Imbibing the politics of friendship  Imbibing the politics of
friendship  By Giles Fraser 13 Oct 2006  What‚Äôs in a label?
Neatly stitched on the back of the caps of the members of the
recent American Ryder Cup golf team, every player had his own
name displayed. On the back of the European caps, each player
had just one word: Europe.  Remembering some of the contrasts in
talent and experience, it‚Äôs hard for some of us not to read
the United States‚Äô golfing defeat as an indictment of the
bowling-alone individualism that is often said to characterise
much American culture. Europe, on the other hand, played as a
team.  Given this, it is worth noting that many of the US team
were and are Christians. The American captain, Tom Lehman, once
wrote: "God has definitely used golf in a great way over the
last several years. I think of myself as a Christian who plays
golf, not as a golfer who is a Christian."  The Americans,
unlike the Europeans, also had a chaplain as a part of their
entourage. Throughout the golf