Saturday, September
28, 2002
Woods
loses twice, but Americans get within a point at Ryder Cup
By STEPHEN WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SUTTON COLDFIELD,
England (AP) - Tiger Woods lost two more matches in Ryder Cup
play Friday and Europe took a narrow lead over the United States
on the opening day at The Belfry.
The Americans, trailing
3-1 after the morning's best-ball matches, made a strong comeback
in the afternoon's alternate-shot play to cut the margin to 4
1/2 to 3 1/2.
Phil Mickelson and
David Toms picked up a crucial half-point in the final match,
rallying from three holes down with four to play to halve with
Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.
"The half point
was huge," U.S. captain Curtis Strange said. "It was
huge not only for the numbers, but huge for our psyche. We came
back, got a half-win when it didn't look good at all.
"If we do well
Sunday afternoon, we might look back and say that was the match
that could have turned it around."
European captain
Sam Torrance said he was more than satisfied with the score.
"We're ahead,
aren't we?" he said. "That'll do me. I'm very happy
to be a point ahead tonight."
Woods was the only
American player to lose twice Friday.
In best ball, he
and Paul Azinger lost 1-up to Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke.
In alternate shot, Woods _ paired with Mark Calcavecchia _ lost
2 and 1 to Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. That match turned in
the Europeans' favor after Woods missed par putts of 5 feet at
the 11th and 3 feet at the 12th.
Woods' career Ryder
Cup record fell to 3-8-1.
"He doesn't
feel real good right now," Strange said. "He's disappointed.
He probably feels he let the team down a bit. It makes you come
back hungrier the next day, hopefully tomorrow."
Strange is pairing
Woods with Davis Love III for Saturday morning's alternate-shot
match against Clarke and Bjorn.
"I'm not sitting
him down," Strange said. "You go with your horses. If
you get beat, you get beat."
Despite Woods' defeats,
the U.S. team had the momentum by the end of the day after winning
the alternate-shot matches 2 1/2-1 1/2.
Veteran Hal Sutton
and cup rookie Scott Verplank rallied to beat Bjorn and Clarke
2 and 1. The Europeans had led 2-up with six holes left.
Jim Furyk and Stewart
Cink won 3 and 2 over Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley to
make it 4-3.
In the last match,
Montgomerie and Langer squandered their big lead as Mickelson
and Toms made three straight birdies at 15, 16 and 17 to draw
level.
The match came down
to the 473-yard, par-4 18th.
After fine drives
by Mickelson and Montgomerie, Langer's 5-iron approach landed
off the right side of the green, pin high. Toms reached the bottom
of the massive three-tiered green, still 40 yards from the pin.
Mickelson, one of
the world's best putters, chose to chip from the green, but the
ball carried 10 feet past the flag and didn't spin back. Montgomerie's
chip rolled 8 feet past.
After Toms missed
his putt, Langer had a putt for par to win the match but slid
his shot just to the right of the hole. Mickelson conceded Langer's
putt, then rolled in a 3-footer to secure the half point.
"That was a
hell of a comeback," Strange said. "That's what we come
here to see. It's terrible to finish with a bogey, but even that
was exciting."
Of Mickelson's chip
on 18, Strange said, "To hit a shot like that, that took
a lot of guts."
In best-ball, Woods
and Azinger didn't play poorly _ they shot a 9-under-par 63. But
Bjorn and Clarke combined for a 62, including five birdie putts
of 12 feet or more on the back nine.
"To shoot that
low and end up losing the match is a little disappointing, especially
when you birdied the last two holes," said Woods, who had
five birdies.
In other best-ball
matches, Garcia and Westwood beat David Duval and Love 4 and 3;
Montgomerie and Langer won by the same score against Scott Hoch
and Furyk; and Mickelson and Toms beat Harrington and Nicolas
Fasth 1-up.
Eight more pairs
matches are set for Saturday, with 12 singles matches Sunday.
A team gets 1 point
for a win and a half-point for a tie. The United States needs
14 points to retain the Cup, while Europe needs 14 1/2 to regain
it. The Americans won the last Cup in 1999 at Brookline, Mass.,
and last year's event was postponed because of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.
The 3-1 morning lead
was Europe's biggest advantage after the opening series of matches
since it led by the same margin at the 1971 Ryder Cup in St. Louis.
Since 1985, Europe
has won the Cup five of eight times. During that stretch, Europe
has had a 15-point advantage in best-ball matches and has led
six times after the first two days.
Woods said he and
Azinger simply were outplayed in best-ball.
"They played
great. They got up and made a lot of putts today," Woods
said. "Thomas played beautifully on the back nine. It was
just a matter of trying to make as many birdies as we possibly
could, and it just wasn't enough."
The competition began
in overcast but windless conditions, with an estimated 35,000
spectators lining the Brabazon course.
While the fans were
loud, there was none of the heckling and unruly crowd behavior
that marred the United States' dramatic win three years ago.
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