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 Turned back Europe answers U.S. charge, maintains four-point lead
Posted: Sunday September 26, 1999 01:39 AM
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) -- One of the best teams on paper now has to script the greatest comeback in the history of the Ryder Cup. At the end of a devastating day at The Country Club, Ben Crenshaw was out of breath and running out of chances. On the verge of getting within earshot of Europe late in the afternoon Saturday, his U.S. team was right back where it started on Saturday. Thanks to more magic from Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia, and more clutch putting and shotmaking from a defiant Colin Montgomerie, Europe walked off the course with a 10-6 lead, needing only four out of 12 points on Sunday to retain the Ryder Cup. Exhausted and exasperated, Crenshaw considered the odds. No team has ever come back from more than two points behind on the final day to win. Still, he wagged his finger and wagered all his hopes on the improbable. "I'm a big believer in fate," said the man who won the Masters in 1995 the week after longtime teacher Harvey Penick died. "I have a good feeling about this." Then he winked and walked out of the room. The Americans better come equipped with more than that. "No matter what we do, they do us one better," Davis Love III said. Sound familiar? In the last Ryder Cup at Valderrama two years ago, Europe led 101/2-51/2 after the first two days. The Americans rallied hard, winning eight of 12 points, but wound up a loser once again. No matter how hard the Americans tried, how much emotion they showed or how many putts they made, it still wasn't enough Saturday. Parnevik holed another chip from out of the rough and over a mound, and Garcia salvaged an unlikely halve against Love and David Duval by making a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. Montgomerie declared himself the leader of the rookie-laden European team and backed it up on the course. Heckled throughout the day, he made a crucial birdie on the 15th hole to take the lead over Tiger Woods and Steve Pate. Paul Lawrie, the British Open champion who never got his due, polished them off with a tee shot on the par-3 16th to within 2 feet. Another rookie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, carried Jose Maria Olazabal long enough to squeeze out another half-point against the formidable Hal Sutton and the still winless Justin Leonard. And Crenshaw expects this to change? "They played their hearts out, and they will continue to play their hearts out," he said. One reason to believe is that the U.S. strength has always been in singles. The Americans have had the upper hand in the mano-a-mano matches all but five times in Ryder Cup history, and all but twice since 1957. Crenshaw is sending his heavyweights out first -- Tom Lehman, Sutton, Phil Mickelson, Love, Woods and Duval in the first six matches. "It's not too big of a hole," Sutton insisted. "We've got 12 great players on this team. We've shown a lot of fight this week, and we've got a lot of fight left in us." Still, Europe always seems to have a little more. "We're under no illusions," captain Mark James said. "The USA is going to fight back hard tomorrow." Perhaps the Americans' last hope is that James' decision to stick with the hot hand leads to fatigue among the seven players who have gone all four matches, and rust among the three players who have yet to strike a ball in Ryder Cup competition. "I'm just hoping we've worn those guys out," Love said. "Hopefully, some guys got rusty and some got tired. That's our only hope." The partisan gallery did its part. Cheers of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" echoed throughout The Country Club. At times it got a little nasty, especially when Montgomerie was involved. Three times he backed off putts because of the noise, and he accused Sutton and Jeff Maggert of stirring them up. "They need pumping up because they're losing, and they're losing heavily," Montgomerie snapped after his alternate-shot loss Saturday morning. Parnevik and Garcia are now 3-0-1 after two days, the best record by a Ryder Cup tandem since Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros were 3-0-1 in 1991. The same can't be said for America's best, the team with no player ranked lower than 28th in the world ranking, the team that once again was heavily favored -- on paper. Throughout the closing holes, Europe shredded that up. Woods, who won his first match in the morning with Pate, missed an 8-foot eagle putt on the 14th that could have given the United States control. Moments later, Love missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th that would have scratched out a victory. Just like that, Europe had the advantage once again. "That turned the whole match around," Woods said. "If I make that putt, it's a whole different ball game." James couldn't agree more. He sensed a fierce American rally and was desperate for someone who step up and fight back. He got it from Montgomerie, who stared down every jibe with crucial putts, none bigger than his birdie on No. 15. "The USA had thrown a lot of good golf at us," James said. "We were in the process of trying to put the wall up to keep them from breaking through. Colin's point was a big factor in putting that wall up. His contributions this week have been enormous." The Americans had to scramble to salvage a split in the morning alternate-shot matches, thanks to an eagle putt by Woods in one match and two crucial putts and a 7-iron from Maggert in another that kept them within four points at 8-4. But the only victory they managed in the afternoon came from Mickelson. A day after he missed crucial putts in both his matches, Mickelson showed up with a new putter and got a putting tip from Crenshaw. It worked. He knocked in a 20-footer for birdie on No. 3, and they never were challenged in a 2 and 1 victory. "I told Phil to trust his putting stroke," Crenshaw said. "All he needs to do is for one or two to go down and he's off." Desperate to catch up, the Americans were lucky to have some hope left after morning alternate-shot matches that were interrupted for 22 minutes by rain. Garcia and Parnevik continued to roll. No, they didn't make eagles from the fairway, but they didn't have to against an American team of Leonard and Payne Stewart that chopped it around The Country Club, managing only one birdie in a 3 and 2 loss. Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, coming off their conquest of Woods and Duval, kept on sailing. They blistered Jim Furyk and Mark O'Meara, who was playing his first match of the Ryder Cup. "Beating No. 1 and No. 2 in the world certainly let us think we can play with anybody," Westwood said. Woods finally won his first match. He and Pate never trailed, but the match was tied early on the back nine until Pate hit his second shot in the par-5 14th to 20 feet, and Woods made the eagle putt for a 1-up advantage that they maintained the rest of the match. "I've been playing well this entire week," Woods said. "Eventually, things will start going your way." He better hopes it happens pretty quick. Because right now, hope is the only thing the Americans have going for them. | |||
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