No Tiger, but lots of roars for the U.S.

By Thomas Bonk

Sept. 20, 2008 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Tales of the unexpected, that’s what the U.S. Ryder Cup team conjured up Friday at Valhalla Golf Club, where success suddenly broke out and the only people chanting “Boo” meant Weekley.

How unusual was it? Not much, but only if you overlook a lot of unwanted history.

The U.S. took the first-day lead for the first time since 1991, won the morning session for the first time since 1991, won both the morning and afternoon sessions for the first time since 1979, and all the while, the players looked as if they were enjoying themselves for the first time since, well, since that Sunday in 1999, the last time they won.

The sequence of events for the 5 1/2 -2 1/2 U.S. lead was like a long row of dominos, carefully placed in position and then tipped over one by one in a chain reaction of good fortune.

Justin Leonard, who had never won a match, won twice.

Instead of falling behind and staying there, the U.S. trailed in seven of the eight matches but lost only one.

In yet another role reversal from the old days, Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell won when the other guys three-putted the 18th hole.

Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim were an instant karma couple as advertised, combining for 11 birdies in their four-ball match victory.

The Europeans ended the day with three halves, but only one victory, which hasn’t happened since 1975.

All in all, it was precisely the kind of opening day for which U.S. captain Paul Azinger was hoping, even if he was reconsidering his options after his players lost the first hole in three of the first four matches and eventually trailed in all four at the same time.

“I really wanted to go back to the hotel and get under the covers,” he said. “It was painful for me.”

He got over it in a hurry, thanks to a 3-1 advantage in the alternate-shot matches that included a resounding 3-and-2 victory by Leonard and Ryder Cup rookie Hunter Mahan over Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey.

Leonard, who had been winless in eight previous Ryder Cup matches, won again with Mahan, 4 and 3, in their four-ball match against Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

“My cheeks are sore from smiling all day long,” Leonard said. “This is a lot different than my other Ryder Cup experiences.”

The Mickelson-Kim combo proved both charismatic and clutch, coming from three holes down with six to go to halve their alternate-shot match with Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson.

And then in their four-ball victory over Harrington and Graeme McDowell, they were down three holes again and still rebounded for a 2-up decision.

Mickelson birdied the last two holes, including a gently breaking, 20-footer at the 17th that provided a one-hole lead.

Kim, another rookie, said he clicked with Mickelson as a partner.

“I think we are going to be pretty tough to beat,” he said. “We are having a great time out there, and when you’re having a great time you’re going to play good golf.”

The U.S., playing without Tiger Woods, had few bad times.

Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk blew a two-hole lead with two to play in their alternate-shot match against Lee Westwood and Garcia, but at least they still halved the match.

J.B. Holmes and Weekley, two more Ryder Cup rookies, both drove into the water at the par-five 18th with a one-hole lead and wound up halving the last four-ball match of the day against Westwood and Soren Hansen.

The only match that went against the U.S. happened to rookies Steve Stricker and Ben Curtis, who lost 4 and 2 to Ian Poulter and Justin Rose. Curtis played a birdie-free round and that hurt, but then again, everything can’t go right and normally doesn’t for the U.S. in these situations.

In fact, the U.S. actually got lucky when Cink and Campbell were the beneficiaries of a three-putt bogey by Rose and Poulter at the 18th that produced a 1-up victory in their alternate-shot match.

Azinger cautioned that it’s still early but acknowledged things are not so bad.

“We’re in a happy place, to be sure,” he said.

There is even a chance for greater happiness, it would seem. European team captain Nick Faldo is sitting Garcia and Westwood in this morning’s alternate-shot matches, despite the fact that Garcia has never lost in alternate shot.

Faldo is banking on a European team turnaround, and fast. “[Today] will be a different day,” he said.

The U.S. players know that’s true, but they’re hoping the results remain the same.

Cink-Campbell get a rematch with Poulter-Rose, Leonard-Mahan will play Jimenez-McDowell, Mickelson-Kim play Stenson and Oliver Wilson and Furyk-Perry take on Harrington-Karlsson.

thomas.bonk@latimes.com

37TH RYDER CUP

Where: Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Ky.

TV today: 5 a.m., Channel 4.

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