The play at the Ryder Cup began this morning in Wales, 2:45AM EST. The four American and European group began play in the pouring rain, until conditions became unplayable after about 1 hour. There was an 7+ hour rain delay, which prevented the completion of 2 rounds of competition as was originally scheduled. Instead, the morning fourball groups couldn’t even finish the first round, as the first group (Mickelson/Johnson, Westwood/Kaymer) finished 12 holes, and the last group (Overton/Watson, Donald/Harrington) completed only 8 holes. Through the first day at Celtic Manor, the Americans lead the Europeans 2.5-1.5, a great start for the underdog USA team.
Current pairings, Scores*
Westwood/Kaymer (EUROPE) 1 UP THRU 12 over Mickelson/Johnson (USA)—1 point EUROPE*
Cink/Kuchar (USA) 2 UP THRU 11 over McIlroy/McDowell (EUROPE)—1 point USA*
Stricker/Woods (USA) ALL SQUARE THRU 10 with Poulter/Fisher (EUROPE)—.5 points each*
Overton/Watson (USA) 1 UP THRU 8 over Donald/Harrington—1 point USA*
*—Scores not official until full round is completed (tomorrow)
Prime Performers Today:
Steve Stricker (USA) has hit several big putts to keep his match square (Ian Poulter has been impressive and fired up for the Europeans in the same group)
Jeff Overton (USA), the newcomer, has continued to play very well under the radar.
Stewart Cink (USA)has been the most impressive player for the Americans thus far, and his play in rainy, windy conditions reminds this writer of his performance at Turnberry in 2009.
Lee Westwood (EUROPE) and Martin Kaymer (EUROPE) work like a well oiled machine in that group, which is why they are two of my favorite players and two of the best in the world. Westwood seems to be at 100% even after the calf injury which has kept him off the course since early August.
Golfers who have struggled thus far:
The Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington pairing (EUROPE) has looked extremely sluggish, and is lucky to be only 1 down after 8 holes to Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson (USA).
Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson (USA) began their rounds atrociously, but have rebounded to cut the once 3 hole deficit down to only 1 with 6 to play tomorrow. Mickelson began the round wearing two golf gloves due to conditions, which isn’t his norm, and turned his round in the right direction once he removed the extra glove.
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Stay tuned for continuous coverage of the Ryder Cup after every day of play.
WTF, Phil was wearing two gloves!?! It looked bad there, but not that bad!
I guess all that weight he lost made him get cold :)