Saturday, September 29, 2012

Mickelson/Bradley help U.S. extend lead


  With another spectacular performance by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, the U.S. team moved out to a dominating 8-4 lead after the morning session of the Ryder Cup Saturday at Medinah.
   With a strong afternoon in the four-ball matches, the American side could set itself up to close out Ryder Cup early in singles on Sunday. Captain Davis Love III decided to rest the Mickelson-Bradley pairing in the afternoon, sticking to his plan of not having any golfers play in all five sessions.
   The Mickelson-Bradley pairing, which won both matches Friday, crushed the Lee Westwood-Luke Donald team 7&6 in foursomes play, setting the tone in the morning.
   "We've had so much fun," Bradley said. "The crowd has provided so much energy and it's brought out our best golf."
   The U.S. also picked up foursomes victories from Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson 2&1 over Nicolas Colsaets and Sergio Garcia and a 1-up victory by Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker over Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.
   The lone American loss was suffered by Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, who fell 1-up to Ian Poulter and Justin Rose. Simpson had a nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to square the match but missed.
   The afternoon four-ball pairings are:
   Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar vs. Nicolas Colsaerts/Paul Lawrie
   Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson vs. Justin Rose/Francesco Molinari
   Tiger Woods/Steve Stricker vs. Sergio Garcia/Luke Donald
   Jason Dufner/Luke Donald vs. Rory McIlroy/Ian Poulter.

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