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Originally Posted by Raynor
If anything, neither Sauron nor Gandalf make _any_ referrence to the ring.
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That depends upon what construction you put on Sauron's use of the word "it" when addressing Pippin. The logical construction or the illogical one.
As for the other strand of this debate, I really don't think that there is any solid basis for assuming that Sauron was able in this encounter sufficiently to assess the Hobbit's physical and mental characteristics so as to distinguish him from another Hobbit. Sauron was indifferent to Hobbits, save on the subject of the Ring. His only interest in them arose from his knowledge that one of them bore his Ring.
If we are to believe Gandalf, we know that Sauron wanted this Hobbit for more than just information. Had he believed Pippin not to be the Ringbearer, then surely his only interest in him would have been his information value. Yet Gandalf believed that he wanted this Hobbit urgently, was obsessed with this Hobbit, and not just for information.
Had Sauron realised that Pippin was not the Ringbearer, he would have questioned him there and then as to the location and situation of the Ringebearer. He did not, because he made an erroneous assumption. An error that he would, Gandalf believed, take some time in discovering.
And just to stick up for Pippin for a moment, it is to his credit that he did not spill the beans there and then to Sauron. Knowing that Sauron wanted the Ring, and being subject to the will of Sauron during the encounter, he did pretty well to avoid doing so.