Golfer, and UCLA alum, Corey Pavin bagged one UCLA coach, but now has to iron out problems with another.

Pavin appeared at Bruins basketball Coach Ben Howland's weekly news conference Tuesday to be honored, with the two exchanging gifts. Howland gave Pavin a UCLA jersey with his name on it, even though Pavin does not play basketball. Pavin, the Ryder Cup captain, gave Howland an autographed Ryder Cup golf bag, even though he doesn’t play golf.

“Someday I’ll have a use for this,” Howland said. “My friends who play golf are all going to be jealous.”

One was.

Word of the golf gift had apparently made the rounds.

When the news conference was over, UCLA football Coach Rick Neuheisel, an avid golfer, burst into the room shouting, “Pavin you gave Ben a golf bag? He doesn’t even play!”

--Chris Foster

Chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter.com/cfosterlatime

Ever since the European team ended U.S. domination in the Ryder Cup in 1985, the PGA of America has been intent on appointing captains for its teams who take the event seriously.

Paul Azinger did just that effectively in September at Valhalla in Kentucky, when the U.S. team beat Europe for only the second time since 1993.

Now the PGA has turned to Corey Pavin as captain of the 2010 team, which will take on Europe in Wales in two years.

Pavin, nicknamed "Bulldog" while he was on tour for his determined style of play despite small stature, was a member of the U.S. team the last time it won in Europe, in '93. Just how important is the Ryder Cup to the former UCLA player?

"The Ryder Cup is in my blood," he said today. "I think if you cut my arm open, Ryder Cup would just bleed out. It's the greatest event in the world, I think, and certainly the golf world."

There might be some argument about "the greatest event in the world" from a few folks who lean toward, oh, soccer's World Cup ... or the Super Bowl ... or the Olympics ... or the World Series ... or the Masters or U.S. Open, for that matter. But you get the point: Mr. Pavin believes it's a big deal, and that's just fine with the PGA.

--Mike James

Photo: Corey Pavin shares a laugh with Tiger Woods at the 2006 Ryder Cup. Credit: Peter Morrison / AP.

This Blue State reporter traveled into Red State territory over the last several days and learned a few key things:

• People really do drink moonshine in Kentucky.

• Country music when performed live is really quite enjoyable.

• Folks love Sarah Palin in Tennessee. They really, really love her. Really.

• One can consume more calories in a single meal in the South than in one week of meals in SoCal. I highly recommend the fried chicken, pulled pork with vinegar-based barbeque sauce, mac and cheese, corn bread, fried green tomatoes and sweet tea. This is followed by a warm pecan pie topped with ice cream and a shot of moonshine swallowed directly from a mason jar. Delicious.

I was told that the batch of moonshine broken out for my enjoyment is called “Gramma’s Apple Pie,”  and is so strong that if you dip a spoon into the stuff and light a match underneath it, the spoon will melt.

Naturally, I had a shot.

It looked a little like a urine test and smelled like cinnamon. The other local “good stuff” is cherry flavored and looks like Tang.

My journey to the Campbell Chevrolet Celebrity Golf Classic hosted by John Daly and (country music artist) Steve Azar included a stop in Nashville with a show at the Grand Ole Opry.

A bunch of folks I’d never heard of sang up a storm for two hours. My favorite was Heidi Newfield, a pretty blonde who kinda looks like the cheerleader from the TV series "Heroes" and has a hit song called, “Johnny and June.” Apparently, female country stars no longer sport sequins, cleavage, blue eye shadow or big hair, which was disappointing, but the dudes mostly still wear cowboy hats, which is good to know. I have no idea why, but it comforts me.

After a couple of days in Music City, the party heads north to Bowling Green, Ky. and The Club at Olde Stone, home of the 2008 Junior Ryder Cup and one of Golf Week’s “Best New Courses” of 2007. The money raised during the Campbell Chevrolet Celebrity Golf Classic was to benefit the fight against autism.

Among the celebrities were lots of country music friends of John Daly’s, including Colt Ford, Julie Roberts, Larry Stewart, Ira Dean and Ray Scott.

They (and a dozen others) played concerts both Monday and Tuesday night and sang lots of songs I’ve never heard of, but enjoyed immensely. My new fave is a little ditty called, “Trash In My Trailer.”

