Rookies Help Americans To 5-3 Ryder Cup Lead

The only people who should be concerned about the rookies on the U.S. Ryder Cup golf team are the Europeans.

With one first-timer making a huge putt and two others playing brilliantly, the U.S. team swept to a 5-3 lead in Friday’s first day of play at Oak Hill Country Club.

They played the European games - alternate-shot and better-ball - in European weather - a steady rain. But it was the United States that got off to a surprisingly strong start.

“We just need to go out there (today) and stay focused and make that point spread a little bigger,” said Corey Pavin, who gave his inexperienced team just the kind of gutsy leadership captain Lanny Wadkins wanted.

One fear for the Americans was how its five Ryder Cup rookies would hold up under the pressure and in the unfamiliar formats, particularly in the cool, wet weather.

Of the five - Brad Faxon, Loren Roberts, Phil Mickelson, Jeff Maggert and Tom Lehman - only Faxon lost a point.

It was Lehman who earned the Americans a split of the two morning alternate-shot matches with two huge pressure shots on No. 18 as he and Pavin won the last hole to defeat Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo 1-up.

“That was a huge win this morning,” Wadkins said. “It set the tone for the whole day.”

Roberts who made four birdies in 13 holes and Maggert who made steady pars as they beat Sam Torrance and Costantino Rocca 6 and 5 as the Americans won three of the four afternoon better-ball matches.

And it was Mickelson who made three birdies in 14 holes as he teamed with Pavin to win the first four holes and defeat Bernhard Langer and PerUlrik Johansson 6 and 4 in better-ball.

None of the American rookies fought his nerves more determinedly than Lehman. He started strong, buckled when Faldo and Montgomerie erased a 4-up lead, then collected himself to hit a solid 5-iron 200 yards to the 18th green and rolled in a 4-foot par putt that won the match.

“Before I hit the shot, I said, ‘Corey, I need a pep talk. I’m not hitting it too well,”’ Lehman said about the approach shot on No. 18. “He said, ‘Pick your best club, get committed and swing really hard.’

“After I hit it, I’m thinking, ‘Don’t make me putt,”’ Lehman said. “But I think maybe I needed to make a 3- or 4-foot putt to win a match to know I can do it.”

The U.S. has 15 total Ryder Cups compared to 51 for the Europeans.

Today will be a repeat of Friday’s schedule with eight points at stake, four alternate-shot matches in the morning and four better-ball matches in the afternoon.