Paul Azinger wanted to pair Anthony Kim with Phil Mickelson in hopes of his youthful energy rubbing off on Lefty. On Day 1, the two were a great pair and the plan worked. Today, Mickelson occasional choking tendencies wore off on Kim. The pair was up as high as four, six holes into the match, but slowly gave shot after shot away, ultimately losing 2 DW to with 1 to play.
Each match is worth a point, but this loss somehow felt like more. All the momentum the US team gained on day one, with tremendous confidence in this pair, has been lost. Captain Paul Azinger seemed like the wind was taken out of him after the morning matches and you could tell he felt this match, won by Henrik Stenson and Oliver Wilson could end up being the difference Sunday evening.
The good news is that the US still leads 7 to 5, thanks to Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry getting a final group win and the Texas team of Justin Leonard / Hunter Mahan halving their match.
Here's the afternoon pairings in Four-Ball:
Match 1: Europe: Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen vs. USA: Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes
Match 2: Europe: Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey vs. USA: Ben Curtis and Steve Stricker
Match 3: Europe: Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell vs. USA: Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk
Match 4: Europe: Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson vs. USA: Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan
Boo Weekley is already annoying Lee Westwood. Good times. Booooo!
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