John Clay’s Sidelines

I'm in Louisville for the Ryder Cup. Will be posting blog notes and news the past next three days.

• Great morning for the Americans, who lead for the first time after a Friday morning session in Ryder Cup play since 1991. U.S. 3, Europe 1.
  • Kim-Mickelson and Harrington-Karlsson finish all square.
  • Leonard-Mahan beats Stenson-Casey 3 and 2.
  • Cink-Campbell beats Rose-Poulter 1-up.
  • Perry-Furyk and Westood-Garcia finish all square.

• At 1:13: Sergio still hasn't lost in a foursome. Westwood-Garcia rally to halve match with Perry-Furyk. Has to be a disappointment for Perry, who missed a putt on 17 that would have won the match right there.

• At 1:10: Looks like Perry-Furyk are going to give away that 2-hole lead with two to play. Euros in good shape on 18th.

• At 12:55: Kenny Perry put his tee shot in the water on 18.

• At 12:52: The Euros three-putt the 18th and Cink-Campbell defeat Rose-Poulter 1-up. Rose and Poulter were captain's picks by Nick Faldo, leaving Darren Clark and Colin Montgomerie home. U.S. leads 2.5 to 0.5.

• At 12:50: Perry misses 10-footer for the match and Westwood-Garcia win the 17th. They go to the 18th with Perry-Furyk 1-up.

• At 12:35: Cink-Campbell and Rose-Poulter head to the 18th all-square.

• At 12:30: Furyk misses putt that would have closed out the match, but Perry knocks in bogey putt to half the hole. So Perry-Furyk is 2-up on Westwood-Garcia with two holes to play. U.S. is guaranteed a half point.

• Pairings for this afternoon:
  • Mickelson-Kim vs. Harrington-McDowell
  • Stricker-Curtis vs. Poulter-Rose
  • Jimenez-Garcia vs. Leonard-Mahan
  • Westwood-Hansen vs. Holmes-Weekley

• At 12:24: Two matches still on course. Cink-Campbell and Rose-Polter are all square after 16. Perry-Furyk are 2-up on Westwood-Garcia after 15.

• Mickelson and Kim will be playing together again this afternoon.

• Just been posted that J.B. Holmes will play this afternoon. He's matched with Boo Weekly against Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen. That tees off at 1:05.

• At 12:16: Kim-Mickelson end up halving match with Karlsson-Harrington. So U.S. leads 1.5 to 0.5

• At 12:10: Garcia just hit the ball in the water on 15.

• At 12:05: Rose-Poulter win the 15th to pull all-square with Cink-Campbell, who had rallied from 2-down to go 1-up after 14 holes.

• At 12:00: Karlsson bangs in short putt and the first match goes to the 18th hole all-square.

• At 11:55: Leonard-Mahan earn the first American point. Leonard makes putt on 16 for the clincher as the duo beats Stenson-Casey 3 and 2.

• At 11:45: Kim hits terrific shot on 16 just inches from hole for a conceded par. But Harrington holes a clutch putt to keep that match square. Scoreboard:
  • Mickelson-Kim and Harrington-Karlsson all square after 16.
  • Leonard-Mahan 3-up over Stenson-Casey after 15.
  • Cink-Campbell and Rose-Poulter all square after 13.
  • Perry-Furyk 2-up on Westwood-Garcia after 12.
  • Americans up two matches, with two matches level.

• At 11:40: The Americans are coming! After Casey puts one in the water, Leonard-Mahan goes 3-up over Casey-Stenson after 15. Europe is not leading a match right now, as two matches are level.

• At 11:38: Kentucky's own Kenny Perry makes birdie on 12, then Garcia misses his birdie putt. Perry-Furyk go 2-up over Westwood-Garcia. Remember, Garcia is 8-0 in Ryder Cup foursomes.

• At 11:31: Mickelson is the man, bottoming long birdie putt to square match between Mickelson-Kim and Harrington-Karlsson. Three holes to go.

