Kim, Team USA Rally to Day One Lead

Sept. 19, 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Boo Weekley stomped around as though it was a football game. Anthony Kim must have set a record for high-fives. Justin Leonard rekindled memories of Brookline.

The Americans found themselves in an unusual position Friday: leading the Ryder Cup.

A pumped-up U.S. team -- with Weekley leading the cheers -- was poised to take a commanding lead on the opening day at Valhalla Golf Club, the first step toward erasing nine years of frustration in golf's ultimate team test.

Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim, right, beat Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell 2-up in the afternoon, ensuring the U.S. would lead after Friday.
During alternate-shot play in the morning, the Americans won two matches and halved two others for a 3-1 lead, the first time since 1991 they've been ahead after the opening session. In the afternoon, the Americans won two more matches and were ahead in another, hoping to double their advantage.

Chants of "Boooooo!" -- those were cheers -- drifted across the course as Weekley and his partner, homestate favorite J.B. Holmes, rallied late in the day to pull ahead of Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen.

The homespun Floridian, with a pinch of snuff tucked into his jaw, continually egged on the crowd by waving his arms. Weekley really stretched the boundaries of etiquette after sinking a putt off the edge of the green at No. 12 to give the Americans a 1-up lead, letting out a screen as he bounced around the green.

Kim and Phil Mickelson defeated Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell 2-up, assuring the Americans would go into Saturday with a lead. Leonard and Ryder rookie Hunter Mahan picked up their second win of the day, beating Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez 4 and 3.

"It was fun day for us," Mickelson said. "I thought we played with a lot of heart, a lot of emotion."

For Garcia, it was the first foursome loss of his Ryder Cup career.

The Europeans finally picked up their first full point with dusk approaching when Ian Poulter and Justin Rose closed out their match against Steve Stricker and Ben Curtis, winning 3 and 2.

The visitors also gained a boost in the morning at the end of the alternate-shot matches when their most imposing team, Garcia and Westwood, rallied to win the final two holes and halve the match with Jim Furyk and local favorite Kenny Perry.

Perry was poised to send the Kentucky crowd into a frenzy when he stood over an 8-foot putt at No. 17 to win the match. But the ball slid by the hole, and Perry followed by knocking his tee shot at 18 into the water right of the fairway, rekindling memories of his final-hole meltdown at the 1996 PGA Championship on this same course.

Perry's woes allowed Garcia and Westwood to escape with a half-point and extend their impressive records. But Garcia's streak ended in the afternoon, and Westwood's European record of 11 matches without a loss was in jeopardy.

Harrington, winner of the last two majors, and Robert Karlsson gave the Euros their only other half point of the morning, but that felt more like a loss after they let a commanding lead on Mickelson and Kim slip away.

Hunter Mahan, left, and Justin Leonard leave the 16th after Leonard's par putt clinched their morning match. They picked up another win in the afternoon.

Of the 28 points available, Europe needs only 14 to retain the cup. The Americans must win outright to regain it.

The Americans haven't taken the cup since "The Miracle at Brookline" nine years ago. Since then, the Europeans have won three in a row, the last two in routs.

The Euros looked to be off and running again, surging to early leads in all four morning matches shortly after the sun came up. Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey won the first two holes against Leonard and Mahan, one of six rookies on the U.S. team.

Poulter and Rose were 3-up on Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell after seven holes, but lost it with a three-putt bogey at No. 18. Harrington and Karlsson looked to be in good shape when they started the back side by winning three straight holes for a 3-up lead with six to play.

Again, the Americans stormed back, no one more than Mahan. After a shaky start, he teamed with Leonard to put the Americans 2-up by the turn. They didn't even need to play the final two holes.

Leonard rolled in a short par putt at the 16th to clinch the match -- his first victory in Ryder Cup play, though he's still remembered as the hero at Brookline for a 45-foot putt that halved his singles match and gave the Americans their most recent win.

Leonard chip-in birdie at No. 15 provided the decisive blow in the afternoon. The guy who had never won a full point in eight previous Ryder Cup matches earned two full points in one day.

"It feels great," he said. "I told Hunter, 'I lost those first two holes for us on purpose to take the pressure off.' We had a lot of fun out there."

Cink and Campbell made their move after Poulter shockingly knocked an easy sand wedge into the creek surrounding the island green at No. 13, leaving the match all-square.

It was still tied going to the final hole, but Rose sent a par putt rocketing past the hole and Poulter missed a 4-footer coming back. Cink and Campbell merely had to pick their ball up, their 1-up win assuring the Americans of the lead going to the afternoon.

Mickelson and Kim provided a crucial half-point that looked lost when they dropped the first three holes after the turn.

Lefty had a distracting morning round. A photographer clicked his camera just as Mickelson was chipping at No. 10, and a giant butterfly dipped into the cup as a birdie putt slid by at No. 13. But the Americans still managed to win that hole, sparking their comeback.

Both sides tried to throw it away at the final hole. Harrington skulled a grounder out of the fairway sand, and Kim came up short with a shot out of a greenside bunker, leaving the ball hanging perilously on a severe slope. But Mickelson flopped it up near the flag, and Kim rolled in a clutch 5-footer to halve the match after Harrington missed a 10-footer for the win.

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