John Clay’s Sidelines

Here’s SEC basketball roundup after first weekend:

• Mississippi State, ranked 18th, passed out SEC Tournament title rings in a pre-game ceremony, then went out and lost to Rider 88-74 before 7,421 at Humphrey Coliseum.

• Remember, Rider plays Kentucky next Saturday in Rupp.

• In Kyle Veazey’s game story for Clarion-Ledger, Rider coach Tommy Dempsey said, “I know that most of you don’t know much about us, about Rider, or even the MAAC conference, but we have a good basketball team and we play in a great conference.”

• State coach Rick Stansbury: “Everybody understands now when I said how good Rider is, how good they are. They were just better than us.”

• Rider made 10 of 16 of its 3-point shots and committed all of six turnovers.

• Kodi Augustus, who scored nine points and had five rebounds in 15 minutes after starting, told reporters after the game that he wasn’t pleased with his playing time. “I played all these minutes in the exhibition games and I played 15 minutes? Wow,” Augustus said.

• Alabama lost to Cornell 71-67 in Anthony Grant’s debut. Cornell is the two-time defending Ivy League champion.

• Ex-Kentucky forward Mark Coury had six points and five rebounds for Cornell, which had not beaten a current SEC team since 1972-73.

• JaMychal Green led the Tide with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

• Crowd was listed at 10,135 fans, and attendance was surely hurt by football team playing 90 minutes away Saturday night at Mississippi State.

Continue reading ‘SEC basketball roundup after first weekend’

Kay and Matthew McConaughey

Lunch break:

• Interesting leftover from Bear’s Boys reunion this weekend. Jim McConaughey, the late father of actor Matthew McConaughey, apparently played a year for Bryant at Kentucky. He didn’t letter, but went on to play for the Green Bay Packers. In fact, Matthew’s mother, Kay, was an English major at UK, and regularly attends the reunion. Previous engagements kept her at home in Texas this year, however.

• Sorry, I’m just not that crazy about Ricky Barnes hat at the U.S. Open. My son says he looks like a train conductor.

• I’m rooting for Phil Mickelson.

• Contrary to the headline in the print edition of the H-L, the Reds were not swept this weekend. Instead, they lost two of three to the Chicago White Sox. Saturday’s 10-8 loss was the lowlight. Light-hitting team stroked 14 hits. Led 5-0. Had Johnny Cueto on the mound. But still got beat in the Civil Rights Game. Maybe Cueto had difficulty concentrating with big crowd and all hoopla surrounding the game. There sure were a lot of booth interviews with George Grande and Chris Welsh. Best was the classy Hank Aaron, who told funny story of getting then teammate Dusty Baker out of jail after a disturbance at a pool hall in spring training. Interesting note from Baker: He said Aaron would wake him up every morning and make him eat breakfast, when two played for the Braves.

• Jodie Meeks is working out for the Portland Trailblazers today. I don’t buy reports that he’s received pre-draft guarantees of early second round. Any draft is a fluid animal. A team doesn’t know who will be available at its pick until it is time for its pick. We’ll see what happens Thursday.

It was a great tournament and a terrible final two holes for Kenny Perry at the Masters. The Franklin native led the touranment by two shots with two plays, but boeyed the final two holes. And, as you no doubt know the 48-year-old ended up losing the green jacket on the second hole of a three-way playoff to Angel Cabrera.

Some Perry links:

• Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that pressure turned Perry into a mere mortal.
• Christine Brennan of USA Today says Perry shows grace, but late blunders have to hurt.
• Bob Harig of ESPN.com says Perry gave the Masters away.
• At golf.com, Gary Van Sickle writes on Perry’s dream week.
• At CBS Sportsline, Steve Elling writes that Perry squandered the chance of a lifetime.
• Jeff Schultz of the AJC writes that it was a Masters to remember.
• The AJC’s Furman Bisher writes what a day, what a Masters.
• Larry Dorman of the New York Times writes about the Cabrera win.
• Bill Pennington of the New York Times writes on the Perry loss.
• Sky Sports writes that Perry says he can live with the loss.