• At 11:28: Leonard-Mahan win 14 to go 2-up on Stenson-Casey with four to play. That's the biggest lead currently in any of the four matches.

• At 11:20: Kim sinks putt on 14 and thanks to Mickelson's great shot, the duo cuts Harrington-Karlsson lead to 1-up with four holes to play.

• At 11:16: Maybe the best shot of the day came off the green, an amazing spinner from Mickelson that came within a few feet of the hole on 14.

• At 11:10: Scoreboard
  • Harrington-Karlsson 2-up on Mickelson-Kim after 13.
  • Leonard-Mahan 1-up on Stenson-Casey after 12.
  • Rose-Poutler now just 1-up on Cink-Campbell after 11.
  • Perry-Furyk 1-up over Westwood-Garcia after nine.

• At 11:07: No Tiger, but Michael Jordan is here.

• At 11:03: Mickelson-Kim cut Harrington-Karlsson lead to 2-up with five to play. Overall, still Americans up in two matches, Europeans up two matches.

• At 10:54: Though he's not playing this morning, Boo Weekly is not forgotten. Saw three fans wearing camoflauge hats and t-shirts reading "Team U.S.A." on front, and "Home of the Red, White and Boo" on the back.

• At 10:49: Harrington-Karlsson is starting to pull away from Mickelson-Kim, going 3-up with six holes to go. Kim has had a particularly rough go in his first Ryder Cup match. His bad tee shot put the Americans in a bad spot on 12.

• At 10:36: After being all-square after nine, Harrington-Karlsson has now won two straight holes to go 2-up over Mickelson-Kim. And Stenson-Casey has cut the Leonard-Mahan lead to 1-up.

• At 10:31: Perry-Furyk take its first lead of the match by birdieing seventh hole to go 1-up on Westwood-Garcia. U.S. leads two matches. Europe leads two matches.

• By the way, earlier today our own Mike Fields helped save WHAS radio personality Terry Meiners, who was choking on a piece of bagel. Terry grabbed Mike's arm and asked for help. Before Mike could do the Heimlich, Terry was able to cough up the piece. As I told Terry, "You never know when those UK fans with their Voodoo dolls will strike."

• At 10:25: Harrington-Karlsson go back up 1-up over Mickelson-Kim after 10. Euros now lead two matches. Leonard-Mahan are 2-up for the only American lead.

• At 10:23: Mickelson upset over a camera-click on the 10th hole.

• At 10:19: Rose-Poulter have just gone 3-up on Cink-Campbell.

• At the Media Center, you can get complimentary small-screen televisions with the ESPN feed. Great devices. Only bad thing is that you can't hear the announcers talk during the commercials. Instead, picture switches to a water shot on Valhalla, with bird noises.

• At 10:10: We're all tied among the four matches
  • Harrington missed a short birdie putt on nine and the Harrington-Karlsson/Mickleson-Kim match is all square.
  • Leonard-Mahan eagled seven and birdied eight to take a 2-up lead over Stenson-Casey.
  • Rose-Poulter have a 2-up lead on Cink-Campbell.
  • Perry-Furyk have fought back to go all-square with Westwood-Garcia.

• At 9:50: The Europeans are off to a fast start, but Harrington-Karlsson just gave a hole back to Mickelson-Kim on the 7th to make that match all square. Before that, the Euros had saved three pars after being in trouble. Meanwhile, Rose-Poulter is 2-up over Cink and Campell. And Westwood-Garcia is 1-up over Perry-Furyk. Leonard-Mahan and Stenson-Casey is all square. Perry made a birdie putt at the third hole, but missed a putt a key putt at four.

• At 9:15:  Harrington-Karlsson and Mickelson-Kim are all square after five holes.
  • Stenson-Casey and Leonard-Mahan is all square through four.
  • Rose-Poulter is one-up over Cink-Campbell after three holes.
  • Westwood-Garcia is one-up over Perry-Furyk after two holes.