I so enjoyed the music, and was so caught up in the spirit (and frankly, hung over) from my introduction to “Gramma’s Apple Pie”) that I sat down and penned my own country song. It’s called “The Comeback,” and it’s about an aging pitcher who still wants to play (three guesses who I wrote that song about).

Keith Burns of Trick Pony liked it and is going to “lay down a track” for me. Apparently, this means he’s putting it to music. If I get nominated for a Country Music Award I promise you that I’ll show up wearing sequins, cleavage, blue eye shadow and big hair.

Some athletes were in attendance as well, including Super Bowl quarterback Jim McMahon, two-time Olympic gold medalist Steve Lundquist, recent Ryder Cup champion Kenny Perry and five-time Pro Bowl tight end Wesley Walls.

In between rounds of golf and rounds of beer, I sat down with Daly and McMahon and

Padraig Harrington won two major championships this year, but he and his teammates on Team Europe wound up losing a big one when the underdog U.S. team won the Ryder Cup for the first time in nine years.  Nick Faldo took a sound beating in the British press for how he handled his job as captain, but Harrington said to lay off Faldo.

"The captain is always judged on whether his team wins or loses regardless of anything else, and that's always the case at the Ryder Cup," Harrington said during a media conference for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland.  "If it's a losing team, people will find the negative."

So if it wasn't Faldo's fault, whose fault was it?

"It's not what the captain himself does, it's more on the team's performance."

That's probably why U.S. captain Paul Azinger is throwing out the first pitch for the Tampa Rays this week.

-- Thomas Bonk

Photo: Padraig Harrington on the final day of the Ryder Cup at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on Sunday. Credit: Tannen Maury / EPA

Kentuckian Kenny Perry was on top of the world last weekend after the U.S. won the Ryder Cup in his home state. "It made my career," he said.

By Friday, he seemed to be buried under the weight of the world after shooting a 75 in the second round of the Tour Championship and was 29th in the 30-player field.

Here's how he described his fall:

“Horrible.  Worst experience of my life, just about.

“I don't want to be here. It's ruined my greatest week in my life, coming here. It really has. I don't want to play golf. I want to go home....

“I don't even care. I'm just trying to get my last-place check, post a 72-hole number and go home. I really am. This week has ruined my week, the week I geared up for my whole life.... It doesn't make sense for me to be here this week.”

Only two more rounds, Kenny, then you can take your last-place prize money of about $110,000 and get back home.

-- Mike James

Photo: Kenny Perry had the time of his life at Valhalla in the Ryder Cup, a marked contrast to this week's tournament. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images.

The Ryder Cup arrived back home –- at least that’s the way the PGA of America sees it.

In the headquarters at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., chief executive Joe Steranka officially took possession of the trophy today.

U.S captain Paul Azinger wasn’t on hand, but Steranka thanked him anyway for the 16 ½ - 11 ½ victory over Europe on Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

"There was nobody more integral and central  to the U.S. victory than our Ryder Cup Captain, Paul Azinger," said Steranka, who led a toast to the team.

The U.S. last won the Ryder Cup in 1999.

-- Thomas Bonk

Photo: U.S. players hold up the Ryder Cup after Sunday's victory. Credit: David J. Phillip / AP

If this is your first visit here, we're glad to have you. Stick around and see what happens.

Dodgers and Angels? We've got 'em. Manny and Kobe? We've got 'em.

Ryder Cup results? We've got 'em. Davis Cup? We've got it.

A chimpanzee predicting NFL scores? Well, not yet.

But you never know what's going to turn up here.

Meantime, a little theme music, please.

-- Randy Harvey

Photo credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Here's a shocker: The British Press is blistering European Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo for his decisions on Sunday as the U.S. won the Cup back from Europe.

Tops among the vitriol was the premise that Faldo's ego got in the way as he put his heavy-hitters -- Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell -- at the back of the lineup in Sunday's singles matches, meaning the outcome would already be decided by the time their matches were completed. Obviously, the papers said, Faldo needed to front-load his lineup to ensure that the Euros got off to a lead.

I'm not sure whether that's the way he should have done it, but I am sure of one thing: If Faldo had put the most successful golfers first and put his struggling golfers at the end, and the U.S. still won the Cup, you can bet your last British pound that Faldo would have been pilloried for failing to put any strong golfers in positions to win what could have been critical late matches.