As you might expect, the British press was none too happy with the Euros loss to the Americans in the Ryder Cup.

As you might expect, they let team captain Nick Faldo have it.

Question at press conference: "What is it like to take a winning team and make it into a losing team?"

Ouch.

Links:

• Paul Hayward of the Daily Mail calls it a Captain Calamity, saying that Faldo, not the gallery, was America's 13th man

• The Daily Mail claims American fans abused European players all weekend.

• London Times says Faldo's bold approach backfires.

• Faldo says no regrets, but he won't captain again, writes Guardian.

• The Daily Mirror writes that Faldo forgot golden rule: Lose and it's all your fault.

• AP in London has a nice round-up of Faldo's flops.

From Valhalla:

• At 5:20: Jimenez concedes putt to Furyk and U.S. takes back the Cup, getting its 14.5 points. Furyk wins 2 and 1.

• At 5:07: Holmes knocks in the 2-footer to beat Hansen 2 and 1. U.S. up 13.5 to 9.5.

• At 5:05: Furyk misses putt that would have closed out Jimenez on 16. On 17, Holmes has hit within five feet with his second shot.

• At 4:52: Holmes birdies 16 to go 1-up on Hansen.

• Weekley birdies 16 to beat Wilson 4 and 2. U.S. now up 12.5 to 9.5. Need just two more points to take back the Cup. Boo bows to the crowd.

• At 4:41: Hansen pulls back all-square with Holmes after 15. If Hansen wins that match, then the whole thing could come down to the final game — Harrington vs. Campbell. Campbell is 2-up after 11.

• At 4:28: Holmes just went 1-up on Hansen after 14. The kid from Campbellsville could end up clinching it, if Weekley closes out Wilson and Furyk closes out Jimenez. Both Americans are 3-up.

• At 4:24: Kenny Perry closes out Stenson 3 & 2. The man from Franklin earns 2.5 points this Ryder Cup. Great showing. Mahan and Casey end up all-square on their match. U.S. now leads 11.5 to 9.5.

• At 4:14: Rose closes out Mickelson 4-2 to pull Europe to within 10-9. But U.S. is up in five, and level in two of the nine matches left on the course.

• At 4:10: Holmes match is looking huge, as it's still all-square through 12. J.B. sank a huge putt at 12 to keep it that way.

• At 4:05: Mahan makes an incredible 40-foot putt on 17. Casey is way off on his putt. Mahan leads 1-up going to 18. U.S. is guaranteed a half point. That's huge.

• At 3:53: Karlsson closes out Leonard 5 & 3. U.S. lead cut to 10-8. Meanwhile, Casey has pulled all-square with Mahan heading to final two holes.

• At 3:45: The key match for the Americans could be Mahan-Casey. Mahan is 1-up as both just hit on the green at 16. If Casey rallies to win the game, the Euros will definitely have the momentum.

• At 3:38: Holmes has just fallen 1-down to Hansen after 10 holes. Europe is up in six of the 11 matches left on the course. Furyk-Jimenez is all-square after nine. U.S. leads the other four.

• At 3:28: Sergio is steamrolled by new American star Anthony Kim, who wins 5 & 4. Kim was so focused, he was headed on to 15th to continue the beating when he was told he had won the match. He tells Jimmy Roberts, "I got chills on my spine the whole day." U.S. up 10-7. Scoreboard:
  • Mahan is 1-up on Casey through 14 in what is shaping up to be a very important game.
  • Karlsson continues to lead Leonard 4-up, now through 13.
  • Rose is also 4-up on Mickelson through 12.
  • Kenny Perry has just gone back to a 3-up lead over Stenson through 11.
  • Weekley is crushing poor Owen Wilson, 4-up through 10.
  • Holmes and Hansen are all-square through nine.
  • Furyk and Jimenez are all-square through nine.
  • Cink and McDowell are all-square through eight.
  • Poulter is bashing poor Steve Stricker 3-up through seven.
  • Westwood is 2-up on Curtis through six.
  • Campbell has a 2-up lead on Parrington through six.
  • Both sides lead four games. The other three are level.

