Some bonus golf coverage:
Putting on my golf cap for birdies and bogeys on a day when the U.S., Keegan Bradley and Medinah Country Club shined.
Birdie. Davis Love III. All things considered, it was pretty solid opening day for the U.S. team. It could have been a slam dunk if Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker don’t go 0-2, but the U.S. captain will take a 5-3 lead going into Saturday.
As for his decision to play Tiger Woods in the afternoon in fourballs, it was the right move. Even though Woods struggled in the morning, the afternoon format is the place to for players who make a lot of birdies. Mr. Woods did, recording six.
Love, though, has learned his lesson, placing Woods on the bench for Saturday morning’s Foursome matches. I suspect it will be a while before Woods plays another alternate shot match in a Ryder Cup.
Birdie: Keegan Bradley. Easily the biggest U.S. star of day 1. In the morning match, he made several clutch putts, sparking him and partner Phil Mickelson to an easy 4 & 3 victory over Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald.
Then, teamed with Mickelson again in the afternoon, Bradley lit up Medinah with six birdies in a 2 & 1 victory over Europe’s top team of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.
Besides his stellar play, Bradley animated reactions fired up the crowd. He’s definitely the new fan favorite.
Bradley is playing in his first Ryder Cup. However, if he keeps this up, put him down for the U.S. captain in 2034.
Birdie. Nicolas Colsaerts. If you hadn’t heard of him before the Ryder Cup, you know about him now. It turns out Colsaerts is Belgium for birdie machine. And throw in an eagle to go along with those eight birdies. His round saved Europe from a disastrous day.
Bogey. Tiger Woods. Granted, he ran into a buzz saw in Colsaerts in the afternoon match. It used to be the kind of whipping he put on his opponents.
Still, going 0-2 added up to another lost opening day for Woods at a Ryder Cup. For his career, he now is 3-10-1 in Day 1 matches, hardly a record befitting a player of his caliber.
Woods simply can’t keep the ball in the fairway off the tee with any consistency. Some of his drives were so bad, I thought Medinah might want to put a protective shield on the trees.
Woods has two days to redeem himself. The pressure is on.
Bogey. Lee Westwood. While Colsaerts was raining birdies, Westwood couldn’t manage one. He also lost a match in the morning.
The official record will show that Westwood went 1-1 Friday. The reality is, he got lucky to be paired with Colsaerts.
Bogey. Rory McIlroy. Salvaged a point in the morning match with a clutch putt, but registered only 1 birdie in opening 14 holes in losing afternoon match. Needs to come strong for Europe Saturday.
Birdie. The weather. Whoever was in charge of the weather, take a bow. For this time of year, when anything is possible (as in cold and rain), it truly was a spectacular day. And the weekend looks good too.
Birdie. Medinah Country Club. The course never has looked better. The greens were perfect and the fairways were ideal. Considering the weather challenges during the summer, Medinah superintendent Curtis Tyrrell deserves credit for a job well done.
Also, the 15th hole, the short par 4, provided the intrigue hoped for with Rees Jones’ redesign. It forced players to design whether to go for driver or lay up, and the new pond caught some balls in key moments.
Birdie. Chicago. They had radios at the course that provided the BBC feed along with the American broadcast. It was terrific to hear the British commentators talk up Chicago. They lauded the virtues of the city and the atmosphere at Medinah.
The course and the Skyline shots also looked good on ESPN’s telecast. Definitely a strong advertisement for the tourism folks.
Bogey. Luke Donald. The local favorite on the road team had a rough day. He and Sergio Garcia, previously 4-0 in foursomes, suffered a 4 and 3 drubbing to Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. The poor showing earned Donald a spot on the bench during the afternoon matches.
To make matters worse, Donald and Garcia were reminded by Chicago fans that neither player has won a major.
Birdie. Dan Jenkins. The 82-year old sportswriting legend is tweeting from the press room. He is a must-follow at @danjenkinsgd (insert link: https://twitter.com/danjenkinsgd) A sample tweet: This is my fifth time at Medinah
after two U.S. Opens and two PGAs, and the clubhouse still looks like the Babylon Marriott.
Birdie. Ryder Cup. So that’s what it is like, Chicago. It should only get better on the weekend.