bit more of a nag about that than most wives”.
 
Caroline Harrington (Padraig Harrington) 8
Judging by the scenes of celebration after Harrington’s second consecutive Open win at Royal Birkdale earlier this year and Caroline’s beaming smile at the trophy presentation, it would seem that the maxim that ‘behind every great golfer is a woman rolling her eyes’ doesn’t apply to this couple.

Lauren Smith (Oliver Wilson) 7
Wilson met petite Miss Smith during his time playing for the Augusta State Jaguars team and though they’ve managed to stay together after five years of frequent long-distance separation, they aren’t yet able to share a casual round together on the golf course (with Wilson worrying that unleashing their competitive natures on the course might put unnecessary strain on their relationship).

Total: 47

America

Amy Mickelson (Phil Mickelson) 9
Big Phil’s squeeze isn’t just a pretty face, Amy also scores highly in the commitment stakes. Despite having experienced near fatal complications during the birth of the couple’s third child, Evan, Amy is reputed to have missed only one of Phil’s competition appearances.

Tabitha Furyk (Jim Furyk) 8
One of the most stylish GWAG’s on the scene and you wouldn’t expect anything else from the American Ryder Cup veteran affectionately known as ‘the Gent’.

Sandy Perry (Kenny Perry) 7
The local couple on the team, Kenny and Sandy live in Franklin, Kentucky, just 100 miles down the I-65 from Valhalla and are real pillars of the close-knit community: The childhood sweethearts expect to be hosting the whole district when their daughter Lesslye marries later this year.

Lisa Pruett (Anthony Kim) 7
The young Ryder Cup rookie had a shock earlier this year when he woke to discover Lisa, his girlfriend of two years, bleeding to death after suffering severe blood loss caused by a broken beer glass on their kitchen floor. Luckily Kim was able to rush Lisa to hospital in time and the striking brunette lives on to tell the tale…

Amanda Leonard (Justin Leonard) 8
Rivalling Amy Mickelson for the title of the blonde most likely to turn heads at Valhalla, Amanda shares a passion for endurance running with her husband and certainly looks in good shape.
 
Amy Campbell (Chad Campbell) 8
Chad’s wife Amy has ambitions of scaling the music charts and the soulful Californian, whose professional name is Amy Lepard, recently entered American Idol but failed to impress Simon Cowell et al.

Total: 47

So the scores end up all square and the Americans will be left wondering what might have been had Tiger and his wife Elin (surely the GWAG of all GWAG’s) been green-side at Valhalla. Whether the Americans will be rueing the absence of the world Number One come the close of play on Sunday evening remains to be seen of course…