• At 3:00: Perry is still 3-up on Stenson through nine holes. Holmes' lead on Hansen has disappeared. The two are all-square thorugh eight.
  • Garcia is getting his butt kicked and doesn't like it. He's 5-down to Kim, the new American star, with five holes to play.
  • Casey has squared his match with Mahan.
  • Karlsson is blitzing Leonard, 4-up through 10.
  • Rose is beginning to blitz Mickelson, 3-up through 10.
  • Weekley, still the crowd favorite, leads Wilson 3-up through eight.
  • Furyk and Jimenez are all-square through seven.
  • Cink leads McDowell 1-up through six.
  • Poulter is 2-up on Stricker through five.
  • Westwood now 1-up on Curtis through five.
  • Campbell has pulled all-square with Harrington through four.
  • Both sides are up in four matches. The other four are level.

• At 2:30: The Kentucky boys Perry and Holmes are off to great starts. Perry is 3-up through seven holes on Stenson. Holmes is 2-up on Hansen through four. Scoreboard:
  • Kim is now 3-up over Garcia, who is playing horribly, through 11.
  • Mahan is 1-up on Casey through nine.
  • Karlsson is battering poor Justin Leonard, who had been playing so well. Karlsson is 3-up after nine.
  • Justin Rose is having the best of Mickelson, 2-up through eight.
  • Weekley is 1-up on Owen Wilson through six.
  • Jimenez has cut Furyk's lead to 1-up through five.
  • Cink is 1-up on McDowell through four.
  • Poulter is holding that 1-up lead on Stricker through three.
  • Curtis and Westwood are all-square through three.
  • Campbell and Harrington are all-square through two.
  • So U.S. is up in seven. Europe leads three. Level in two.
  • U.S. leads three matches by at least 2-up.
  • Europe leads two matches by at least 2-up.

•  At 2:00: Kenny Perry is smoking Henrik Stenson early. The Franklin native has birdied four of the first five holes to take a commanding 3-up lead through five. Funny thing is, on the shuttle bus coming into Valhalla this morning, a man in seat behind me told someone on the other end of his cell phone that he was going all in for Stenson, as Perry was trying too hard to please the home folks. So far, Kenny is doing exactly that. Scoreboard:
  • Kim is driving Garcia nuts, 3-up aftrer eight.
  • Casey has cut Mahan's lead to 1-up after seven.
  • Karlsson has an early 2-up lead over Leonard after six.
  • Rose is 1-up on Mickelson, who had his short putt on six circle the hole and outright refuse to drop in.
  • Weekley is 1-up on Wilson after five.
  • Holmes and Hansen are all-square through four.
  • Furyk is 2-up over Jimenez through three.
  • Cink and McDowell are all-square through two.
  • Poulter is at it again, 1-up on Stricker after the first hole.
  • U.S.is up in 5. Europe is up in 3. Level in two. Two more matches to tee off.

• At 1:30: Holmes has teed off, but trails 1-down after the first hole to Hansen. Holmes rallied for a par, but Hansen birdied the first hole. Scoreboard:
  • Kim is now 2-up on a nearly despondent Garcia after six holes. There appears to be no love lost in this match.
  • Hunter Mahan is 2-up on a struggling Paul Casey through four.
  • Robert Karlsson is 1-up on Justin Leonard through four.
  • Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson are all-square after four.
  • Kenny Perry is off to red-hot start. He's birdied two of the first three to take a 2-up lead on Henrik Stenson through four.
  • Boo Weekly just pulled all-square with Owen Wilson after three holes.
  • Jim Furyk has gone 1-up on the pony-tailed Miguel Angel Jimenez.

• At 1:00: Five matches out on the course. Thus far, Andy Kim leads Sergio Garica 1-up through four holes. The other four matches are all all-square. Franklin's own Kenny Perry birdied the first hole. But Europe's Henrik Stenson matched the bird to halve the first hole. J.B. Holmes is scheduled to tee off against Soren Hansen at 1:09 p.m.

