MEDINAH, Ill. — Rookies contribute for teams
The Ryder Cup might be golf’s most pressure-packed stage, but it hardly frightened this bunch.
Four of the five rookies on the U.S. team contributed to the Americans’ 5-3 lead on opening day. And without Nicholas Colsaerts’ one man show - he made eight birdies and an eagle on his own ball - the Europeans would have been shut out in the afternoon session.
“Well, everybody called them rookies, but they’re proven Tour winners and FedEx Cup winners and guys that have played very, very well lately,” U.S. captain Davis Love III said. “So we weren’t considering them rookies, except in the Ryder Cup.”
Keegan Bradley looked like an old hand while winning twice with playing partner Phil Mickelson in tow. Only Brandt Snedeker, who opened the day as Jim Furyk’s partner in the first alternate-shot match, came away empty-handed.
“We showed a little nerves this morning right out of the box,” Love said.
Not so for Colsaerts, who made eight birdies and an eagle in his match with Lee Westwood against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker.
“He had one of those days that he will remember for the rest of his life,” said European captain Jose Maria Olazabal, probably wishing he had another rookie or two to call on.
Sergio’s first loss
Sergio Garcia lost his match and his unbeaten streak.
The Spaniard brought an 8-0-1 mark in foursomes into Friday morning’s match against Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson, and he and partner Luke Donald were 4-0 when paired together.
But the Europeans fell 4 and 3, losing control of the match on the ninth hole when Donald’s birdie putt lipped out. They fell behind when another putt lipped out on 12, giving them their first bogey of the day, and the Americans won four consecutive holes to clinch the match.
“We had our chances,” Garcia said. “We had a couple of key holes, 9 and 12 probably, where we had two big lip-outs from Luke. Then they just got on a run of birdies toward the end, and we weren’t able to keep up.”
Garcia has lost three of his past four Ryder Cup matches. He missed the 2010 event, mired in a two-year slump.
“What I’m most disappointed about is that I didn’t get a point or at least half a point for my team,” Garcia said. “I’ve told you over and over again, if you want to talk about records, you probably need to ask the other team. The only record we care about is the team record.” By the book
Both European captain Jose Maria Olazabal and his American counterpart, Davis Love III, came into the Ryder Cup with a plan.
And both, apparently, are sticking to it.
For Love that means sitting down Tiger Woods for the first time in any Ryder Cup he’s played in.
Woods won’t play in this morning’s alternate shot matches, but Love said it had nothing to do with Woods and Steve Stricker losing both their opening matches.
“We just don’t want guys to be worn out,” Love said.
“We need Tiger and Steve in the afternoon. We need Tiger and Steve on Sunday.”
Olazabal said his plan was to have every player play during the first day, and for his top players to get rested one session before Sunday’s singles, too. Falling behind 5-3 after the first day didn’t tempt him to change his mind.
“No, we stick to the plan,” Olazabal said. “What we need to do is just step it up and play better golf tomorrow. Simple as that.”At a glance
MEDINAH, Ill. - A glance at the opening day of the Ryder Cup on Friday: SCORE The U.S. team leads 5-3 after matches of alternate shot and better ball.
WHAT’S NEXT? Four more matches of alternate shot this morning, followed by four better-ball matches in the afternoon.
WHERE’S TIGER? Sitting down in the morning, for the first time in any Ryder Cup he’s played in. His benching came after he and Steve Stricker lost both their matches to the Europeans.
POINTS Europe needs 14 points to retain the cup it won two years ago in Wales.
The United States needs 14 1/2 points to win the cup.
KEY STATISTIC Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium made eight birdies and an eagle in his afternoon match, carrying him and Lee Westwood to a victory over Woods and Stricker.
NOTEWORTHY For the first time in nine Ryder Cups, Phil Mickelson won both his opening matches. He and Keegan Bradley beat Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald in alternate shot, and Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in better ball.
QUOTEWORTHY “We just don’t want guys to be worn out. We need Tiger and Steve in the afternoon. We need Tiger and Steve on Sunday.” - U.S. captain Davis Love III on benching Woods and Stricker.
Sports, Pages 30 on 09/29/2012