USA: GOLF - REACTIONS OF GOLFERS AFTER EUROPE LEAD THE USA ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE RYDER CUP TOURNAMENT AT OAKLAND HILLS COUNTRY CLUB, BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN.

Record ID: 648629

  • Title: USA: GOLF - REACTIONS OF GOLFERS AFTER EUROPE LEAD THE USA ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE RYDER CUP TOURNAMENT AT OAKLAND HILLS COUNTRY CLUB, BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN.
  • Date: 17th September 2004
  • Summary: BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN, USA. SEPTEMBER 17, 2004. (REUTERS-NO RESTRICTIONS) 1. TIGER WOODS AND PHIL MICKELSON ON GOLF CART 2. DARREN CLARKE AND LEE WESTWOOD 3. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DARREN CLARKE SAYING, "I don't know if we sent a statement or not but we came here to play and we've got off to a very good start. This is the Ryder Cup and this is what we've been looking forward to for a couple of years and just fortunately so far today we've managed to play pretty good golf." 4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) LEE WESTWOOD SAYING, "Yeah, I mean I think the team as a whole coming into the Ryder Cup was playing very, very well-there was no visible weak link on this squad so it's difficult to leave four people out for Bernhard." 5. LUKE DONALD AFTER MATCH 6. (SOUNDBITE)(English) LUKE DONALD SAYING, "Yeah this is a great start for Europe, I think it's nothing more than a great start-we have to settle down again and come out tomorrow like we did today. We've got to come out as if it was tied 4-4, so it was a great start but, you know, it's a long way to go." 7. U.S. TEAM MEMBER CHRIS DIMARCO 8. (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHRIS DIMARCO SAYING, "Well we got our asses handed to us pretty much so, you know, other than that, you know I think you're going to see guys more teed off than frustrated. I think guys are going to be out and ready to play tomorrrow." 9. EUROPE TEAM CAPTAIN BERNHARD LANGER AT POST MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE 10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) BERNHARD LANGER SAYING, "I'm sure they aren't very happy, I know that. They know they have to come up with a lot more than they came up with today to win this Cup and I know they're going to try everything possible and I know they still have a very good chance of doing it. You know momentum swings have happened before and that's one thing I'm going to tell my guys-yes we're up but we're no where near close to where we want to be and there's a long way to go-there's no reason to celebrate yet." 11. COLIN MONTGOMERIE AT PRESSER 12. (SOUNDBITE)(English) COLIN MONTGOMERIE SAYING, "All I can say is on the behalf of Padraig and myself, we've had a very, very good day. A very few days in Ryder Cup have I personally enjoyed as much." 13. U.S. CAPTAIN HAL SUTTON AT PRESSER 14. (SOUNDBITE)(English) HAL SUTTON SAYING, "We've got a chance, I mean we're not out of this thing by any means you know, we've got to set a goal now to gain points tomorrow. I mean you know I'm just going to tell the guys tonight we've got to have five points or more tomorrow so that's it pure and simple. You're going to have to give it to yourself, don't give it to anybody else, don't give it to anybody else give it to yourself, because if you don't we're going to have an insurmountable, I mean Sunday will be a futile point so...you know...I hate to say this but if the Americans keep this up it won't be long before they'll be considered the underdogs." 15. WIDE SHOT PRESSER Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAEQTWK0IRRSW7EL5JM3W8NK3PU
  • Story Text: Europe jumps out a commanding five point lead over
    the U.S. after day one of the 35th Ryder Cup.



    The heavyweight United States duo of Tiger Woods and
    Phil Mickelson lost twice on the opening day
    of the 35th Ryder Cup on Friday as Europe opened up a lead
    of 6-1/2 points to 1-1/2.

    Woods and Mickelson, beaten 2 & 1 in the morning
    fourballs by Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington,
    wasted an early advantage before going down by a hole to
    Europeans Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood in the
    afternoon foursomes.

    Although the U.S. clinched their only match of the day
    when Cup rookie Chris DiMarco and veteran Jay Haas
    beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Levet 3 & 2, Europe
    followed up with a 4 & 2 win by Montgomerie and
    Harrington over Davis Love and Fred Funk.

    Holders Europe, who had led the U.S. by 3-1/2 points to
    a 1/2 after dominating the morning encounters,
    completed a memorable day when Spaniard Sergio Garcia and
    Briton Luke Donald beat Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink 2 & 1.

    Playing the alternate-shot format, eight-times major
    winner Woods and U.S. Masters champion Mickelson
    had dovetailed superbly early on, reeling off birdies at
    the second, third and fourth to take control.

    They lost momentum, though, with a bogey-five at the
    356-yard sixth before the Europeans forged ahead
    after winning the seventh, 10th and 11th holes.

    Woods and Mickelson levelled the match at the par-three
    17th, where Westwood failed to escape from a
    greenside bunker, but a wayward drive by Mickelson at the
    last allowed the Europeans to seal the win with a bogey-five.

    In front of subdued American galleries, DiMarco and
    50-year-old Haas at least gave the U.S. team some inspiration.

    Inspired by a brilliant display of putting, Europe came
    close to 4-0 clean sweep in the morning foursomes.

    Clarke and Jimenez drew first blood, beating Love and
    Chad Campbell 5 & 4, before Montgomerie and
    Harrington outplayed U.S. trump cards Woods and Mickelson.

    Garcia and Westwood, a successful combination for
    Europe at The Belfry in 2002, then grabbed their team's
    third point with a 5 & 3 victory over former major winners
    David Toms and Jim Furyk.

    The Americans managed to avoid their first clean sweep
    in the opening fourballs since the 1989 Ryder Cup
    at the Belfry when Chris Riley and Cink finished all square
    after a tense battle with Irishman Paul McGinley
    and Englishman Donald.

    Woods and U.S. Masters champion Mickelson had never
    before played together at the Ryder Cup and U.S.

    captain Hal Sutton's high-risk strategy backfired as the
    heavyweight pairing failed to spark.

    Montgomerie and Harrington birdied six of the first
    eight holes and, although Mickelson upped his game
    after the turn to give the Americans a whiff of a chance,
    the Europeans never relinquished control.

    Europe have dominated the first two days of team play
    in recent Cup matches and they stayed on track to
    maintain that trend with a barrage of birdie putts from
    between 10 and 25 feet.





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