Ryder Cup captains share mutual respect

Mano a mano.

Team against team.

Europe vs. United States.

When it comes to the Ryder Cup, things can get pretty intense out there. Or at least that’s supposed to be the case.

It sure wasn’t that way Monday at Medinah Country Club when U.S. captain Davis Love III and his European counterpart, Jose Maria Olazabal, gathered to celebrate and promote the 2012 Ryder Cup, which will be held at Medinah in exactly one year.

A pre-fight staredown between the captains this wasn’t. More like a love, or Love III-fest, if you will.

“We’ve been friends as competitors a long, long time, and I’m sure this process is going to bring us even closer,” Love said. “I was excited when I saw he was going to be captain. I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s done in the game.”

The feeling is mutual.

“You’ve had a successful career, but I think most important of all is that you’ve earned the respect of the golf community and your peers for the way you’ve conducted yourself all these years,” Olazabal told the 1997 PGA champion. “That’s very important.”

It’s hard to blame them, the two captains having too much of a shared history in the game they revere.

They both came into the sport about the same time. They both were raised to appreciate its history. They both competed against each other at the highest levels — including in numerous Ryder Cup matches. And they both lost their mentors — Love his father, and Olazabal his longtime friend, Seve Ballesteros.

“I think we are kind of similar guys. I think we are kind of sentimental in a way,” said Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion. “I know that your father passed away early, and unfortunately I lost a dear friend and a mentor not long ago, and I’m pretty sure that both of them will be looking on us, and when everything is done and over, all I can hope for is that both of them will be proud of us.”

“We both grew up with a respect for the players that had gone ahead of us, whether it was our fathers or people like Seve,” said Love, who is hoping to perform well enough next season to become a playing captain in 2012. “We’re both sentimental. We’re both traditional.”

But …

“Come Friday morning (of Ryder Cup week), that all changes,” Love said with a grin.

“Even though we have great respect for each other and played together a lot of times, we’re still competitors,” said Olazabal, who made it clear Monday that he will not be a playing captain for Europe next September. “We’re going to try to beat each other.”

And then things revert to normal after three days.

“I guarantee this: on Sunday night there will be two teams celebrating the Ryder Cup,” Love said. ‘One group will leave very happy and one group will not be very happy, but we will all leave here as close friends like we started the week.”

No surprise there.