THE (EARLY) LEAD OF NATIONS
Weir, Immelman rout opponents with shutout
The
sun hadn’t yet set on Day 1
of the Presidents Cup, five years ago in this very place, but already the rout was on.
Ken Venturi’s Americans had blitzed Peter Thomson’s Internationals 5- 0 on the opening afternoon of alternate- shot play, and the Aussie captain of the squad was free to work on the “ we haven’t surrendered but we’re suing for peace” quip he would deliver a day later.
Things changed in South Africa in 2003, when the International team bounced back from their 211⁄ to 101⁄ debacle to earn a spirited 17- 17 draw, but it was way too early to say the tide had turned. Until you saw them back on American soil — specifically, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, where Team USA has historically been comfy and loose and very, very good — you couldn’t know for sure.
But with an emphatic leadoff act yesterday by Adam Scott and Retief Goosen, and an exclamation point to close the deal by Mike Weir and Trevor Immelman, the Internationals have finally put a foot down right in the United States.
Scott and Goosen — the marquee pairing of Gary Player’s first- day lineup — sent Tiger Woods and Freddie Couples to an early shower, 4- and- 3, and Weir and Immelman spanked David Toms and Stewart Cink 6and-5 in yesterday’s fastest-ending match to lift the Internationals to a 31⁄ to 21⁄ lead heading into today’s set of six best-ball matches.
Couples hit only one of six fairways off the tee as Woods’ latest partner, and the Americans’ No. 1 team was barely in the game against Scott and Goosen, who were four- underpar when Scott holed a 20- foot eagle putt from just off the green at No. 11.
“I think he said, ‘Good putt,’” Scott joked about his stoic partner. “I think I got a ‘Good putt.’”
They closed out the match at the 15th green, for the very first International lead of any kind in four Presidents Cups at RTJ.
“I think the first match out is important for either side no matter who is playing,” said Scott. “ But you know, Gary wanted Retief and me to go out and really give the guys something to see and something to fire them up, so that was kind of our attitude.
“ We took control on the front nine, and that’s how you’ve got to play them. You don’t want to fall behind.”
But for a couple of guys not terribly fancied heading in to the week — Immelman, a South African whose selection by Player was seen as the boss playing favourites with a countryman; Weir, in a prolonged slump, having not won a PGA Tour event in a year-and-a-half — the team batting last in the order might well have been the story of the day.
They were six- under- par for 13 holes, didn’t make a bogey, and Toms and Cink didn’t win a hole.
“ Did we pitch a shutout? I guess we did,” said Weir, who — alone among members of the losing 2000 team — shone at RTJ, and seems to have recaptured the good vibes of both the venue and the format.
“Something about it just inspires me. I love the team game. It could be the hockey background, I don’t know, maybe it brings my intensity up a notch, which I need sometimes. But also, Ernie [Els] is not here, and he was such a big part of our team in South Africa — so I knew they needed me to play well.”
“Our guys said, ‘ We were under par, they just kept making birdies and just drilled us.’” said U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus.
The Internationals got their other points from Angel Cabrera and Michael Campbell, who rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the 17th to close out Davis Love III and Kenny Perry 2- and-1, and Vijay Singh and Aussie putting machine Mark Hensby, who halved their match with Fred Funk and Jim Furyk.
Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank thrashed Aussies Peter Lonard and Stuart Appleby 4and-2, and Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco edged Nick O’Hern and Tim Clark 1- up when Clark failed to hole a 15- foot birdie putt at the last.
Starting right out of the box with a drive in the fairway and an eight- foot putt for birdie at the first, Weir continued to be a match-play stalwart. He and his 25- year- old partner not only birdied four of the first five to quickly go three- up in their match, they did it with style.
Immelman holed a ridiculous, 90-foot putt from the runway in front of the fourth green for a winning birdie and then, after Weir split the fairway off the tee at the fifth, hit his approach shot stone- dead, no more than a foot from the hole, for a conceded birdie. The lead grew to four at the ninth, when Toms sprayed his tee shot at the 190- yard par- three off the grandstand and into deep bushes and the hole was conceded. The rest was just accounting.
“ It was so relaxing for me to be out there with Mike, a Masters champion, and one of the best players in the world,” said Immelman. “ He calmed me down at the start, and we played great today.”
“ I might have said a few words to him before we started,” said Weir, “but the most important thing I could do for him was put the ball in the fairway every time I hit the tee shot, so he could play without a lot of stress — and I didn’t miss a fairway. But Trevor was a horse today. I’ll take him as a partner any time.”
He’ll take him again today, as a matter of fact. The two are paired together against Leonard and Verplank in a matchup of each team’s most convincing pair. Each captain left his victorious pairs together, and split up the rest.
Nicklaus had first choice for today’s matches, and Player matched each of his winning teams with a winning duo of his own.
Jack guessed wrong Thursday. He’s hoping it’s Player’s turn to miscalculate today.
CanWest News Service