<div>By Jeff Shain, Tribune Newspapers9:13 p.m. CDT, September 28, 2012
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MEDINAH, Ill. — Maybe it had something to do with Bubba Watson encouraging fans to hoot and holler as loudly as possible while he piped his first drive.
Pretty soon, partner Webb Simpson rolled home a 4-foot birdie putt. Two holes later, Watson drained a 25-foot steamer. Simpson birdied the next two.
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Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley caught the fever, dropping birdies on their first three holes. Even Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, so shaky in their morning match, had a birdie-birdie start to their afternoon. By then, the U.S. fans needed no encouragement.
"I've never been to a tournament in my life where the crowd was so loud," said Simpson, whose near-record 5-and-4 romp with Watson over Paul Lawrie and Peter Hanson set the tone as the Americans won three of four best-ball matches for a 5-3 lead after the first day of the 39th Ryder Cup.
"We just had a blast. We got off to a good start and we did what we do best — we had fun. And luckily the birdies kept rolling."
For the Americans, it was 35 in all — an average of nearly nine a match. Simpson and Watson combined for 10 in just 14 holes.
Though Ryder Cup records don't show the highest birdie count ever recorded in a session, Friday afternoon had to be somewhere near the top.
"This has been one of the biggest highs that we've had," said Mickelson, who fed off Bradley's fiery passion to go 2-0 on opening day for the first time since his 1995 Ryder Cup debut.
Having already taken down the European superduo of Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald in alternate shot, Bradley and Mickelson stayed hot with nine birdies in a 2-and-1 win over world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.
Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar followed with seven birdies for a 3-and-2 win over Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer. Even Woods got into the act.
After a morning in which he sprayed his drives seemingly from Evanston to Joliet, Woods found his rhythm with seven birdies in the day's final match. Yet even with two birdies from Stricker, they fell short of the colossal debut of Nicolas Colsaerts.
The Belgian Bomber went 10 under on his own ball, rendering partner Lee Westwood a nonfactor as they salvaged a 1-up win for Europe's only four-ball point.
"He's had one of those days that he will remember for the rest of his life," European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said.
Said Woods: "Nicolas had one of the greatest putting rounds ever. There weren't too many putts that he missed, but most of them were 15 feet and out."
With so many Americans playing so well, Love was moved to give Woods an unprecedented morning off. Woods was left off Saturday's foursomes lineup, the first session he'll miss since starting his Ryder Cup career in 1997.
"We just felt like we didn't want anybody to have to play five matches on this golf course," Love explained. "We need Tiger and Steve in the afternoon. We need Tiger and Steve on Sunday."
Love could afford the luxury after seeing the performance of his four rookies, who combined for a 4-1 record. Bradley became the ninth rookie to go 2-0 on the first day; Simpson and Jason Dufner also recorded wins.
The lone loss came from FedEx Cup champ Brandt Snedeker, who along with Jim Furyk took their foursomes match to the 18th hole, erasing a 3-down deficit, before falling to McIlroy and McDowell.
Friday afternoon's surge followed a 2-2 tie in the morning session, in which the Americans turned around two alternate-shot matches after the scoreboard briefly showed Europe leading all four.
"We showed a little nerves this morning right out of the box," Love said. "But I'm proud of the whole team. They played very, very well and stuck together well."
Watson decided to turn golf etiquette on its ear when he and caddie Ted Scott tried to pump up the crowd noise before he struck his first tee shot. The Masters champ said he did something similar earlier this year in Phoenix — though that wasn't accompanied by Ryder Cup pressure.
"Just did it for fun," Watson said. "And then somehow I played good after that."
Seven birdies in the first eight holes for Watson and Simpson left their European foes staring at a 6-down crater. "The train left on the front nine," Hanson deadpanned.
The European duo heated up with four birdies after the turn, keeping them from suffering the biggest blowout in any Ryder Cup paired match. The mark remains 7 and 6, first achieved in 1979 by Tom Kite and Hale Irwin and matched by Paul Azinger and Mark O'Meara in 1991.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/ct-spt-0929-main-ryder-cup--20120929,0,657573.story
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