Europeans battle back
CHASKA, Minn. — Henrik Stenson tracked the flight of his shot from the middle of the 11th fairway and didn’t like where it was headed. The ball had barely settled into a greenside bunker when he flipped the fairway wood end-over-end into the air like a baton.
“Welcome to America, Henrik!” someone in the gallery howled with delight.
Never mind that Stenson and his family have lived in a very exclusive enclave in Orlando, Florida, for four years now. More important is that it was the Swede who had the last laugh Friday at the Ryder Cup.
He teamed with Englishman Justin Rose in the afternoon’s fourballs to begin the comeback that Rory McIlory and rookie Thomas Pieters finished in grand style to pull Europe to 5-3 by the time the gates at Hazeltine National Golf Club were closed.
The Americans rolled out a 4-0 sweep of the morning foursome. No U.S. team had managed to sweep a session since 1981, which may explain why Captain Davis Love left his opening and anchor pairings intact. So did Darren Clarke, his European counterpart.
No sooner had McIlory’s 15-footer dropped for birdie to seal a 3-and-2 win over Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, than he pumped his fist, then stopped and bowed deeply to the sometimes-raucous and overwhelmingly hometown crowd ringing the 16th green.
