Saturday, September
28, 2002
Garcia's
celebrations rub off on reviving Westwood
By ROBERT MILLWARD
AP Sports Writer
SUTTON COLDFIELD,
England (AP) - Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood are quite a team.
The Spaniard and
the Englishman posted the only perfect record from the better-ball
and alternate-shot matches Friday as Europe took a 4 1/2-3 1/2
lead over the defending champion Americans at The Belfry.
Garcia and Westwood
scored a 4 and 3 victory over David Duval and Davis Love III in
better ball, then beat Tiger Woods and Mark Calcavecchia 2 and
1.
Colin Montgomerie
and Bernhard Langer also looked set to collect two points before
they tossed away a 3-hole lead with four to play and halved with
Phil Mickelson and David Toms in the most dramatic finish of the
day.
Darren Clarke and
Thomas Bjorn also picked up a point from the better ball matches.
But the duo of Garcia, Europe's top player, and Westwood, whose
form had nose-dived alarmingly in the past year, appeared to be
an inspired choice by team captain Sam Torrance.
With huge galleries
following their matches, Garcia and Westwood celebrated every
great or winning shot with broad smiles, high fives and hugs.
"Don't get me
wrong," Garcia said. "You have to be as serious as you
can. But if you can just try to enjoy it a little bit and have
a little bit of fun with the crowd, that makes you relax. It gets
your mind out of all that pressure, and it just makes it easier
to play your own game.
"I feel that's
the way I perform the best and I really think it helped Lee today
and Jesper (Parnevik) three years ago. Even when we were losing,
we were one down and we were having fun and we enjoyed every bit
of it. That's the way I feel I have got to play this tournament."
The same could be
said of Seve Ballesteros, who played or captained eight Ryder
Cups between 1979 and 1997. His trademark clenched-fist celebrations
became a symbol of how Europe ended America's 28-year domination.
Garcia also played
the sort of audacious shot Ballesteros would have attempted, even
though it didn't quite pay off.
The tee at the 10th
hole, one of the most exciting holes in match play, was moved
back to make it extremely difficult to reach the green.
The other 23 players
played it safe and got to the green in two. But Garcia went for
the green with his tee shot, only to watch in frustration as his
ball plopped into the stream at the front. Another couple of yards
and he would have made it.
Will he do it again?
"If the wind
is right I will, because I actually feel like I hit that green
every day," he said. "If the wind goes the right way
I'll probably do it every day."
Garcia said his partnership
with Westwood, who made five birdie putts in the better ball match,
worked well and he believed that his good form appeared to rub
off on his English teammate.
"Our personalities
are very similar _ we're very laid back and that helped me get
into Lee's head and relax him a little bit," Garcia said.
"Unfortunately
he hasn't been playing too well this year and you could see a
few wayward shots. It's just Ryder Cup pressure."
Westwood has missed
eight cuts this season and hasn't finished higher than 15th. Two
years ago he won six tournaments and replaced Montgomerie as Europe's
highest earner.
"He looked good,
he putted really well," Garcia said. "That takes a lot
of pressure off you."
Westwood said he
loved playing with Garcia.
"We got on well,
we were laughing and joking," he said. "We hit some
good shots and, that afternoon especially, didn't give Tiger and
Mark too much of a chance."
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