European rookie Colsaerts inspired by Couples

• By Randall Mell
• Sep 26, 2012 12:57 PM ET

MEDINAH, Ill. – Nicolas Colsaerts will become the first player from Belgium to play in the Ryder Cup this week.

Colsaerts said the Ryder Cup billed as “War by the Shore” at Kiawah in 1991 made a large impression on him. He was 9, and he says the player who became his idol in that event wasn’t European.

“There was one guy that I really liked when I was young,” Colsaerts said. “It was Fred Couples. So, it’s funny he’s an assistant captain this week.”

Why Couples?

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“Freddie just always seemed to be a cool cat, the way he walks and the way he played,” Colsaerts said. “I always loved the laziness about him.”

Colsaerts said he think he even walks like Couples.

“Fred Couples was the only guy I really looked up to when I was growing up,” he said.

Colsaerts is the only rookie on the European team. A long hitter, he may be the most unlikely participant in this Ryder Cup. Colsaerts lost his game, his confidence and European Tour card in ’08 and had to play the Challenge Tour in ’09. He wasn’t ranked among the top 1,000 in the world two years ago, but he won the Volvo China Open for his first European Tour victory last year and won the Volvo World Match Play Championship this year for his second title.

Colsaerts, a captain’s pick, has climbed to No. 35 in the world rankings.

“It’s almost like I feel like I’ve come back from the dead, which is a bit of a weapon,” Colsaerts said.

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