Eight-time PGA Tour winner and nine-time winner on the Champions Tour, Fred Funk, joined me courtesy of Stryker to chat about the Ryder Cup and his hole-in-one at last week’s Pacific Links Hawaii Championship, where he finished tied for second.

Regarding the hole-in-one, which you can see below, the Maryland native told me, “I think it’s my ninth hole-in-one [and it] came at a good time…I was in need of something really good to happen and something great happened.”

Funk said he had 200 yards to the pin, and he hit his favorite club: his 4-hybrid.

Fred Funk played inspired golf to make the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team. When he joined the U.S. side at Oak Hill, he was the oldest rookie to ever take part in the competition. The European team dominated, winning the Cup by the largest margin since 1981.

Still the experience was both memorable and unexpected, as Funk told me. “If anyone would have asked me if I’d make a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team,” he said. “I’d have looked at them like they were on something.”

He added: “Being part of the history of the Ryder Cup is something really special to me,” as was the ability to represent his country. He described the entirety of the experience as “surreal.”

I asked Funk what the keys to the competition are for the U.S. side. Not surprisingly, the Tour veteran said that he expects Tom Watson to do a good job as captain, and the key will be making big putts early to capture momentum, indicating that in 2004, the Europeans did just that on American soil and never looked back.

“We have plenty of talent, but the Euros seem to be peaking at the right time,” Funk added.

Funk had some interesting things to say about the importance of momentum in team play, indicating that it’s much more of a significant factor in the Ryder Cup than it is week in and week out on the PGA or Champions Tour.

“In the team format, if you can see the guys ahead of you, especially that last day in singles when you’ve got to do a rally like the Euros did last time. [Your teammates are] putting the points on the board early and you’re just trying to ride that momentum. There’s no question the opposite is true too. If they’re losing early, everybody’s trying to play catch up. It’s a momentum thing and a psyche you have to get into.”

Funk indicated that the approach to Ryder Cup play is a different animal than what players are used to on Tour.

“When you’re playing the regular Tour and a regular event, you’re pretty used to letting yourself down. You get beat week in and week out. Things don’t go your way.

That changes when you have a partner or you’re playing for a team. You’re going to do everything you can to not to let him down. When you’re playing alternate shot and your partner hits it in trouble, you’re going to do everything you can to get him out of trouble. You’re going to try to make the putt. You’re going to try to make the chip. You’re trying to make birdie every hole.

You gotta go. It truly is a different mentality. You want to play well for your team and your partner and your captain.”

Finally, asked about recent European dominance in the competition, Funk refuted the idea that the U.S. side cares less, but said, “for whatever reason the Euros look at the Ryder Cup as a little different deal than we do.”

Interestingly, he said much of the dominance can be traced back to one man:

“The dynamic changed after the competition was opened to all of Europe,” Funk said. “When they added Spain…added Seve…Seve Ballesteros had a lot to do with bringing the level up. He was the ultimate. He was unbelievable.”

We talked about captain Watson’s picks. Funk said that this year’s events make a case for moving the picks back until after the FedEx Cup.

“Billy Horschel mentioned that he wasn’t on the team because of when the picks were made. Maybe you change that format a little bit? You’ve got two of our best players who were playing really good at the end of the year [Horschel and Kirk] not on the team right now. You’d like to have them there.”

Funk has also been particularly impressed by Billy Horschel this year and would have liked to see him at Gleneagles. “Billy is a fiery guy,” he said. “I think he’s the American version of Poulter.”

Funk indicated that while he’d love to captain a Ryder Cup team, he doesn’t feel he’s in the running, saying, “You have to be a major winner and preferably a PGA winner.”

I suggested that to bolster his case he ought to get “USA” cut into his hair ala Rickie Fowler to show his dedication to the cause. He declined, saying he was lucky to have hair, which many of the guys he competes against on the Champions Tour aren’t.

Funk added he’d be rooting for the U.S. side from Pebble Beach where he’s playing the Nature Valley First Tee Open.

I spoke with Fred Funk courtesy of Stryker. For my earlier conversation with Funk about his return to the PGA Tour earlier this year, working his way back from a total knee replacement in 2009, and injuries in golf click here.