Fluctuating fortunes but USA grab lead
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 The Presidents Cup | Round One | 17 Nov 2011
At the completion of the opening day of competition at the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, the USA leads by 4 points to 2 on a day highlighted by fluctuating fortunes.
Early on it appeared as if the Internationals had the edge and on the leader-board they did, but momentum swings are not uncommon in this format and as the afternoon progressed it became apparent that the tide was turning.
The day saw 25,000 flock into the Royal Melbourne Golf Club to enjoy not only the golf of some of the classiest exponents in the game but outstanding conditions for playing and watching the game.
The Internationals went ahead early when, in the opening match, Ryo Ishikawa and Ernie Els birdied the second hole against Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. Two holes later they were two up but at that point the match changed directions dramatically. They would lose the next three holes however and eventually the match by 4&3.
Simpson was relieved. “I was so nervous this morning,” said Simpson after the match. "Bubba told me at one stage that just to remember that I was one of the best players in the world and to just start hitting golf shots.” The pep talk seemed to work as they overcame their slow start to seal the match.
The next match to finish was a shock. Not so much because of the win but the 7&6 margin by Adam Scott and K.J. Choi and that it was over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, two players who have combined beautifully in the past in Presidents Cup encounters.
Scott explained it this way. “Well, K.J. and I didn’t get it out of position today, which is a good thing on this golf course. We both played very well. They got out of position a couple of times and, you know, they didn’t play their best. Yeah, a good win, because they were a tough team last time, took a lot of points off us, so it was pleasing to get one up there. You know, just very pleased with the way K.J. and I played. We played this course very well today.”
Tiger Woods perhaps a little shell shocked added his thoughts on the shock defeat. “Unfortunately they got off to a quick start and we just couldn’t keep up. We kept the ball on the wrong side of these slopes and the golf course is so difficult it is hard to make up shots.”
“It is the nature of this course,” said Stricker responding to the fine margin between pleasure and pain on this great golfing layout. “I put him in the rough by a foot or so and if you are in the rough here trying to hit to some of these greens it is very difficult.
“It started right away from the get go really. We just never got into really any flow, any momentum, anything. We never put any pressure on them. And they played great. You know, 4 under through, what did we play, 12 holes, that’s pretty good playing.”
Hunter Mahan and David Toms easily accounted for a sadly out of sorts KT Kim and Y.E. Yang defeating them 6&5, the Korean pair always behind after an opening birdie by the Americans.
Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk were next to claim a point when they turned an early deficit into a 4&3 victory. Mickelson clearly enjoyed being paired up with an old friend in Jim Furyk. “The last few years there have been some young guys that we wanted to get both he (Furyk) and I out with.
“This year we feel that our young guys are ready to play with each other and want to play with each other and play well with each other which they are. That then gave Jim and I the chance to do something we have been wanting to do for years, to play with each other.”
Furyk said he felt having Mickelson as his partner, especially the way the lefthander was putting, took pressure of him. “I felt great with an iron in my hand as I know I didn’t have to hit it to five feet as he was rolling it good all day.”
The match between Geoff Ogilvy and Charl Schwartzel and Bill Haas and Nick Watney ended in a shared point after the International pairing lost a two holes lead with four to play. Both pairings bogeyed the final hole to halve the match.
“I’m disappointed because we were up with four to play," said Ogilvy. “We were up most of the day, and when you are 2 up, four to play, you hope to win."
No. 12 I think was quite a turning point,” said Schwartzel. “I mean, they looked like they had an unplayable. We were up most of the game and I suppose a halve they are all good players. They had a good come back. I don’t think we gave it to them.”
That left the Jason Day / Aaron Baddeley and Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar match on the course and it became clear that this would be crucial in the Internationals staying in touch heading into tomorrow’s four-ball matches.
After the Internationals grabbed an early lead with a birdie at the first they remained ahead virtually all day until bogeys by them at the 12th and 17th saw them head to the 18th with just a one hole lead. Baddeley drove it in the rough and left Day up against a tree. The Queenslander could only hack it back onto the fairway. And they eventually took bogey. It left Johnson facing a tense four footer for par to win the hole which he made and their match was halved.
“We were down all day,” said Johnson. “We had some chances to get back on the back nine but they holed some really nice putts to keep the momentum going but we just hung in there all day and kept fighting and came out with a half. You get so nervous out here to put that four footer in was big.”
So the Americans lead and once again the Internationals have gotten behind almost before the event has started just as they have in ech of the previous two encounters.
Tomorrow the Fourball offers a different dynamic and hopefully for the Internationals and a different result.
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