| AP Sports Headlines |
Fresh players help Europe take charge at Ryder Cup
By PATRICK McMANAMON
Scripps Howard News Service
SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- Ian Woosnam spent Friday jittery and upset that he was one of three Europeans not to play in the Ryder Cup.
"You get nervous just watching," Woosnam said Saturday after taking part in the morning fourballs with Thomas Bjorn. "It made me more angry. I always want to be out there in the middle of everything. When I got out there this morning I was so pumped up I wanted to beat everybody in front of me.
"It's like having a tiger in a cage. You have to let it out, and when you let it out it comes out fierce."
Woosnam could have been talking about every one of the Europeans who did not play on the Ryder Cup's first day.
All three came out like tigers in the morning fourball matches, and all gave Europe early points in a big morning for Europe.
Woosnam and Bjorn withstood a furious effort from Justin Leonard to win 2 &1, and Darren Clarke teamed with Colin Montgomerie to beat the powerful U.S. team of Davis Love and Fred Couples by 1 hole.
"We wanted to show Seve we have 12 carts on this team, not eight," Bjorn said.
All were disappointed they went an entire day without playing -- Tom Kite made sure every U.S. player participated on Friday -- but none were disappointed with the results. Ballesteros' pairings have been tremendously successful. Through the first 12 matches, Europe had a commanding 8-4 lead.
"Seve has a gameplan and he wants to stick to his gameplan and that's what he's doing," Woosnam said. "If some people have to stay out then some people have to stay out. At the moment it's working for him."
Woosnam and Bjorn won because they hung in when Leonard had what Woosnam called a "brilliant" stretch. In a span of seven holes, Leonard had an eagle and four birdies, a six-under total. "He was fantastic," Woosnam said.
But while Leonard got no help from Faxon, the European team combined to play well together, with eight birdies on 17 holes. They also countered Leonard's hot streak, as Woosnam had two birdies and Bjorn two more. The United States was only 1 up after 10.
A Bjorn birdie on 11 tied it, and a Leonard bogey on 13 gave Europe its first lead. Leonard then missed a birdie chance after Woosnam made one on 15, and Europe was ahead by 2. The match ended when Bjorn birdied No. 17.
"We were just hanging in, trying to keep the pressure on," Woosnam said. "We could only do our best, and if we lost we could have said we lost playing some great golf."
In addition, Bjorn accurately said that "Justin didn't get the support from Faxon."
On Friday, Faxon made a key par putt to clinch a victory, but on Saturday Faxon had no birdies and carried the ball off the green in disgust after missing a short birdie putt on 16.
"And I missed the short putt for par on 14 that gave them the lead," Faxon said. "We didn't get it back."
For Woosnam, the day was sweet as could be. He came to the Ryder Cup not playing well, and he admitted it. Coming into the matches, he had a 9-3-1 record in fourball play, but there wasn't even a whisper of criticism when Ballesteros left him out of the first morning's play.
"This is a very important course to drive the ball straight, and I haven't been driving the ball straight," Woosnam said. "My irons have been good, but my driving has been off. If my driving is good, I'll be in there every match."
After the match, after he had won his record 10th fourball match, Woosnam could only smile.
"I've played a lot of great ones with Nick Faldo before," Woosnam said. "But this was one of the best ever."
With that he looked at the assembled media from the world, and said: "Can I go back and get a beer now?"
(Pat McManamon is the national sportswriter for Scripps Howard News Service.)
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