From Valhalla:

• At 7:15: Final match ends up all-square. So we go to tomorrow with U.S. leading 9-7.

• At 7:02: Poulter and McDowell beat Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk 1-up as Europe cuts lead to 8.5 to 6.5. One match still out, and it's all-square on the 18th.

• At 6:46: Casey sinks tough putt after Stricker makes his clutch putt on 18 and match ends all-square between Casey-Garcia and Curtis-Stricker. U.S. leads 8.5 to 5.5.

• At 5:42: Weekley-Holmes close out Westwood-Hansen on 17 to win 2 & 1. Big win for the country boys. Now U.S. lead is 8-5, with two matches all-square and the Euros 1-up in the third.

• At 5:25: Weekley-Holmes going to the 17th tee 2-up. Guaranteed at least a half.

• At 4:45: Weekley-Holmes are trying to hold on, and are doing just that. After slipping from 3-up to 1-up, Weekley birdies 14 to put the U.S. back to 2-up in that match with four holes to play. Mickelson-Mahan have a 2-up lead after nine holes. Perry-Furyk trail Poulter-McDowell 2-down after 11. The Curtis-Stricker vs. Garcia-Casey match is all-square after 12. Looks like it'll go right down to the last hole.

• At 4:15: Poulter-McDowell has opened up a 2-up lead on Perry-Furyk. Curtis-Stricker and Garcia-Casey is all-square. But Mickelson-Mahan and Weekley-Holmes are each 2-up over the European invaders.

• At 3:30: Back from out on the course, where the Red-white-and-Boo spirit is riding so high that Americans who aren't even playing at the moment are showered with wild applause. Anthony Kim and his girlfriend, hand-in-hand, came walking around the ninth hole and up towards the clubhouse when the  waiting on Weekley-Holmes to reach the green, hopped to their feet and put their hands together. Scoreboard:
  • Weekley-Holmes 2-up on Westwood-Hansen after nine.
  • Curtis-Stricker 2-up on Garcia-Casey after eight.
  • Perry-Furyk and Poulter-McDowell are all-square after six.
  • Mickelson-Mahan are 1-up on Stenson-Karlsson after six.

• At 2:35: Weekley-Holmes take a 1-up lead after six holes over Westwood-Hansen. BBC announcer says, "I have a great amount of respect for Boo Weekley's game. I have less respect for the way he acts after holing putts like that." Weekley, of course, raised his arms after winning the hole.

• At 2:30: U.S. is 1-up in Curtis-Stricker match and Mickelson-Mahan match. Other two are all-square. Mickelson seems to have regained his touch. He's birdied 2 and 3 to put he and Mahan in front of Stenson-Karlsson. We've still got a long way to go.

• You must be joking.

• At 1:50: Afternoon matches just getting underway. Ian Poulter must be stopped. The Euro captain's pick birdied the first hole as Poulter-McDowell go 1-up on Perry-Furyk. After a dreadful Friday, Ben Curtis birded the second hole to put Curtis-Stricker 1-up on Garcia-Casey. Weekley-Holmes-Westwood Hansen are all-square after three. As slowly as J.B. plays, that match is liable to hold the rest of the pack up for awhile.

• Morning results:
  • Poulter-Rose over Cink-Campbell 4 & 3.
  • Leonard-Mahan and Jimenez-McDowell play to an all-square.
  • Stenson-Wilson over Kim-Mickelson 2 & 1.
  • Perry-Furyk over Harrington-Karlsson 3 & 1.

• At 12:45: Kentuckian Kenny Perry wins his first Ryder Cup point. The Franklin flash knocks a great second shot on 17, and when Harrington misses the chip to prolong the match, the hats come off. Perry-Furyk win 3 and 1 over Harrington-Karlsson. U.S. leads 7-5 after the morning session.

• At 12:27: Leonard-Mahan end up losing the 18th hole and finish all-square with Jimenez-McDowell. So U.S. leads 6-5. Perry-Furyk, with 2-up lead on Harrington-Karlsson on 16th, is only morning match sill out on the course.

