"I think it's clear that we are the underdogs going into these matches"

With the first 8 spots of his team secure--Paul Azinger, never one to hold anything back, told the media in the press room earlier today:

This time I think it's clear that we are the underdogs going into these matches.

Steve Elling of CBSSports.com writes about how ugly it could get:

Here is a simple recitation of fact. No European had ever won a PGA Championship in the 50 years it had been contested as stroke play, a streak Harrington destroyed when he held off Garcia and Curtis on Sunday.

The European Ryder candidates did far more than whip our tails at the top of the board. The first page of the PGA results are littered with Europeans and brings even more clarity to the notion that the European side has infinitely more depth and talent, no matter how you tweak the qualification scorecard.

It was yet another Euro trashing, another en masse massacre. Players in the mix for the European team, which will be finalized Aug. 31, demonstrably throttled their American counterparts, another potential harbinger of doom.

The European cup candidates claimed seven spots in the top 20 at Oakland Hills, while their American brethren with a true shot at making the team managed three.

The first words out of Azinger's mouth on Monday morning said it all, really. In three weeks, he has to identify the last four members of a team from among a list of candidates who have been outclassed and outplayed.