DATE: Tuesday, September 16, 1997           TAG: 9709160436

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                      LENGTH:   84 lines

FORGET THE JOKES - HOCH'S EXCITED OVER THE RYDER CUP THE DEFENDING MICHELOB CHAMP AT LONG LAST IS ON THE U.S. TEAM.

To listen to Scott Hoch talk to 100 or so media types who had gathered at Kingsmill Golf Club, one would surmise that he has a take-it-or-leave-it attitude regarding the upcoming Ryder Cup.

As defending champion of the Michelob Championship, Hoch was at Kingsmill on Monday afternoon to help promote the tournament, which has traded its former date in oppressively hot July for a more comfortable October slot on the PGA Tour schedule.

``I used to come here to sweat out all the impurities I'd put in my body,'' Hoch said. ``This time, I'll be packing sweaters.''

But instead of a lot of chat about the local tour stop, those on hand wanted to know more about Hoch's thoughts on the upcoming U.S. vs. Them Matches, to be played next weekend at Valderrama in Costa Del Sol, Spain.

Initially, Hoch wanted everyone to believe that it's no different from any other week on the golf calendar, offering these quips:

``I won't make any special preparations. I'll just take my clubs out of my bag and put them in a new Ryder Cup bag.''

``I don't plan to overtune my game for it. If I do, I might tighten it up too much and a string might break.''

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite ``sent me some literature about the course months ago. I still haven't opened it.''

When it comes to the Ryder Cup, Hoch and heartbreak have been synonymous for too long. He probably should have played in four or five already, but luck in the selection process was never his friend. At 41, this is his maiden Ryder Cup voyage, even though he's been considered one of the game's better players for a decade.

Thus the devil-may-care attitude. Better to draw a shield of indifference than to overplay it.

But as the afternoon grew long, a handful of reporters still lingered. A simple question brought to surface Hoch's true desires.

What are your goals for the rest of the year?

``Win the Ryder Cup,'' Hoch said, matter of factly. ``And play well in it.''

Hoch's game is based on accuracy and consistency - ``My caddy told me the other day that I hadn't made a double-bogey since The Memorial'' - and Valderrama should play to his strengths.

``Tom Kite told me a long time ago that it's the ideal course for me,'' Hoch said.

Much of the Ryder Cup's focus will naturally fall on 21-year-old phenom Tiger Woods, like Hoch a first-timer to the Ryder Cup. Hoch hopes too much emphasis isn't placed on the American team's number of first-timers, which is four. British Open champion Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk are the others.

``Tiger, Furyk, Justin and me? I'll take those four against anybody,'' Hoch said.

Talent, Hoch said, is not a problem on this team. The hardest part about this dazzling dozen could be whom to pair. The Ryder Cup format calls for four-ball and alternate-shot matches as well as the final day head-to-heads between the best the United States has to offer and Europe's finest.

Hoch isn't sure whom he, or almost anyone else on the team, would be most naturally paired with. Davis Love and Fred Couples are the only certainty to arise, seeing how they've played together successfully in numerous World Cup matches.

Mark O'Meara and Hoch are contemporaries, separated by a year in age. But Hoch, the Americans' senior player in age, realizes that O'Meara is also a neighbor and close friend of Woods'. Kite might make that pairing to put Tiger in a comfort zone.

Mention Tom Lehman's name, however, and Hoch's eyes brighten.

``I'm not going to say who I should get paired with,'' Hoch said. ``Because if I do, then it gets back to Tom (Kite). He's the captain, that's his job and that's what he'll be looking at closely when we play our practice rounds. Tom's already had a lot of conversations with all of us to get a feel for it.''

Any post-Ryder Cup conversations, however, could well take place at Kingsmill, which may see its best field ever.

Leonard, Furyk and Hoch have already formally committed to play at Kingsmill Oct. 9-12. Love, Couples, O'Meara, Lee Janzen and Kite have also indicated they will play in the Michelob Championship. PGA Tour players have until the Friday prior to tournament week to officially commit. Other top names who have indicated they will play at Kingsmill include Nick Faldo and John Daly.

Michelob Championship tournament director Johnnie Bender just hopes the Americans are victorious. She'd like nothing more than to throw a ``heck of a (Ryder Cup) victory party for the six or seven team members we expect to play at Kingsmill.

``We'd go all-out red, white and blue.''

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