Advantage Europe: Round One - Ryder Cup News
By: Carmen Diode

The eyes of the golf world may well be focused on the Valero Texas Open being contestested in San Antonio, Texas, this weekend - but there is another interesting golf match being played in Kildare, Ireland (named after a tv Doctor from a popular 60s US tv show).

The European Ryder Cup team, to the surprise of almost no one, took the lead after play concluded in the first round of matches of the 2006 Cup. The Europeans led 5 – 3 after day one's eight matches were complete. The Europeans now need only 9 points to retain the cup for the next two years.

The first match, featuring Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk for the US and Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington for the European team, started a little after 2:00AM, Central Standard time. I surfed my television to see if there was any live coverage being televised at that hour, but found none (coverage apparently started at 8:00AM ET). I did, however, find a soft porn movie on a cable channel and it featured an actress that bore some resemblence to Elin Nordegren Woods, wife of US player Tiger Woods - but I did not see her name in the credits at the end of the movie.

Tiger Woods put his very first shot if the 2006 contest in the water and it did not get much better for him from there. Jim Furyk played well enough to lead the team to a victory in the event’s first fourball match but Woods and Furyk lost their afternoon alternate-ball match to the European team of Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald.

The poor play of Woods in his first two matches has forced him to rethink his swing that took three years to develop and he is said to be contemplating changing it again.

Seven of the eight matches played on Friday's first round of play went to the 18th hole before the outcome was settled, and the US was unable to close the deal on most of those matches. The US team rookies played surprisingly well, and it was actually veteran players like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Chris DiMarco and Jim Furyk that failed to deliver the shots when needed.

The weather was almost a more significant factor than the play of the respective teams. Winds were so high at times that three spectators were injured by blowing debris, and Furyk appeared to have had all of his hair blown away. Adverse weather in the forecast is a threat to halt play over the course of the next two days.

Former US President George Bush and Basketball legend Michael Jordan were on hand to cheer the US team. The former President, well known for his sky-diving jumps since leaving office, offered to make a parachute jump from one of the trees lining the course at the K Club, but Cup officials politely declined his offer. Jordan, a well know high-stakes gambler is thought to have dropped big money betting on his good friend Tiger Woods.

The pairings for Saturday’s morning matches are:
Match 1
Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson (E) v Stewart Cink and J.J. Henry (US)

Match 2
Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia (E) v Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco (US)

Match 3
Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood (E) v Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk (US)

Match 4
Henrik Stenson and Padraig Harrington (E) v Scott Verplank and Zach Johnson (US)

(George Bush hits on Amy Mickelson)	(Michael Jordon hits on Elin Nordegren Woods)
(Tom Lehman hits on Ian Woosnam)	(George Bush hits on Corey Pavin)

Ryder Cup History