So a bit late in this given that the afternoon matches have started, but he comes a slight preview nonetheless.
The morning session went better than the American side likely thought it would. Yesterday's stellar team of Webb Simpson & Bubba Watson suffered a down to the wire defeat in the first match of the day; it would appear this team is slightly better suited to play Four-Ball over Foursomes, which was mentioned in the preview here last night. Sometimes Johnny B knows what he's talking about.
The final score of the Mickelson & Bradley vs. Westwood & Donald match says more than a paragraph worth of words: 7 & 6. That's just a beating, no other way to spin it. How this American team has been left out of the Afternoon matches is simply unbelievable.
Jason Dufner & Zach Johnson defeated the Euro buzz saw Nicolas Colsaerts and his partner Sergio Garcia. Same as in the first match of the day, Colsaerts play in Four-Ball yesterday afternoon did not translate over to Foursomes this morning.
In the final match of the morning, Jim Furyk & Brandt Snedeker got revenge over the the Euro team of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. This had to be a victory the US side was not expecting.
So winning the morning session 3-1 and going up 8-4 overall is most certainly as good a result as could have been expected.
For the afternoon:
N. Colsaerts & P. Lawrie vs. D. Johnson & M. Kuchar
This match will likely hinge on how well Colsaerts plays. Another round like Friday afternoon and a blue flag will be on the board, almost certainly. Otherwise, this match is a toss-up with no real way to predict a winner.
J. Rose & F. Molinari vs. B. Watson & W. Simpson
This match should go to the Americans given the play of the American team yesterday. One would expect Rose to put up a solid fight but that young Molinari will be the key to that team. Ring this one up for the Americans.
S. Garcia & L. Donald vs. T. Woods & S. Stricker
Through all their struggles, Woods and Gracia are still, for the most part, the faces of golf in their respective nations. It's been 13 years now since these two squared off at the 1999 PGA Championship on this very golf course. We can only hope for this match to provide the same level of entertainment that their duel provided back then. But, sadly, safe money would be on Woods continuing his typical gruesome play in Ryder Cup team matches. A US loss is likely and a half point should certainly be considered a win here.
R. McIlroy & I. Poulter vs. J. Dufner & Z. Johnson
Hopefully Dufner can continue to channel his inner Curly and play 'dumb' in this match as well. He has performed better than expected thus far in the Ryder Cup. This will be the match that defines Rory's year in this Ryder Cup. He is currently 1-2 in team play. A win here will allow him to take it upon himself to have a winning record in the Cup. Don't forget that McIlroy is the #1 player in the world. Expect him to rise to the occasion here. Euro victory is likely.
Certainly we will all be watching to see how it turns out, but the projection here is for the Euro's to win the afternoon session 2 1/2 to 1 1/2.
Overall projection: 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 USA leading.
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