U.S. fans go after Garcia
Spaniard gets last laugh early
CHASKA, Minn. — Partisanship is not only expected but encouraged at the Ryder Cup but when even the home team is begging the crowd to knock it off, you know a line is being crossed.
That was the case yesterday morning at Hazeltine National Golf Club when both Jordan Spieth and Ryder Cup vice captain Bubba Watson appealed to the crowd after some spectators began singing, “You have no majors! You have no majors!’’ every time Sergio Garcia approached his ball.
The 38-year-old Garcia has made 73 starts in major championships without a win, although he has finished second four times and has been in the top five six times.
As a Ryder Cup player, Garcia is one of the best in history, presently holding a 19-10-6 record good for 21 1⁄2 points and five team wins in seven previous appearances. He will play in all five matches in this Ryder Cup and is presently 1-2-1 with the highlight his play yesterday morning in running down the team of Spieth and Patrick Reed from a four-hole deficit with six to play.
He did his best to stifle the crowd when he buried a putt on the 15th hole for Europe’s third win in the last four holes. As the ball dropped, he turned toward the highly partisan gallery and pumped his fist, a wide smile on his face.
By the end of the round, Garcia had much to smile about and the U.S. was singing a different tune. Teamed with Rafa Cabrera
Bello, he won three straight holes on the back side and four of five in a stretch of golf that cut what had been a four-hole U.S. lead to even with one hole to play.
Garcia hit a 162-yard approach shot into the wind straight toward the pin, leaving it safely short for a seemingly sure par — and halved hole — for the Europeans unless Spieth could hole a chip from beyond the green. He could not and the match was halved but it felt like a loss for the Americans.
“The way we played wins most matches but they stayed steady with it and hit the shots they needed to coming down the stretch,” Spieth said of Garcia and Bello. “It was a big putt by Patrick to salvage half a point, although still disappointing for us.’’
That was especially true for the Hazeltine chorus, which Garcia silenced not with his words but with a hot putter and deft irons.
“It has gotten a lot more nationalistic,” Jack Nicklaus admitted yesterday. “It’s pretty wild.’’
Garcia’s European teammate Justin Rose agreed, comparing the jingoistic crowd at Hazeltine to his experience at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.
“It was patriotic in Rio (where Rose won the gold medal) but it was more jovial fun in Rio,” Rose said. “People are pretty serious about this stuff.’’
Rory finally tops Phil
Phil Mickelson held the Ryder Cup mojo over Rory McIlroy. Mickelson had defeated McIlroy three straight times until yesterday when they went out in foursomes to open the morning session.
Trailing by two points, 5-3, the Europeans wanted to get off to a hot start but with McIlroy and Thomas Pieters facing Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, it seemed unlikely. But this time the Europeans jumped on the U.S. early, going up by 3 holes after the first five and coasting to a 4 and 2 victory that ended with a birdie on 16, the last of three straight holes won by McIlroy’s side.
“When I saw the draw (Friday) night, I was like, ‘I get to have a go at him again,’ ” McIlroy said of playing Mickelson again. “My record against him in Ryder Cup isn’t what I would like it to be, so personally I maybe wanted it a little bit more for that reason.
“It was huge to go out and lead Team Europe and get that first point on the board is massive. Darren ( Clarke, the European captain) put a lot of faith in us sending us out first in foursomes.”
McIlroy then appeared to take a mild slap at Mickelson, who had complained in recent years that the Americans didn’t give themselves the best chance to win this event because enough advance notice was not given to the golfers concerning playing partners and other minor logistical issues.
“We hadn’t really practiced,” McIlroy said of the pairing with Pieters. “We had not chosen what golf ball to play, had not chosen what even tee to go off. We flipped for it on the first tee but it seemed to work out pretty well.”
Odd landing zones
Golfers are known for not only their accuracy maneuvering the ball in flight but also picking out precise landing zones. But yesterday was a bit much.
In the morning session, Garcia saw one of his shots land in a marshal’s pocket. He got a free drop.
In the afternoon, America’s Brooks Koepka hit a ball that bounced along and found a home inside the backpack of Pieters’ father. He gave it back.