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| September 29, 2002 | Sunday | Rajab 21, 1423 |
Europe on top in high quality fourballs
SUTTON COLDFIELD, (England) Sept 28: Swedes Jesper Parnevik and Niclas Fasth were leading another impressive European display in the Ryder Cup fourballs Saturday as they led David Duval and Mark Calcavecchia after 11 holes.
About midway through the final session of team play, Europe were ahead in two matches and level in two as the sun finally came out above another 35,000 crowd, again impeccably behaved despite offering fantastic support for the home team.
Going into the fourballs, Europe held a one point lead at 6-1/2 points to 5-1/2 after the morning foursomes had been shared 2-2.
However, the United States, who hold the trophy having triumphed in 1999, have fought back strongly in the latter stages of the previous two sessions and were doing so again as the quality of the golf from both sides scaled new heights.
Parnevik, the 24th and final player to get a taste of the action, became the latest to shrug off poor form coming into the tournament having suffered a poor year.
After spending the first three sessions on the sidelines, he grabbed his opportunity with both hands as he and Fasth each hit two birdies, including a 40-foot putt for Parnevik on the seventh, to reach the eighth three-up.
However, the Americans hit back and, after Duval became the first player to drive the 10th green, they reduced the lead to one after 11.
Colin Montgomerie, playing his fourth match for Europe, also enjoyed a terrific start after Irishman Padraig Harrington replaced Bernhard Langer as his partner.
They birdied four successive holes from the second to race into a three-up lead after five over Phil Mickelson and David Toms, who had secured 2-1/2 points out of three.
The Americans briefly reduced the lead but a supreme approach by Montgomerie on the eighth restored the three-up lead after eight.
Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley were involved in a top notch duel with Scott Hoch and Jim Furyk, both teams finding birdies at will as they reached the eighth level.
Tiger Woods, who won his first match of the event in the morning with Davis Love, teamed up with the experienced Love again to take on Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood and the two were also level at the turn.
The morning foursomes were somewhat short on quality but not on tension as once again Europe took command early on, only for the U.S. to recover well.
Woods, who lost both his matches on Friday, hit back by partnering Love to a 4 & 3 triumph over Clarke and Thomas Bjorn as the Dane failed to reproduce his hot putting from the first day.
Mickelson and Toms needed only to be solid to beat Pierre Fulke and Phillip Price 2 & 1 after the rookie Europeans missed several chances to draw clear after leading by one after the turn.
Garcia and Westwood won their third point in a row, beating Stewart Cink and Furyk 2 & 1, though the victory was a reward for good scrambling rather than clean shot-making.
Montgomerie and Langer edged out Scott Verplank and Scott Hoch by one hole in the second successive tense 18th green finish for the experienced Europeans.—Reuters
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