Toms, Mickelson rescue USA at Ryder Cup

SUTTON COLDFIELD, England, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- With Tiger Woods unable to win a match, the team of Phil Mickelson and David Toms rescued the United States Friday and kept the Americans within one point of Europe after the opening day of the Ryder Cup.

Woods, the runaway No. 1 player in the world, teamed with Paul Azinger in the morning fourball matches and then partnered good friend Mark Calcavecchia in the afternoon foursomes. He lost twice.

"He's the greatest player that probably ever lived, but that's what the Ryder Cup is," European Captain Sam Torrance said. "Anyone is beatable out there."

But with Europe threatening to pull off a sweep of the morning competition, Mickelson and Toms held on for a 1-up victory over Niclas Fasth and Padraig Harrington. And then the Mickelson-Toms team came from 3-down with four to play in the afternoon to halve the formidable twosome of Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie.

"That's kind of what we come here to see," U.S. Captain Curtis Strange said of Mickelson and Toms, who will anchor Saturday morning's foursomes.

"We were just reminded, if anybody ever thought this was going to be easy, they're proving today it never is."

The afternoon comeback by the United States left Europe with a 4 ½ - 3 ½ lead with Saturday's eight team matches and Sunday's 12 singles yet to play.

"Like most Ryder Cups, it will go right down to the wire," said Irishman Paul McGinley.

By winning two of the afternoon matches and halving one, the United States did something it was unable to do at Brookline, Mass., when the Ryder Cup was last played three years ago.

On that occasion, the Americans did not win any of the four team sessions, found themselves trailing by four points after opening day and wound up staging the biggest comeback in Ryder Cup history to edge Europe by a point.

Woods and Azinger ran into the hot putter of Thomas Bjorn in the morning and lost to Bjorn and Darren Clarke, 1-up. Bjorn holed five birdie putts on the back nine at The Belfry, the last of them being a 15-footer at the final hole that matched an Azinger birdie and preserved the win.

"We birdied eight holes," Azinger said. "Usually, that would be enough."

In the afternoon, Woods and Calcavecchia fell to Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, 2 & 1. The Americans led by one hole at the turn, but the Europeans won four of the next five.

While Azinger and Woods were unable to overcome Bjorn and Clarke in the morning, American Captain Curtis Strange saw two other veteran pairings go down to defeat --- both by the margin of 4 & 3.

David Duval and Davis Love III lost to Garcia and Westwood while Jim Furyk and Scott Hoch dropped their match against Langer and Montgomerie.

From that group of Americans, only Furyk played in the afternoon as Strange brought in some new faces --- two of whom had never been in a Ryder Cup match before. And those new faces came through.

Hal Sutton and Ryder Cup rookie Scott Verplank battled back from a two-hole deficit with six to play in the foursomes to win four out of five holes and defeat Bjorn and Clarke, 2 & 1. Furyk teamed with another rookie, Stewart Cink, for a 3 & 2 decision over Harrington and McGinley.

European Captain Sam Torrance left three of his players on the sidelines throughout the first day -- Phillip Price, Jesper Parnevik and Pierre Fulke.

With the American comeback at Brookline still fresh in the collective mind of the European team, getting a big lead has been its goal. That made the Americans' showing in the afternoon foursomes a key.

"We know how strong the U.S. team is in singles," said Montgomerie. "We need a lead going into Sunday. It is very important for us to get off to a good start.

"Bjorn and Clarke did us proud. Anytime you beat Tiger in golf, you have done something."

The 1999 matches were decided with Justin Leonard holing a 50-foot birdie at the 17th hole, touching off a big celebration that came before Europe's Jose Maria Olazabal had a chance to attempt a putt that could have kept the outcome in doubt.

Because of the ill feelings brought on by that lack of courtesy, there had been concerns the English crowd would retaliate. The events of Sept. 11, which forced a year's postponement of this competition, combined with pleas from both captains, tempered the crowd Friday.

"I think the atmosphere was perfect," Langer said. "You can tell when Europe wins a point, of course. But I didn't hear any cheering for bad shots. That is the way it should be."

The 1 ½ points produced by Mickelson and Toms Friday could wind up being very critical by the time the competition is over.

They were 2-up with two to play against Fasth and Harrington in the morning, but Fasth birdied the 17th to cut the deficit and Harrington had a 15-foot birdie putt at the 18th catch a big chunk of the hole and spin out.

"We were very fortunate to win the morning match," Toms said.

In the afternoon, Mickelson and Toms clawed back with three consecutive birdies against Montgomerie and Langer.

Winless in majors but impressive in Ryder Cups, Mickelson had a three-foot birdie at the 15th, another from the fringe at the 16th and a tap-in following a superb bunker shot by Toms at the 17th.

"We battled all day, played good, solid golf all day long," Toms said. "And to be able to come back, I think, is going to give us some momentum going into what happens tomorrow."

Mickelson improved to 8-3-2 lifetime in the Ryder Cup. Woods is 3-8-1.