Will Americans' Cup runneth over?

    Writing from Medinah, Illinois
    Saturday, September 29, 2012

    Not even Duke Ellington could explain Saturday at the 39th Ryder Cup Match.
    This was more than golf beyond category. This was sport on the grandest of stages played with the most fervent of emotions. Alabama-Auburn, move over.
    And to think that David Duval once called the Ryder Cup a “glorified exhibition.”
    Maybe he never met Ian Poulter. Or Keegan Bradley. Or Phil Mickelson. Or Luke Donald.
    Duval knows at least three of the four – Bradley was just out of diapers when Duval had a cup of divots as No. 1 in the world. They get it. But he never got it.
    Everyone else is getting it. The 45,000-plus on hand over Medinah Country Club’s now-dusty No. 3 course really get it.
    Saturday featured everything from players driving to cheers off the first tee – Bubba Watson, hello! – to skywriting with snark floating over Medinah’s bright blue skies supplied by a marketing group from Wales, complete with “Has anyone seen Tiger?”
    Look! There’s Webb Simpson making four straight birdies and seven in 10 holes.
    Look! There’s Poulter making birdies on the last five holes to wrest a vital point from the U.S.
    Look! There’s “Keegleson,” the dynamic duo of Bradley and Mickelson, trouncing Lee Westwood and Donald in the morning, a 7 and 6 rout that matched the Ryder Cup record for 18-hole team matches.
    Look! There’s Woods with five birdies on the back nine for the second afternoon running.
    Yes, Tiger was very much seen. He slept in, having not been assigned to a morning match, then woke up the echoes, playing like the Tiger of old rather than an old Tiger.
    Everyone saw him on the back nine post meridian. That barrage of birdies scared the wits out of Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia, but for a third time in as many matches, he and teammate Steve Stricker failed to earn a point. Donald, Northwestern’s very own, was like a wildcat with three birdies in the last five holes, including a three-footer for a deuce after the best tee shot on the treacherous par-3 17th.
    The failure of Woods and Stricker to convert was about all that went wrong for the Americans. A 3-1 romp in the morning’s alternate shot competition, followed by a 2-2 split in the afternoon best-ball showdowns, earned the U.S. dynamic dozen a 10-6 advantage entering Sunday’s singles showcase.
    Lest it be forgotten, this is not an insurmountable lead. Thirteen years ago, the Americans trailed by as much at The Country Club, Ben Crenshaw said, “I’ve got a feeling” on Saturday night, and the Europeans felt it on Sunday. It remains the greatest rally in Ryder Cup history.
    Now, Europe has to duplicate it, and on the road. And with Martin Kaymer, Peter Hanson and Francesco Molinari in the lineup. It won’t be easy.
    “Tomorrow is going to be a big day,” European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said.
    He meant for his side.
    “At one point in this match, I believe that momentum will come our way, and why not tomorrow?” Olazabal said.
    There are no other options on the calendar. That’s why Olazabal front-loaded his lineup, opening with Donald, Poulter and Rory McIlroy. Davis Love III, the best captain in Chicago since Chris Chelios, opens with Watson, Simpson and Bradley. That’s the current Masters champion, U.S. Open champion, and the 2011 PGA Championship winner, who goes up against this year’s PGA winner.
    Then Love has Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker. Olazabal has Justin Rose and Paul Lawrie.
    This is what is known as American depth.
    “I wouldn’t want to play anybody on our side,” Love said.
    Europe had trailed on all four matches in the morning, and in three of the four in the afternoon, but garnered just enough points to stay in the game if the 1999 formula is followed.
    “It’s given us a heartbeat for tomorrow,” Donald said.
    “We obviously need to play amazing and win at least eight points, but I’d rather have to win eight points than 10,” Garcia said. “We’re going to give it our best shot.”
    Poulter’s rousing finish, eyes wide after he sank birdie putts on the last five holes, was astonishing. He hadn’t played in Friday’s best-ball matches – Olazabal may come to regret that – but went insane at the end. A birdie on the par-5 14th matched Jason Dufner. A chip to gimmie range on the 15th squared the match. A curling 16-footer on the par-4 16th moved he and McIlroy 1 up. A 9-footer on the par-3 17th was matched by Zach Johnson’s 3-footer for a deuce.
    Then, with the sun having set and the light quickly failing, Poulter his his 159-yard approach to 10 feet and rolled the birdie putt home, on top of Dufner’s 3 1/2 footer, for matching 3s and 1 up victory, and a 10-5 margin in the Americans’ favor, rather than 11-5.
    “It was an outside right putt, and she went in,” Poulter said.
    “I thought he pushed it,” McIlroy kidded.
    This festival of shotmaking and putting on surfaces made of green marble made for incredible theater, and with a minimum of catcalls until the late going, when the liquor started talking. Sunday, the gates open four hours before Watson and Donald commence firing. That’s a lot of time to buy beer.
    Every time you looked around on Saturday, there were amazing sights. Even when you looked up. Who expected skywriters? But there they were, five planes jotting out pro-European team comments, from a touching “Do it for Seve” at the start to “Fore! Tiger’s back; Go Team Nordegren” in the afternoon. (Woods, incidentally, ran his spectators hit record to three on Saturday, a tee shot on No. 7 hitting a lady. He gave her a glove and a hug, along with his regrets.)
    It’s rather stunning that he and Stricker haven’t at least grabbed a halve along the way. Woods    has birdied 34.3 percent of the holes he’s played on his own ball. According to stat guru Jason Sobel, Woods birdied 27.3 percent of the time in 2000, when he began his Grand Slam run.
    Sunday’s pairings finish with Woods against Molinari. Woods against one player? He should be able to handle that. And he may not have to.
    No matter what, it will be loud on Sunday. At least from the spectators – with U.S. fans asked to wear red like a certain player – this will be the Indianapolis 500 on a golf course. Gentlemen, start your drivers.
    – Tim Cronin