Yes, here we are. Did he say he had been thinking about it since April? The same month some juicy quotations attributed to Azinger appeared in a British tabloid, setting tongues wagging and computers smoking on both sides of the Atlantic?  Azinger was quoted by a British newspaper, The Daily Mail, as using a crude reference to Faldo. In the same interview, Azinger was also quoted as saying that Faldo was hated by the European contemporaries he once treated with haughty disdain when he was a player.  Azinger said he quickly left Faldo a voice-mail message in which he denied making the remarks.  Faldo revealed in an interview published Saturday in another newspaper, The Independent, that he originally was inclined to let the incident pass, but later decided he owed Azinger “one below the belt.” That punch was thrown last week, when Faldo told British reporters that Azinger had told him he had some reservations about having signed up the former Ryder Cup captains Dave Stockton and Raymond Floyd as assistant captains this week, and that he might not have done it if he had it to do over.  The back and forth will probably have little effect on the outcome of the Ryder Cup matches, but it did demonstrate that there was some very real friction between Azinger and Faldo, two former ABC analysts and fierce competitors.  Beyond that there are substantial style differences. Azinger is much more a street fighter. Faldo has always sought to rise above the fray.  How this difference will play out inside the teams is a matter for sports psychologists.  It is a measure of the self-control by Azinger and Faldo that they have managed to restrain themselves from engaging in a yearlong sniping match. The faces of the Ryder Cup, Faldo and Azinger have been everywhere, their expressions set in various stages of mock seriousness on magazine covers; appearing on the Captains Challenge, a largely friendly competition in poker, golf and fishing for the Golf Channel; and in countless interviews for news media outlets.  Azinger and Faldo should be thankful that the golfers can take over now and settle the Cup. The two old fighters will be corner men now, sponging their fighters’ brows and dispensing advice — some pertinent, some not — while the players end the discussion.  The raging windstorm that knocked down power lines and trees in Louisville had a small effect on the course. Cleanup crews that began work early Monday had already repaired most of the damage done to the 12th green by a toppled television tower. All that was left of the small number of trees that fell were a few branches and leaves. “By the time I got out there, the majority of the mess had been cleaned up,” Paul Azinger said.” So I think the course will be perfect for the tournament.”  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Swords Are Put Away As the Clubs Come Out. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Days before the start of the Ryder Cup was more a time for proper behavior than snarkiness between Nick Faldo and Paul Azinger.