Golf roundup
Arnie’s big putt sparks U.S. comeback ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) – Arnold Palmer figured he was just going along for the ride in a best-ball match Saturday with Tom Watson.
He wound up sparking their comeback by making a 40-foot birdie putt.
“When he made that putt on the long par 3, I said, ‘You know what? We’re in the game now,”‘ Watson said.
Watson followed Palmer’s heroics with three birdie putts of his own as they rallied for a 3-and-2 victory over Gary Player and Bernhard Langer in the UBS Warburg Cup.
The United States and the Rest of the World split the best-ball matches on a rainy day at Sea Island Golf Club, allowing the Americans to take a 61/2-51/2 lead into the 12 singles matches Sunday.
“I was just along for the walk,” Palmer said, the 73-year-old playing captain for the U.S. team. “Tom did the damage on the back side. I contributed, and that’s all I wanted to do.”
Three holes down at the turn, Palmer and Watson won six straight holes to close out the match on the 16th hole.
“We saw Arnold make the putt at the 12th, and it seemed like every hole we heard the gallery yell,” said Raymond Floyd, playing in the match behind. “It looked like Watson started making everything. That was pretty good stuff.”
Watson carried the load, especially when it started pouring.
The five-time British Open champion plays his best in the worst weather, and Watson birdied four of six holes once it started raining.
“It was like watching a young Tom Watson,” Player said. “He was dynamite.”
Palmer and Player won’t get any help Sunday. For the second straight year, the captains will play each other in the opening match. Other singles matches include Curtis Strange against Sam Torrance in a showdown of Ryder Cup captains, and Mark O’Meara against Nick Faldo.
The Americans wound up winning the first three best-ball matches to assure themselves the lead going into the final day.
Tom Lehman and Floyd defeated Torrance and Ian Woosnam, 2 and 1; and Fred Funk made a crucial birdie on the 17th as he and Bob Gilder hung on for a 1-up victory over Isao Aoki and Seiji Ebihara.
The Rest of the World was in danger of falling even farther behind when Strange and Hale Irwin, who have five U.S. Open titles between them, rallied from a 2-down deficit against Faldo and Eduardo Romero.
Faldo answered with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th to regain the lead, then secured a 1-up victory with a two-putt for par from about 50 feet on the final hole.
The final two matches were routs for the Rest of the World.
Barry Lane and Denis Durnian birdied four of the first seven holes on their way to a 4-and-3 victory over Tom Kite and Scott Hoch, while Rodger Davis accounted for five birdies as he and Stewart Ginn cruised to a victory over Paul Azinger and Mark O’Meara, 4 and 2.
The UBS Warburg was patterned after the Ryder Cup. Each team has six players aged 40-49, six players 50 or over.
DIVOTS: The most interesting team Saturday was Arnold and Watson. They have 15 major championships between them, and both lacked only a PGA Championship from claiming the career Grand Slam. … The singles matches aren’t nearly as compelling as they could have been. There was anticipation of an Azinger-Faldo duel – Azinger never lost to him in three Ryder Cup matches – but instead Azinger will play Langer. … Palmer asked if Aoki would speak English when he plays Funk today. “Only if you make Raymond Floyd speak Japanese to my guy,” Player replied. Floyd plays Ebihara, who won the European senior tour money title this year.
Hyundai Team Golf
DANA POINT, Calif. – Mark Calcavecchia had five birdies and partner Fred Couples added three birdies to defeat the team of Peter Jacobsen and Scott McCarron 5 and 4 in the opening round of the $1.2 million Hyundai Team Matches.
Peter Lonard carded seven birdies as he and partner Rich Beem defeated Jerry Kelly and Chris Smith 3 and 2. Lonard and Beem will face Calcavecchia and Couples for the championship today at the St. Regis Monarch Beach and Spa.
The two-day event features players from the PGA, Senior PGA and LPGA tours. All three tours play the course to a par 70.
“This is the exact type of golf we play in the Ryder Cup,” Calcavecchia said. “You try to get a couple of holes ahead but if you are not careful you can lose it very quickly.”
All five birdies Calcavecchia recorded won the hole.
“I lucked in a few putts I didn’t expect,” he said. “I was just trying to get the ball close to the hole. One putt had about a seven-foot break. It was just pure luck that I made that putt.”
Only one of Couples’ three birdies won a hole.
“Mark was just spectacular,” Couples said. “I wasn’t playing well but it didn’t bother Mark at all.”
“I was out of the sixth hole and Mark birdied it for the win,” Couples said. “In the Ryder Cup you want to hit a good shot every time. Here, if I miss it we just laugh about it. We’re just having fun.”
PGA Seniors Jim Thorpe and John Jacobs teamed to defeat Doug Tewell and Bruce Lietzke 2 and 1. Thorpe and Jacobs will play Allen Doyle and Dana Quigley for the senior title Sunday.
Doyle and Quigley defeated Bruce Fleisher and David Graham 3 and 1.
Jacobs birdied the ninth hole to pull even his match.
“I think the eighth hole might have turned us around,” said Thorpe, who had six birdies. “I birdied the hole and then John birdied the ninth and we alternated to birdie the next three holes.”
Dottie Pepper and Julie Inkster defeated Laura Diaz and Heather Bowie 2 and 1. They will face Lorie Kane and Janice Moodie on Sunday.
Kane and Moodie used eight birdies to dispatch Grace Park and Beth Bauer 4 and 3.
Pepper birdied the 16th to give her team its first lead and she rolled in a 27-footer for birdie on the 17th to win.
“The rough here is thick in spots,” Pepper said. “But it’s the greens that are difficult. I would expect that we’ll need to birdie half the holes tomorrow in order to win.”
Each winning team receives $200,000 and all the winners receive a new car.