Europe hold edge on soggy morning

(UKPA) – 2 hours ago

Europe today drew first blood on the opening morning of the Ryder Cup - but horrendous conditions were threatening to bring play to a halt.

There were already several patches of standing water on the first fairway and greenkeepers were still attempting to clear more from the landing area just moments before the opening tee shots were struck. And as heavy rain continued to fall, large puddles were forming on the greens and the first fairway was looking more like the river Usk which runs alongside it.

Conditions were even less palatable in the rough, with Tiger Woods unable to even get his ball back on the short grass with a fairway wood after pulling his opening drive into trouble. The home side were coping far better, Lee Westwood holing from six feet for birdie on the second to give him and playing partner Martin Kaymer the lead over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in the opening match.

Graeme McDowell's par on the first was good enough to win that hole too against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar, with the American pair only able to manage a bogey five between them.

And it was the same story in the third match with Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter going one up on Woods and Steve Stricker - who had a 100% record from four matches in last year's Presidents Cup - courtesy of Fisher's par four.

However, all the work needed to clear the greens and fairways meant it had taken McDowell and Rory McIlroy's group an amazing 26 minutes to play the opening hole, with European skipper Colin Montgomerie admitting time would be a major factor.

"I've been told if this was a strokeplay event this might not be taking place," Montgomerie said.

"Fingers crossed this (play) continues because we don't have much leeway to finish these matches on time.

"It must favour us this weather. It's not fun for anybody but less so for the Americans. Let's just hope it does not get so waterlogged that we can't play."

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NBC SPORTS TO BROADCAST 16 HOURS OF RYDER CUP COVERAGE FROM WALES THIS SATURDAY & SUNDAY

“You could be a good captain with a blindfold on and a dartboard.” – NBC Sports’ Johnny Miller

“I don't think we can overemphasize enough…just how big a home-crowd advantage the Europeans are going to have.” - NBC Sports’ Mark Rolfing

NEW YORK - September 29, 2010 - World No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Phil Mickelson and 2010 FedExCup champion Jim Furyk (No. 5) lead Team USA against No. 3 Lee Westwood, No. 6 Martin Kaymer, No. 9 Rory McIlroy and the rest of Team Europe in the 2010 Ryder Cup from The Twenty Ten Course at The Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, South Wales this Saturday and Sunday on NBC.

NBC Sports will broadcast 16 hours of coverage over two days, the most weekend golf coverage of any tournament by any network in 2010. Saturday’s 10 hours of four-ball and foursome coverage airs from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET/5 a.m.-3 p.m. PT (tape delay). Sunday’s six hours of singles matches air from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. ET/4 a.m.-10 a.m. PT (live).

Host Dan Hicks and analyst Johnny Miller, in their 11th season together as NBC Sports’ lead golf team, anchor coverage and are joined by tower reporter Gary Koch; on-course reporters Roger Maltbie, Mark Rolfing and Dottie Pepper; interviewer/essayist Jimmy Roberts and Golf World’s Tim Rosaforte.

Team USA is the reigning Ryder Cup champion having defeated Team Europe 16 ½ to 11 ½ in 2008 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Team Europe won the three previous Ryder Cups. Team USA has not won a Ryder Cup on foreign soil since 1993 when they defeated Team Europe, 15-13, at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England.

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Read the article at Golf Today the Golf Magazine for latest Golf scores, Leaderboard, News, Videos and expert analysis updated every hour Golf Today

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McIlroy may regret Woods comments

• Wednesday, 29 September 2010
• Tom Clarke

Team USA ahead of the start of The Ryder Cup [Getty Images]

 

Corey Pavin

"Well, I like the way Team USA is playing right now.  I think there's a lot of guys that have been playing well, and that's always a good thing. Any captain is going to want his players to be up on their game, but then again, anything can happen during a week of golf. Things can change quickly."

"I think other people have said things like that to Tiger in the past [Rory McIlroy saying he would like to play Tiger Woods in the singles] and have maybe regretted it. I think anything that gets players fired up is always a positive thing for that player who is getting fired up. I'm sure that  well, I know that Tiger is aware of the comment.  If they do play against each other, I think it would be quite entertaining."

 

 

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Ryder Cup: Tiger Woods Challenged By McIlroy

Written by Tudor Daniel on September 29th 2010
Posted in: Sports
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Tiger Woods eager on helping the US defend the Ryder Cup

Just one day after the American Ryder Cup team arrived in Wales, Tiger Woods got challenged by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy who said of the world champion that he cannot expect the moment to confront him. Asked about the opportunity given to face Woods, McIlroy would answer these days that he would love to confront the American, who was selected for the US team pretty late. McIlroy is part of the European team, which is captained by Scottish Colin Montgomerie. Corey Pavin leads the United States squad that includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, the last one winning a couple of days ago the PGA Tour.

The Northern Irishman, who won the Quail Hollow Championship this spring, said a month ago that unless Woods’s game rapidly improves in the next month or so then anyone in the European squad would fancy its chances against him. American golfer’s replay came as just. “Me, too,” he said of what Ilroy declared at the moment. It isn’t something unusual that such spicy comments take part during the Ryder Cup or just few days before it starts. However, the Irish golfer wouldn’t say the same thing he said of Woods time ago when the American had his worst 72-hole tour as a pro. “So he wasn’t playing too well at that time. He’s obviously getting his game together, and he’s working with Sean Foley and he’s making a few swing changes. I said this week and last week, I don’t mind who. I just want to win points against the team,” Ilroy added. Tiger had a poor start this season but improved over the last few weeks although he didn’t get to win a trophy so far. He also follows a divorce which surely influenced his poor performance.

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