It's time to bring in Jack Nicklaus as the Ryder Cup captain. As much as I dislike the man personally, he alone can make a difference in the defensive, namby-pamby way the Americans play and maybe stop this national embarrassment.

Tom Lehman can make the Americans sing all the college fight songs he wants. He can try to manufacture all the phony camaraderie he wants, but team spirit isn't going to do it. The Europeans grow up playing silly games as schoolboys. They grow up hoisting pints together in pubs from the time they reach the legal drinking age of six.

The Americans aren't going to build team spirit by drinking Guinness in pubs, unless they sign on Guinness as a corporate sponsor. The Americans aren't going to build team spirit, period.

The American strong suits are their talent and competitiveness, and they just haven't shown it since Europe started dominating the event.

They need somebody to light a fire under their butts and stop molly-coddling them. They don't need a sports psychiatrist and they don't need a captain telling them how great they are when they choke on the 18th green and fold like lambs being led to slaughter.

Nicklaus alone has the stature to bring back that ass-kicking mentality. These pampered millionaires won't listen to anybody else.

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