Sutton’s not-so-bright idea

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

But so did disco.

Tiger Woods paired with Phil Mickelson: a dream team in golf gloves. Together, they would lead the charge at the Ryder Cup, carry the United States into an early lead, discourage the Europeans, ignite the home crowd.

So what, Hal Sutton, is Plan B?

Bench Mickelson this morning, for one thing. Sutton had a few words on that Friday night, a seething football coach of a golf team captain, unleashing his frustration before the world media, as if he were ready to hurl a chair during halftime. We’ll have highlights in a minute.

But first …

Friday was a train wreck for the Americans, blown away 6 1/2 -1 1/2 , matching the largest first-day margin in the history of the Ryder Cup.

It is hard to imagine a more devastating day for the home team. Of eight matches, the U.S. won one — with Ryder Cup rookie Chris DiMarco and 50-year-old Jay Haas.

In the four morning rounds, they never led. Not for a second. Chris Riley and Stewart Cink managed to halve their match.

“We pretty much,” DiMarco said, “got our butts kicked today.”

Woods and Mickelson lost twice. Outbirdied in the morning four-ball (best ball) by Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington 2 and 1. And then awful in the afternoon foursomes (alternate shot) against Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, losing 1-up, when they were 3-up after five holes, wilting like no-names and not superstars.

Their victory was to be an inspiration to the U.S. team. Instead, their defeats put fire in the eyes of the Europeans.

“Psychologically,” Montgomerie said of the morning conquest of Woods and Mickelson, “we felt it was almost worth more than a point.”

Such was the risk Sutton knew he was taking with the high-voltage pairing, who never have shown much chemistry. The risk that blew up in his face.

If there were a dream team, it was Montgomerie and Harrington, who won twice and combined for 13 birdies, including six in the first eight holes to knock out Woods and Mickelson.

The day left Sutton open to the most feverish second guessing. Mickelson, too, for the lowlights of the day were all the wayward tee shots off his new driver — the one he changed to just last week, just in time for a new endorsement contract, which seemed questionable timing then and a folly now.

His last drive of the day was the costliest, on No. 18, he and Woods having just pulled even with Clarke and Westwood.

It sailed far left, coming to rest within a foot of a property fence and leaving Woods no chance to do anything but ask for a penalty shot to move the ball.

The match was gone, the day darker. Eight more matches are today, and if the Americans don’t rally, they face a humiliating rout.

A European writer asked Sutton if the Americans lost this badly again today, would they even bother to play the singles matches Sunday?

“You wonder,” he answered, trying to hold the steam back, “why there’s bad will here sometimes.”

Afterward, Sutton assessed the damage and spilled his heart.

What would he have to say at Friday night’s team meeting?

“I don’t think they want to be consoled. When I get really mad at myself, I don’t want somebody patting me on the back and loving on me. I can assure you I’m not going to be loving on them.”

What about Mickelson changing his driver last week?

“We’ll all want answers to that. But the most important person that’s going to have to wonder about that is Phil Mickelson. It’s not going to cause us any grief in the morning because he’s going to be cheering instead of playing.”

But what happened? Really?

“My impression was it looked like they were trying to make something happen and it looked like we were trying to make sure we didn’t have anything bad happen.

“At some point, we have to get mad and say, ‘I don’t give a damn if we have to make a 6- or 8-footer coming back.’ “

Woods and Mickelson?

“When you put two superstars together like that, there’s either good karma or bad karma. There’s no gray area. They went south in the middle of that second round, and it was pretty evident on their faces.

“I felt like the world wanted to see them together, I wanted to see them together, and I think they wanted to see each other together. We gave it a good shot and we’re going to have to move on.”