HAL SUTTON took his team to the woodshed Friday night and gave it a tongue-lashing that would make a football coach blush. He made the players look inside themselves. He demanded energy. He demanded passion. He demanded commitment. He wanted the emotion to flow from his players to light up the crowd at the Ryder Cup here in Bloomfield Township, Mich., yesterday.
And he got all of it. Early morning noise rumbled around Oakland Hills Country Club like thunder, lifting and cajoling the American players as they lit up the scoreboard. They high-fived and fist-pumped and occasionally even hit some good golf shots.
Just one problem. By the end of the day, not only had the Americans failed to make a dent in their opponent's lead, but Europe actually had extended its margin.
The United States started the day trailing 6 1/2 to 1 1/2, the largest first-day deficit in Ryder Cup history. This morning, the gap is six points.
Sutton had set a minimum goal for his team to win five of the eight points up for grabs yesterday, to give it a fighting chance for a comeback in the 12 singles matches today.
But when darkness fell on Oakland Hills last evening, the Europeans had outpointed the U.S. 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 and now take what must be considered an insurmountable 11-5 lead into today's finale.
The Euros have 11 points and need just three to continue to hold the Cup they won two years ago in England.
For the United States to win, it would have to stage a comeback more dramatic than the one accomplished five years ago at Brookline, Mass. The Americans will need to win 9 1/2 of the 12 points available today. At Brookline, they trailed by only four points.
"Coming from six points back, is it possible?" said Phil Mickelson, who was let out of Sutton's doghouse for the afternoon matches yesterday and helped earn his team's only afternoon point.
"Yes, it's possible. Is it likely? Probably not. But you're going to see some good golf from the U.S. side. We don't have anything to lose. For all intents we have already lost the Cup, but we can still win it."
There are a lot of aspects of team makeup that set the Europeans and Americans apart, but here is one example that perhaps illustrates conclusively why the U.S. constantly is getting its ears boxed by its foes from across the Atlantic.
After yesterday's fourball matches, Sutton was preparing his afternoon foursomes lineup. He wanted Chris Riley to play with Tiger Woods, a partnership that showed some zip in the morning in whipping Darren Clarke and Ian Poulter.
Instead of jumping at the chance, Riley begged off, citing the fact he was too tired.
Sutton was stunned.
"I told him 'Look man, a 42-year-old fat man (Sutton himself) in '99 went five straight matches, so I'm sure that a 30-year-old flat-belly that's hyper can go four, can't ya?'
"He kind of stuttered and said 'Well, I guess if you really want me to.' "
At that point Sutton said thanks but no thanks, preferring to populate his lineup with people who wanted to be out there, like 50-year-old Jay Haas, who was playing his third full round in about 24 hours.
Safe to say Riley's attitude wouldn't have been tolerated in the European team room. On the European side, there is genuine team spirit, not something manufactured in the past few days.
IT'S REAL
The players themselves don't really know why or where it comes from, but it's real.
"We are all really pulling so hard for each other this week," Clarke said. "The team bonding has been incredible. There's so much support for each and every player in our room."
When Sutton laid out his lineup for today's singles matches, he simply set out the names in the order they qualified for the team, best first, and so on down the lineup.
"It's our only chance," Sutton said. "We have to get the best guys out first and get on a roll. Momentum plays a big part in this thing. It has all week."
Unfortunately, the momentum has been mostly in one direction and it's hard to see it changing enough to stem the European tide.
