|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
On the Course Stats not needed to know U.S. putted light outs
By Gary Van Sickle, Sports Illustrated GAINESVILLE, Va. -- The opening round of the Presidents Cup on Thursday featured the unexpected. The Americans swept the first round, took a commanding 5-0 lead and gave an indication that this could be payback for the bad beating they suffered at the hands of the International team two years ago. "You always hope for the best but in my wildest dreams," American captain Ken Venturi said, "I could not have expected 5-0 today." The stud combination for the Americans were Stewart Cink and Kirk Triplett, two of the tour's most underrated players, and rookies to this team match play format. Who expected Cink and Triplett to rack up seven birdies in foursomes play (alternate shot)? No other duo managed more than four. "Seven under is surprising by anybody in this format, but I'm not surprised. Those guys are good players," said Davis Love III. Greg Norman and Steve Elkington, at least by reputation, figured to be one of the Internationals' most formidable teams, right up there with Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Els and Norman, who both had hip surgery this year, showed up without their games. They bogeyed five of the first eight holes and found themselves 6 down to Tom Lehman and Phil Mickelson, who cruised to a 5-and-4 victory. Captain Peter Thomson broke up the Norman-Elkington pairing for Friday morning's fourball matches and understandably so. The pair was 5 over par through 14 holes. If the Internationals are going to rally from that massive five-point deficit, they need Norman and Elkington to rediscover their top form in a hurry. Putting stats aren't kept but that was the difference Thursday. The Americans putted the lights out, especially David Duval and Triplett, while the Internationals didn't make much. The Americans posted 21 birdies to the Internationals' 12 and scored a cumulative 11 under par to the Internationals' 6 over par. Three matches went to the final hole and the Americans halved the hole each time to hang on to a 1-up win. Tiger Woods didn't play his best but his partner, Notah Begay, played well as they held on to edge Singh and Els, 1 up. It added up to a stunning day for the Internationals. "We were just trying to get at least one point at the end," said Nick Price. "We just got outplayed.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