--Mike James

Photo: Nick Faldo watches matches Sunday. Credit: Robb Carr / AP

So we have this sports cartoonist, sydnicated in several places, and he's from Baltimore. Name of Mike Ricigliano, or Ricig for short.

Yesterday, he e-mails me and tells me that Saturday's cartoon for the newspaper will be about the Chargers' two tough losses.

Now, I get it. Having lived in Baltimore for a couple of years, I know that this time of the season there is nothing to talk about in sports except the NFL. The Orioles are dead again. University of Maryland football is just something to do until the ACC basketball season starts.

Everything in Baltimore right now is about the Ravens.

So Ricig, from afar, would think that we are similarly engaged in the Chargers.

"Ricig," I tell him, "don't you know the Giants are coming to town to play the Dodgers, division title out there for the taking for the L.A. team and the Giants ready again to play the role of spoilers?''

He got it. He sent another cartoon, this one on the Dodgers and Giants. But he's also sending the one on the Chargers in case we like it better. So maybe he didn't get it.

What else? Ryder Cup is on ESPN today, two different formats.

The AVP is going on at Manhattan Beach. This is their Wimbledon, without the strawberries and cream. And it doesn't last a fortnight.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh could be nearing the end of the line, both talking about taking time off to have families. We'll miss them. I mean, seriously.

-- Randy Harvey

First things first: OK, so maybe it wasn't smart to keep Tiger Woods from giving a motivational speech to the U.S. players at the Ryder Cup, because Europe got off to another fast start. Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson birdied the first hole shortly after sunrise today to go 1-up on the U.S. team of Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim. Then Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey quickly jumped ahead in their match when the next U.S. pair, Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan, bogeyed the first hole.

As I post this, however, the U.S. has evened it up through 11 holes.

Our own Thomas Bonk weighed in with an article in today's Sports section focusing on Phil. Bonk points out that Phil has the ability to turn around the U.S. team's fortunes (the Europeans are seeking their fourth straight win in Ryder Cup).

I'm still studying Mahan's bio. This is first Ryder Cup and he was born in Orange right here in Southern California. Now he lives in Plano, Texas. Hmm. He was a "captain's pick" -- not among the Ryder Cup points leaders. Stay tuned.

Getting kicked: Last night the staff members working in the office were loud in their reaction to the end of the game between No. 21 West Virginia and Colorado. Colorado kicker Aric Goodman made a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give the Buffaloes a 17-14 victory.  That came minutes after the Mountaineers' kicker, Pat McAfee, missed a 23-yard attempt. I feel for McAfee, pacing the sidelines for so long and then being brought in under such intense pressure to win. And then hearing your coach, Bill Stewart, say afterward, "Those guys in that locker room have hurt hearts. They don’t feel good, I don’t feel good." That's right, Pat. The whole team hurts because of you. And so does your coach. You knew that, but wow, wasn't it nice Coach made sure you knew that? Sweet, Coach.

In first place: It's Dodgers-Giants time. Greg Maddux is on the mound tonight. The magic number is 7. Meanwhile, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick cracks: Manny Ramirez "is the biggest thing to hit Los Angeles since the high-occupancy vehicle lane." Cute, Jerry. But clueless. One word: Kobe. And we still aren't excited about the HOV. Crasnick is right about Manny being a true star, though, something we Dodgers fans haven't had for such a long, long time. And I would wear one of those Dodgers blue skullcaps with dreadlocks attached. I love watching Manny be Manny. And that's what it's all about. Oh, and Curt Schilling? You need to chill. Our own Brian Kamenetzky offers his take.

Not in first place: The Yankees are already looking to next season. I'm not crying. I sometimes wonder if Joe Torre, in quiet times when he is away from the ballfield, ever thinks back on how poorly the young Hank Steinbrenner treated him in those final days. Joe is such a classy guy and smart enough to enjoy it when Manny is "just messin' with me," as he said with a laugh recently.

And how appropriate that the Yankees are a bit of a mess right now, just as the reign of the great Yankee Stadium comes to a close Sunday. Just look at the shape of that field. 

And the game, which will be on ESPN, goes up against the Cowboys-Packers game on NBC. How many people will be clicking away from football every so often just to see the last play in the House That Ruth Built as it happens? I will be one of them.

Check out latimes.com/sports later to read our story on the Yankees final homestand in a history-laden weekend.

-- Debbie Goffa

Top photo: Irish fans follow Padraig Harrington at the 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. Credit: Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images