• At 12:20: Ought, oh. Mickelson-Kim, after playing so well yesterday, blow a 4-up lead and lose 2 and 1 to Stenson-Wilson. It was the first Ryder Cup match for Oliver Wilson, who played well down the stretch. So with two morning matches now decided, the Euros have cut the U.S. lead to 5.5-4.5.

• Poulter's comments after win: "Awesome. When we saw the pairing this morning, it was kind of like, let's get out there and finish the job from yesterday. There was a lot of unfinished business out there yesterday, which was really disappointing, but today was flawless golf. In foursomes, we've said for awhile that we feel that's a strong pairing, and it was awesome out there today."

• Afternoon pairings: Just received the afternoon pairings and Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes are paired again. Their in the first group going against Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen for the second straight day. It'll be a Weekley-Westwood rematch. Westwood was none too happy with Weekley's overt attempts to pump up the crowd on Friday. Westwood said afterward that his problem was that Weekley was doing it between the shots. Weekley said he didn't mean to do that, but he was just trying to keep the crowd positive. Here are the pairings:
  • 12:45 p.m. - Weekley-Holmes vs. Westwood-Hanseon
  • 1:00 p.m. - Curtis-Stricker vs. Garcia-Casey
  • 1:15 p.m. - Perry-Furyk-Poulter-McDowell
  • 1:30 p.m. - Mickelson-Mahan vs. Stenson-Karlsson

• At 12:00: Thanks to Kentuckian's Kenny Perry beautiful tee shot on 14, Furyk sinks the birdie putt and Perry-Furyk go 3-up with four to play on Harrington-Karlsson. Yesterday, Perry-Furyk could not close it out Westwood-Garcia, but if it can get the job done today then Harrington, winner of the British and the PGA, will have yet to win a match.

• At 11:35: Poulter-Rose have the British off to a fast start with a 4 and 3 win over Cink-Campbell to get the day started. That cuts the U.S. lead to 5.5-3.5. Status of the other matches:
  • Leonard-Mahan and Jimenez-McDowell are all-square after 15.
  • Mickelson-Kim and Stenson-Wilson are all-square after 14. Mickelson-Kim were 4-up after six holes.
  • Furyk-Perry have a 2-up lead on Harrington-Karlsson after 12. That's down from 4-up after the 5th hole.

 From Valhalla:

• At 7:25: U.S. leads 5.5 to 2.5 after first day. First time since 1995 that the Americans have led after the first day.

• At 7:25: Euros rally as Westwood-Hansen earn a half with Holmes-Weekley.

• At 6:49: Homes-Weekley are still 1-up going to 17.

• At 6:30: Holmes-Weekley still hold a 1-up lead, now with three holes to play.

• At 6:10: Mickelson-Kim fight from 3-down to win 1-up over Harrington-McDowell. U.S. now leads 5-2.

• At 6:07: Leonard-Mahan wins its second match of the day. Leonard chips in on 15 and Americans close out match 4 and 3. U.S. now leads 4-2 overall.

• At 6:00: Poulter-Rose defeat Stricker-Curtis 3 and 2 for the first European win of the day. Score now U.S. 3, Europe 2. Curtis did not play well. Will be interesting to see if Azinger includes him in tomorrow's play.

• At 5:40: Back-to-back moments for the Americans. Boo Weekley drains a long putt, with the pin still in, to win the 12th — then pumps up the crowd — and put Holmes-Weekley up by one. Then Mickelson makes a clutch putt on 17. And McDowell just missed his putt that would have halved the hole. Harrington also misses, and Mickelson-Kim lead 1-up going to the 18th.

•  At 5:28: Poulter-Rose are about to close out Stricker-Curtis, not that Curtis has contributed much to the match. Poulter-Rose 3-up four to play. Curtis did par 13, his first contributing hole since the 8th.

• At 5:17: Leonard birdies 12 and Leonard-Mahan is back to a 2-up lead over Garcia-Jimenez. That duo needs to hold the lead, what with the Americans down in one match and all-square in two others.

• At 5:10: Weekly birdies No. 10 and the country boys Holmes-Weekley have climbed back into an all-square with Westwood-Hansen.

