Sunday, September
29, 2002
Tiger roars to life
as U.S. forges tie
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SUTTON COLDFIELD,
England (AP) - American players, wives and caddies huddled around
Tiger Woods to celebrate a clutch performance he rarely delivers
in the Ryder Cup.
Behind them on the
18th green at The Belfry, Sergio Garcia hurled his ball into the
lake, kicked over his bag and then slammed his foot into it.
Emotions are running
high at the Ryder Cup, and for good reason.
Not since 1991 has
golf's most pressure-packed event been dead-even after two days
and 16 matches.
All that remains
are a dozen singles matches on Sunday before a raucous and partisan
crowd, who've been cheering as though more than just a gold trophy
is at stake.
"It's been a
complete waste of time. We should have just come out with singles,"
Colin Montgomerie said jokingly.
He offered a more
serious assessment a moment later.
"The atmosphere
of this competition is going to get better and better."
If so, it will have
to go a long way to top Saturday.
David Duval produced
the most gutsy shot of the matches, driving the 10th green to
swing momentum in his favor and overcome the largest deficit of
the week.
Woods finally turned
around his fortunes in the Ryder Cup, sweeping his two matches
after going 0-2 in the opening round.
"Maybe he'll
sleep a little better tonight," said Davis Love III, Woods'
partner Saturday. "But we won't sleep great, any of us, until
we win."
When Scott Hoch missed
an 8-foot par putt on the 18th to put an end to another exhilarating
day of wild changes in momentum and on the leaderboard, the matches
were tied at 8-8 for the first time since Kiawah Island, S.C.
"I think we're
all pleased _ not tickled to death or happy _ but pleased that
we're 8-8," U.S. captain Curtis Strange said.
History favors the
United States.
The Sunday singles
are virtually a U.S. birthright in the Ryder Cup. Only five times
in the 75-year history of the matches have the Americans lost
the singles series, and just once since European domination of
the Cup began in 1985.
"What is history?"
Thomas Bjorn said. "We won singles 7-5 at Oak Hill (in 1995).
It can be done. We know they're going to come out hard and we
know we've got to play our best to beat them. We've got good enough
players on our side to win this."
European captain
Sam Torrance is sending his best out early, the opposite of Mark
James' ill-advised tactic when the United States rallied to win
three years ago at Brookline.
First off is Montgomerie,
unbeaten in four matches, followed by Garcia.
Strange is saving
his best for last _ Phil Mickelson, who lost his only match in
the afternoon, and Woods.
"They have one
Tiger. We have 12 lions," Torrance said.
That one Tiger came
up huge Saturday.
After teaming with
Love _ his eighth partner in three Ryder Cups _ for an alternate-shot
victory in the morning, Woods carried the load in a pivotal best-ball
match against the previously undefeated tandem of Garcia and Westwood.
Faced with going
2-down on the 11th hole, Woods chipped in for birdie to match
Garcia.
The more crucial
moment came on the 16th. Westwood holed a 20-foot birdie putt
and the lowest-ranked player in the Ryder Cup (No. 148) continued
an amazing performance.
Woods had to make
an 8-footer to keep alive any chance of winning, a situation he's
been in countless times. The putt fell in the center of the cup.
"It's a fun
feeling to have a guy out there you know can make it," Love
said.
Woods hit his approach
to the 17th to 4 feet, but he never had to putt when Love chipped
in from just off the green to birdie. Europe contributed to the
rest of the comeback.
Garcia missed a 3-foot
birdie putt on the 17th that would have secured at least a halve.
Then, Westwood missed a 4-foot par putt on the 18th to give the
Americans a 1-up victory.
Garcia, jumping and
dancing around The Belfry the first two days, threw his ball into
the water and later kick his bag in disgust.
"We've got to
go out and win the singles," Garcia said. "If we play
well, we're better than anybody."
The victory spared
Woods and Love one controversial decision.
Garcia and Westwood
grabbed momentum when they both hit driver onto the 10th green.
The Americans backed down from the challenge, laying up on the
277-yard hole and taking their chances with a wedge. Both failed
to make birdie.
Ultimately, it didn't
matter.
That wasn't the case
for Duval, who was 2-down in his best-ball match with Mark Calcavecchia
when he became the first _ and only _ American to give it a shot.
He hit driver to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie that won the hole
and gave him momentum.
"I figured if
I could hit it up there, then it would force their hand a bit
and maybe it would change the tides," Duval said. "That's
exactly what happened."
He and Calcavecchia
went on to birdie five of the next holes in a 1-up victory.
Mickelson and David
Toms, the only U.S. team to stay together all four matches, were
beaten for the first time when Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington
led wire-to-wire, closing them out on the 17th.
Paul Azinger, who
sat out both matches Saturday, is the only American who has not
earned a point. Europe's contributions have come from eight of
its 12 players.
Everyone plays Sunday.
Every match is likely to matter.
For most of Saturday,
it looked like the Americans would wind up in the same hole they
were in three years ago at The Country Club, when they had to
make up a 10-6 deficit.
Lucky to be trailing
by one point going into the second day, the United States was
behind in all eight matches at one time, and still earned points
in all but two of them.
Duval and Calcavecchia
had the biggest comeback, from 3-down after seven holes.
Mickelson and Toms
set the tone.
Lefty asked to be
the first match of the morning, wanting to put a point on the
board early. He delivered a 2-and-1 victory with his usual assortment
of thrills.
Mickelson hit a 3-wood
from 249 yards to within 3 feet for an eagle and a 2-up lead on
the par-5 15th. Then he hit a spectacular bunker shot _ from a
plugged lie against the slip of a steep bunker _ to 3 feet for
a par save.
"That was one
of the best shots I've ever hit," he said.
Expect to see plenty
more on Sunday, when the 14-inch gold cup comes into view.
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