Europe jumps to shocking lead in Ryder Cup
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) -- An American victory at Valderrama
will take even more magic than Seve the Sorcerer displayed Saturday.
Nothing short of the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history will
be enough.
Seve Ballesteros smiled, snarled, cajoled, kibitzed, winced
and sometimes just watched as his European team had a near-sweep
of the United States and took a stunning 9-4 lead into Sunday.
With three alternate-shot matches suspended by darkness and
12 singles matches still to play, Europe needed only 5-1/2 of
the remaining 15 points to win the Cup outright and five points
to retain it as defending champion.
"Time will tell," Ballesteros said coyly about his
team's chances of keeping the Cup it won in 1995.
"It's true that we have a certain advantage," he
said. "But there's still a long way to go. We have to keep
working and fighting and never relax."
No team has ever trailed by more than two points going into
singles play and won in the 31 previous Ryder Cups, and the United
States would need to sweep the three suspended matches just to
get that close.
Only four times in the 70-year history of the competition has
a team trailed going into singles play and won -- including Europe
in 1995, which trailed 7-9 and won 14-1/2-13-1/2.
A subdued Tom Kite, who said he was shell-shocked, put up a
brave face after Europe won six of the seven points decided Saturday.
"It's not insurmountable," said the U.S. captain.
"We'll have to play like crazy, but it's not insurmountable."
Playing like crazy may not do it.
After losing one match carried over from Friday's suspension
and halving the other, the Americans trailed 4-1/2-3-1/2 and sent
their best players out for the morning better-ball matches.
Fred Couples and Davis Love III, Justin Leonard and Brad Faxon,
Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara, Phil Mickelson and Tom Lehman could
manage only a half point in their four better-ball matches.
And in three of those four matches the Americans were ahead
going to the back nine only to watch the determined underdogs
sprint past them.
"Three of the four major championship winners were out
there," Mickelson said, referring to Woods, Leonard and Love.
"And they beat all of us. Give them credit, they figured
out how to beat us."
It was a true team effort by the Europeans.
Woods and O'Meara were 6-under par -- and lost.
Leonard made five birdies and an eagle but got no help from
Faxon -- and lost.
Couples and Love were 5-under par -- and lost.
Lehman and Mickelson were 5-under par -- and only managed to
halve.
"They definitely are doing all the things you need to
do to win matches," Lehman said. "When one guy is in
the tank, the other guy makes a birdie."
In one stunning stretch of golf, Leonard made four birdies
and an eagle in seven holes, yet he and Faxon gained no ground
against Ian Woosnam and Thomas Bjorn, who defeated them 2 and
1.
In another burst of brilliant play, Woods and O'Meara made
five birdies in eight holes against Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood
and lost ground, eventually dropping the match 2 and 1.
Time and again, the Europeans made crucial putts. Time and
again, the Americans watched key putts spin out of the cup --
especially on the crucial closing holes.
"We started out strong, then they righted the ship on
the back nine and played much better than we did," Kite said.
Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke never led in their match
against Couples and Love until No. 17.
Woosnam and Bjorn couldn't get in front of Leonard and Faxon
until the 13th hole.
And Faldo and Westwood first got the lead against Woods and
O'Meara on No. 15.
"The Americans got off to a great start on the first nine
and we just plowed back and plowed back," Woosnam said. "We've
played the best golf over the last few days."
Every time the Europeans got a lead in a match, their putting
seemed to get better and the Americans' putting got worse.
"They severely out-putted us," Kite said. "Even
our guys who putt well were out-putted."
Couples and Love lost their match to Montgomerie and Clarke
1-up while Mickelson and Lehman halved with Jose Maria Olazabal
and Ignacio Garrido after Mickelson missed a 4-foot eagle putt
on No. 17.
The first point of the day came when Faldo and Westwood closed
out Leonard and Jeff Maggert 3 and 2 in an alternate-shot match
suspended by darkness Friday. The victory gave Faldo a record
24 points in Ryder Cup play.
Lehman and Mickelson halved their alternate-shot match carried
over from Friday against Garrido and Jesper Parnevik.
The only afternoon alternate-shot match that concluded on Saturday
had Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer defeating Lee Janzen and Jim
Furyk 1-up.
Of the matches stranded on the course, Faldo and Westwood trailed
Scott Hoch and Jeff Maggert 1-up through 14 holes; Parnevik and
Garrido were even with Woods and Leonard through seven holes;
and Olazabal and Costantino Rocca were 1-up against Love and Couples
through seven holes.
One of the most amazing aspects of the day was that nearly
every time a European pair did something spectacular, Ballesteros
was there offering advice, cheering them on or just watching.
"Seve is the same way as a captain as he was as a player,"
Lehman said. "Seve has the kind of personality that can be
intimidating. If a match gets down a hole or two, he just vaporizes
out of nowhere."
At times it seemed as if there were a dozen clones of Seve
Ballesteros at Valderrama. And at times it seemed like there were
more than two Europeans playing against the American pairs.
Lehman, who has been one of the most reliable of the Americans,
said the success of the Europeans came from how well they meshed
as a team.
"There hasn't been one guy that's played well from start
to finish," Lehman said. "It's been mostly ham and egging,"
he said, using the golfer's phrase to describe when two opponents
alternate having good holes.
Lehman sought comfort in that, going into singles play.
"I think those guys can be had," Lehman said. "I
like our chances in singles."
He'd better like them a lot. It will take an incredible Sunday
for the U.S. team to bring home the Ryder Cup. In fact, it will
take a record-setting Sunday.
|
