And so, a foursome session that looked at one stage like a one-sided victory for the Europeans turned dramatically into a 3-1 win for the US team. And the reality is that it should have been at least another half a point for the US team as Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry contrived to throw away a 2-up lead with two to play.
For the record, the results of the morning foursomes were as follows:
Mickelson/Kim vs Harrington/Karlsson – match halved
Leonard/Mahan bt Casey/Stenson 3&2
Campbell/Cink bt Rose/Poulter by one hole
Perry/Furyk vs Garcia/Westwood – match halved
The fourball matches began while the final foursome game was still finishing. The action and drama seems to come in unrelenting waves at the Ryder Cup!
An all-Irish pairing of Harrington & McDowell are leading off against Kim & Mickelson and have started really well, leading by two holes after eight. Despite their disappointing finish this morning, Poulter & Rose are back in action against two fresh players Stricker & Curtis – all square after five. Garcia & Jiminez are already two holes down against Leonard/Mahan, who have started the fourball as they finished the foursomes. The home crowd are loving the final pairing of Weekley & Holmes as they battle with Westwood & Hansen.
Oliver Wilson is the proverbial odd man out as he’s alone amongst the 24 players in Valhalla not to have played on the opening day. GIven Europe’s harshly learned lesson of not playing three rookies until the singles back in ’99, it’s likely that Faldo will give a chance to Wilson on Saturday.