Heat is on
International team sizzles on day one
Posted: Friday December 11, 1998 03:24 AM
| |
Frank Nobilo and Greg Turner (above) never trailed, playing only one hole over par AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Now the Americans know why the International players were so bent on moving golf's Presidents Cup out of the United States.
With spectacular play from the Australians, surprising results from the Japanese and a birdie putt by Frank Nobilo that shook Royal Melbourne Golf Club, the International team took a 7-3 lead after the first day of matches.
"I think the Americans are going to be a little more geared up now," said Norman, who won both his matches with Elkington.
The Americans wilted on the second hottest December day this century in Melbourne, winning only two of the 10 matches outright -- both involved Fred Couples, their most experienced player.
Couples teamed with Tiger Woods to whip Vijay Singh and Ernie Els in alternate shot, and he and Davis Love III improved to 5-3 lifetime as cup partners when Couples drilled an approach into 2 feet for a 1-up victory Carlos Franco and Craig Parry in a best-ball match.
In each of the first two years of the Presidents Cup, the United States had a 7 1/2-2 1/2 lead after the first day and never looked back. Fittingly, the tables have been turned Down Under.
"We want to keep the momentum and the emotion," Norman said.
The momentum started early on a day in which the temperature soared brisk northerly winds blew, making conditions difficult.
Nobilo and Greg Turner, the two Kiwis from New Zealand added to the team as captain's picks, were in control of their alternate-shot match against the best two Americans this year, David Duval and Mark O'Meara.
But the lead was only 1-up on the 18th. Turner's 6-iron settled on the fringe at least 12 meters (40 feet) from the hole, and O'Meara responded with an approach to 2 feet that set up a probable halve of their match.
Nobilo had other ideas. The descendant of Ivory Coast pirates robbed the Americans of a half-point by rolling in a birdie putt that clinched the match and set off a roar that resounded throughout Royal Melbourne.
"That filtered all the way back down to the whole team," Norman said.
And the International team marched right on.
Norman and Elkington closed out their 2-up victory over Jim Furyk and John Huston when Elkington rifled his approach from the rough on the 18th into 3 feet for a birdie, and Parry and Shigeki Maruyama had no problem beating Scott Hoch and Lee Janzen.
The International team led 3 1/2-1 1/2 after the morning matches, and showed no signs of letting up when Norman birdied the first two holes of a best-ball match against Furyk and O'Meara.
Maruyama went out in the afternoon with Joe Ozaki and thrashed John Huston and Mark Calcavecchia, leading 4-up at the turn and going on to a 4 and 3 victory.
David Duval (standing) and Mark O'Meara swallowed their first loss in a Presidents Cup match AP | |
The Americans had their chances.
Duval and Phil Mickelson led their match against Els and Nick Price from the seventh hole on, but had to settle for a draw when Price made a 6-foot birdie putt on the last hole and Duval, who struggled all day with his putter, missed from 10 feet.
Woods and Justin Leonard were all square with Singh and Stuart Appleby through 13 holes but wound up losing 2 and 1.
The International team has never led after any day of matches in the three-year history of the Presidents Cup.
"We can come back," Couples said. "But obviously, we need to get maybe six out of the 10 matches tomorrow. It's not like it's a basketball game where you're down with 30 seconds to go. It can be done.
"But they are playing beautifully," he said. "Whatever they did today was real good."
Real good?
Try this on for size: Norman and Elkington, the only team that either captain kept together for the morning and afternoon matches, lost only five of the 35 holes they played.
"I knew I was swinging well," said Norman, who didn't look anything like a man who missed seven months because of shoulder surgery and only returned to competition last month. "All that hard work I had done from the rehab up to this moment in time is there. I feel like I made another step forward on the road to recovery."
The Americans gathered for a team meeting immediately after the final match ended.
"The reason we're disappointed is that the only match we were ahead of for the day, we halve it on the final hole," Mickelson said.
A little magic seemed to be on the International side all day -- Elkington holed a 50-footer for birdie to close out the best-ball match against O'Meara and Duval; in a morning match, O'Meara hit a chip that was headed right for the pin when it struck a sprinkler head on the fringe and shot into a bunker.
And then there was Nobilo's putt, which sent Duval and O'Meara to their first loss in four Presidents Cup matches together.
"The thing with Kiwis is we will nip at someone's heels all day for 18 holes," Nobilo said. "And eventually we will take the leg off."
What may have helped the International team more than anything is the weather -- not so much the oppressive heat from an early Australian summer, but the change in wind direction.
"When you're up against a great team, you need something to go in your favor," Nobilo said. "These were conditions we really needed on the first day. I think we were more comfortable."
After Day One, the Americans were squirming. And unless they can cope with wind, the heat and an International team carried along by a partisan international gallery, the flight back to the States may be missing a 14-inch sterling cup.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
