Friday, September 24, 1999
Europe rolls to big lead in the Ryder Cup
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) - It was an exhibition, all right, just
not the kind Tiger Woods and David Duval had in mind.
Europe turned the first day of the Ryder Cup into an exhibition
of incredible shotmaking and clutch putting, a combination much
more lethal than America's vaunted 1-2 punch Friday at The Country
Club.
Woods and Duval, the best two players in the world who tried
to dress down the Ryder Cup as an "exhibition," looked
like mere mortals before an inspired European team that strutted
away from the first day with growing confidence and a 6-2 lead.
The final blow came in the fading sunlight, when Lee Westwood
and Darren Clarke beat the Woods-Duval pairing in a best-ball
match to cap off its best start to the Ryder Cup since 1987.
"We probably didn't expect to get that many points, but
they performed how I expected them to perform," said Europe
captain Mark James. "To win six points is obviously a big
bonus."
Even captain Ben Crenshaw could do little but applaud a European
team that got contributions from all three rookies who played
- and great shots from everyone.
"Is that right, 6-2?" he said. "I just don't
think that indicates how our people played today. I think we saw
some outstanding golf from the Europeans. I can't believe we're
looking at a four-point differential here."
The Americans have not won the Ryder Cup since 1993, and this
wasn't the kind of start they had in mind. Though highly unlikely,
it's mathematically possible for Europe to wrap up its sixth Ryder
Cup since 1985 at the close of business Saturday.
"We're all aware there's a long way to go," James
said. "You get lopsided results when putts go your way."
But it wasn't just the putts.
Jesper Parnevik holed out with a 9-iron from 141 yards on No.
8 and was 7 under in the first 10 holes of his best-ball match
with Sergio Garcia. The youngest player in Ryder Cup history,
Garcia contributed with an eagle of his own, pitching in from
50 yards short of the 14th green and bounding into Parnevik's
arms for another bear hug.
"Sergio is a big, big talent, but to tell you the truth
it's Jesper," James said. "He knows how to play with
Sergio, when to let him loose and when to rein him in."
The biggest grin from America came from Davis Love III, who
made pressure-packed putts at the end of both his matches to earn
a halve.
"It's hard to know how I feel," Love said. "They're
going to be tough to beat. For some reason, they raise the level
of play for this tournament."
The only American victory in eight matches came from Hal Sutton
and Jeff Maggert, who scored a 3 and 2 victory over Westwood and
Clarke in the alternate-shot match Friday morning.
The shock came from who didn't win.
Woods and Duval failed to win a point. So did Phil Mickelson,
who sported a 4-1-2 record in his two Ryder Cups.
Woods, determined to avenge a 1-3-1 record in his first Ryder
Cup two years ago at Valderrama, got little help from Tom Lehman
when they fell to Parnevik-Garcia 2 and 1 in the morning match.
And he didn't get much help from Duval in the best-ball match
the Americans figured to win hands down. While Woods holed an
incredible flop shop for birdie on No. 10 to give them their only
lead of the match, he missed a 6-foot eagle putt on the 14th that
kept them from going ahead.
"If I make the putt, we go 1-up and things might have
turned out a little differently," Woods said.
Instead, they fell behind on the 17th hole when Clarke made
a 5-foot birdie putt and neither Woods nor Duval gave themselves
a decent chance at birdie.
The carnage was complete when Duval drove wildly off the tee,
Woods found a bunker on his approach to the green, and Westwood
closed out a 1-up victory with a simple chip that was conceded
for par.
"A huge first day," Westwood said.
The 6-2 lead is the largest for Europe after the first day
since 1987 at Muirfield Village, the year it won on American soil
for the first time. Another victory in America would be old hat
these days.
The Europeans have won five of the past seven Ryder Cups, and
in all but one of those victories, they built their lead in team
matches, typically a strong suit.
"We have to keep our chins up," Maggert said. "This
is only one day and a lot can happen. We need to play better."
James sent three of his seven rookies into the fray, and all
contributed.
"They have great players here, but we have hands, too,"
said Miguel Angel Jimenez, who earned a halve with rookie Padraig
Harrington and a victory with Jose Maria Olazabal.
"Those guys played tremendous," Crenshaw said. "They
kept holing out. That's what happens in match play. Our guys played
well, but we need to see a few more putts go in. That's all I
can tell you."
Perhaps he should tell that to Mickelson.
The player reputed to have one of the silkiest putting strokes
on the PGA Tour missed one crucial putt after another.
Paired with Duval in alternate shot, Mickelson missed three
putts inside 6 feet in a 3 and 2 loss to Colin Montgomerie and
Paul Lawrie. In the afternoon, he twice had a chance to tie a
best-ball match, but Mickelson missed a 4-foot birdie putt on
the 16th, and an 8-foot putt on the final hole.
Crenshaw fell to his hands and knees after the final putt,
looking like he was going to be sick. Mickelson didn't look much
better.
"I needed to make those putts on 16 and 18, and I just
didn't," he said. "And it's really disappointing. They
weren't very aggressive strokes, they were very tentative."
The partisan crowd of 30,000 got into it early, chanting "U-S-A!"
even as Mickelson and Duval walked off the first tee. But the
eerie silence, save for some distinctive European cheers that
are lower in tone and volume, followed shortly, and that was a
bad harbinger for the Americans.
As a bright sun rose over the tree-lined Country Club, the
Americans led all of the morning alternate-shot matches except
one, the Sutton-Maggert duo, which turned out to be the only match
they won.
Duval-Mickelson fell behind with bogeys on the 10th and 12th
holes, and were doomed when Mickelson missed a 5-foot birdie putt
on No. 14.
"The match certainly didn't seem like it should have been
a 3 and 2 match," Duval said. "I really can't give you
an explanation for that score."
That was a telling statement for his entire team. The Americans
never seem to know what hits them until the day is over, their
recollections filled with Europe making one putt after another.
Montgomerie has taken on the role of Europe's leader, and he
lived up to the part with crucial putts that kept him and Lawrie
in their alternate-shot match and got them back into the best-ball
match with Love and Justin Leonard, which eventually was a halve.
"I've been putting very poorly up to this stage,"
Montgomerie said. "The Ryder Cup brings the best out of me,
and I'm glad it does."
As Friday showed once again, the Ryder Cup brings out the best
in Europe.
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