Day two of the Sketchers World Champions Cup at Feather Sound Country Club in Florida saw team Europe hold their held but Friday’s round did not go as smoothly as Thursday’s, as a charge from the Americans sees Europe’s lead drop to just 1.5 points.
Team captain Darren Clarke, paired with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, earned 9.5 points from the morning six-ball round as the two former Ryder Cup captains just fell short of Stewart Cink and Jason Caron of USA who earned 11 points. Y.E. Yang and Mark Hensby plugged away to earn 6.5 points for the Internationals to close out the first groupings.
Both Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez had more joy in the second group of the morning six-ball as the two veterans earned a tidy 11.5 points to keep momentum with the Europeans. The pair shown no faults as they earned some points on each of the nine holes played, including two points on the sixth and eighth holes to show their intent. Team USA earned 8.5 points in group two, with the Internationals earning seven points.
The final grouping of the morning six-ball saw the Internationals get some much needed points on the board as Steven Alker and Mike Weir pocketed 10.5 points. Alex Cejka and Soren Kjeldson earned nine points for Europe as team USA earned 7.5 points to close out the morning round.
Heading into the afternoon sixome round on the back nine, Europe sat at 87 points, USA had 79.5 and the Internationals had 76.5.
Holding a somewhat hefty lead, Europe seemed to lose momentum as the Americans began to rally a late comeback in the day. Similar to the morning round, both Clarke and Bjorn could not keep up with the standard on show from Cink and Caron as the Americans again earned 11.5 points in the first match of the afternoon round. Europe added eight points to their tally, with the Internationals adding a further 7.5 points to theirs.
K.J. Choi and Angel Cabrera cleaned up in the second group of the sixome round, earning a bogey-free 12 points for the Internationals. Jerry Kelly and Steve Flesch earned eight points for USA with Montgomerie and Jimenez adding seven more points for Europe.
The third and final match of the afternoon round saw two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer make his awaited appearance alongside Cejka but the pairing could only take 7.5 points from their match, whilst USA earned nine points. A superb eagle on the par-4 17th for Alker and Weir of the Internationals saw them add 10.5 points to their tally.
The pro-am will take place at Feather Sound Country Club on Saturday, with the Singles session on Sunday.
“Jason and Stewart had a great two sessions really, morning and afternoon,” U.S. Captain Jim Furyk said. “They played some beautiful golf and led the way for us. They let us claw our way back in, and now … it’s anyone’s ballgame on Sunday.”
Heading into the final round, team Europe lead with 109.5 points, followed by USA on 108 and the Internationals on 106.5.
In Sunday’s Singles session, half points are up for grabs.
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