• At 4:56: McDowell birdies 15 and McDowell-Harrington vs. Mickelson-Kim is back to all-square with three holes to go. Meanwhile, Jiminez birdies 11 to cut Leonard-Mahan lead to 1-up.

• At 4:41: Kim makes birdie 2 at 14 and Mickelson-Kim lead for the first time all day, 1-up on Harrington-McDowell. So now Euros lead two matches, Americans lead two matches.

• At 4:40: J.B. is on fire. The ex-Cat strings together his second consecutive birdie and Holmes-Weekly now 1-down to Westwood-Hansen after nine holes.

• At 4:30: Mickelson-Kim have done it again. Down by three after four holes, the duo has rallied to go all-square with Harrington-McDowell with five holes to play. Mickelson-Kim trailed Harrington-Karlsson by three with six holes remaining this morning, then rallied to halve the match.

• At 4:20: Padraig Harrington is putting lights-out. He's birdied two of the last three holes. Harrington-McDowell 1-up after 12. And Mickelson-Kim are doing a great job keeping it this close.

• At 4:18: Holmes bounces back and birdies No. 8. But Westwood matches to half the hole. Westwood-Hansen still enjoy a 2-up lead. Meanwhile, Leonard-Mahan has gone 2-up on Garcia-Jimenez after nine.

• At 4:05: Steve Stricker makes a nice putt at nine to keep Stricker-Curtis 2-down to Poutler-Rose. Weekley-Holmes is still 2-down to Westwood-Hansen. Harrington-McDowell is holding on to that 1-up lead over Mickelson-Kim. Leonard-Mahan is the only U.S. group in front, leading Garica-Jimenez 1-up.

• A 3:25: Holmes-Weekley went 1-up after the first hole, but has struggled since. Lee Westwood is on fire. He's birdied two, four and five to give Westwood-Hansen a 2-up lead on the two country boys from the U.S.

• At 3:05: Scoreboard
  • Harrington-McDowell 2-up on Mickelson-Kim after eight holes.
  • Stricker-Curtis and Poulter-Rose is all-square after five.
  • Leonard-Mahan is 2-up on Garcia-Jimenez through five.
  • Westwood-Hansen is 1-up on Holmes-Weekley after four.

• The Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Daugherty is one journalist not too happy to be in Louisville, as he writes here.

• President George H.W. Bush, 41 as they call him, is here in one of those ugly shirts, himself.

• E-mailer Larry wants to know, "Did both teams buy their shirts at the same Ugly Store?" Apparently so.

• Apparently at the rally last night, U.S. captain Paul Azinger said that
  it was ok to cheer missed putts. The European press wanted to know if
  that was true. Said Azinger today, 'Oh, let's say, I think I said, "You
  can cheer when they miss. You can cheer when they miss.' Essentially,
  you know, when we go over there, they cheer when we miss. I don't think
  that the Americans are really into what The Ryder Cup is all about in
  the fact that, you know, there is that other element. It wasn't meant
  to be malicious and I'm really proud that our fans have been absolutely
  perfectly behaved this morning."

• Earlier, Johnny Miller said of Jimenez, "You hate to lose to a guy in a ponytail."

•  At 2:30: Mickelson-Kim are following a similar path as their morning match, falling behind, then rallying. Harrington-McDowell were 3-up after four holes. Now it's a 1-up lead after six. Meanwhile, J.B. Holmes birdied the first hole for a 1-up Holmes-Weekley lead over Westwood-Hansen. Mahan-Leonard are 1-up on Garcia-Jimenez after two holes. Poulter-Rose lead Stricker-Curtis 1-up after four holes.

• At 1:45: I'm going to go watch J.B. Holmes tee off. Will be back with more updates after that.

• At 1:40: Mickelson-Kim have now fallen 2-down to McDowell-Harrington. Harrington birdied the 3rd hole.

• At 1:32: Thanks to a par by Graeme McDowell compared to three bogeys, Harrington-McDowell has gone 1-up on Mickelson-Kim.

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.