United States took a 2½-1½ lead against Europe in the Ryder Cup after the first fourballs were concluded on Saturday. It looked like a good start for the European side with Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer winning the first point with a 3&2 win over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy then salvaged a half against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar having been two down. But Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson beat Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington 3&2 and Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker won 2up against Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher. I am going to give my player rankings for 16 players in these fourballs matches.
Match 1 - Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer won 3&2 Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson
Lee Westwood - 9, he was outstanding in the difficult weather conditioned for Fridays play picking up 3 holes in the first 6.
Martin Kaymer - 8, in the shadow of Lee for the first few holes but he showed his form on the back nine when the American surge came.
Phil Mickelson - 8, started a bit slow but came good around the turn to bring the Americans a chance of winning/halving
Dustin Johnson - 6, he looked in the shadow of all the other players, didn't look happy out there.
Match 2 - Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy halved Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar
Graeme McDowell - 7, played good in the bad weather but looked poor in the back nine
Rory McIlroy - 8, solid throughout over shadowed by McDowell to start but looked assured on the back nine to grab the half for Europe
Stewart Cink - 9, in my opinion he answered all the critics he was my player of session but sadly wasn't helped by his team mate.
Matt Kuchar - 6, he looked poor and never really got going, some glimpses of form on the back nine though.
Match 3 - Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher lost 2up Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker
Ian Poulter - 7, looked good at moments but couldn't be consistent
Ross Fisher - 7, looked solid but not at his top level
Tiger Woods - 7, some glimpses of the greatest golfer of all time but the rest was his usual Ryder Cup form.
Steve Stricker - 9, he was much better than the rest of his fourball looked solid with the driver which sometimes is his weaness
Match 4 - Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington lost 3&2 Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson
Luke Donald - 7, played well but with no support from Harrington meant his efforts where for nothing.
Padraing Harrington - 5, worst player of the session, still hasn't found the form that won him majors
Jeff Overton - 8, looked solid throughout and played some lovely shots
Bubba Watson - 8, played best in the wetter conditions and was helped by his partner when he lost the form for a couple of holes.
No comments:
Post a Comment