BLOOMFIELD HILLS, 18 September 2004 — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson inspired a United States fightback in the Ryder Cup foursomes yesterday, quickly moving three up on Europeans Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.
Playing the alternate-shot format, eight-times major winner Woods and US Masters champion Mickelson dovetailed superbly, reeling off birdies at the second, third and fourth to take control.
Although they faltered with a bogey-five at the 356-yard sixth, the momentum still appeared to be with them.
The US had trailed holders Europe by 3-1/2 points to a 1/2 after the visitors dominated the opening fourball matches, but were ahead in two of the afternoon encounters at Oakland Hills.
While Woods and Mickelson rallied from their 2 & 1 loss to Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington in the morning, Cup rookie Chris DiMarco and veteran Jay Haas led Europeans Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Levet by one after nine holes.
Europe, however, led in the remaining two matches. Montgomerie and Irishman Harrington were one up on Davis Love III and Fred Funk after seven holes while Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Briton Luke Donald led Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink by the same margin after four.
Inspired by a brilliant display of putting, Europe came close to 4-0 clean sweep in the morning foursomes.
Darren Clarke and Miguel Angel Jimenez drew first blood, beating Love and Chad Campbell 5 & 4, before Montgomerie and Harrington outplayed US trump cards Woods and Mickelson.
Garcia and Westwood, a successful combination for Europe at The Belfry in 2002, then grabbed their team’s third point with a 5 & 3 victory over former major winners David Toms and Jim Furyk.
The Americans managed to avoid their first clean sweep in the opening fourballs since the 1989 Ryder Cup at the Belfry when Chris Riley and Cink finished all square after a tense battle with Irishman Paul McGinley and Englishman Donald.
Woods and US Masters champion Mickelson had never before played together at the Ryder Cup and US captain Hal Sutton’s high-risk strategy backfired as the heavyweight duo failed to spark on an overcast and breezy day.
Montgomerie and Harrington birdied six of the first eight holes and, although Mickelson upped his game after the turn to give the Americans a whiff of a chance, the Europeans never relinquished control.
“It was very important for us to get off to a good start, and we did,” Montgomerie told reporters. “We birdied the first four holes and you can’t really do much against that. It (the win) was psychologically almost worth two points to us. We dovetailed very well and, thanks to my Irish partner here, played fantastic golf.”
Europe have dominated the first two days of team play in recent Cup matches and they stayed on track to maintain that trend with a barrage of birdie putts from between 10 and 25 feet. “It’s been a fantastic start by my guys,” European captain Bernhard Langer told NBC. “They’ve made some putts and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Purdy Shoots 61 to Lead Texas Open
Ted Purdy, seeking his first career PGA tour victory, scorched the LaCantera Golf Club course with a 61 here Thursday to take a three-stroke first round lead in the $3.5 million Texas Open.
Purdy is three shots clear of a group that includes Jim McGovern, Tim Clark, Dean Wilson and J.J. Henry. Defending champion Tommy Armour was tied for 29th after a round of 67.
