International stars outshining U.S. opponents in match play
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
MARANA, Ariz. -- This year's Presidents Cup is eight months away. Next year's Ryder Cup is 19 months away. But statements are being made this week at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Statements that could very well give us an indication of just what will happen in San Francisco and South Wales.
And few of those statements are being made by Americans.
The noise starts with South African Tim Clark, of course. The guy who has made 176 career PGA TOUR starts without a victory just knocked off the guy who one day should have the career record for victories. And Clark's victory over Tiger Woods on Thursday was no fluke. Clark played brilliantly -- and, more importantly, never shivered, never shuddered when Tiger threatened to roar.
No doubt Presidents Cup Captain Greg Norman will take a keen interest in the outcome. Clark has played in two Presidents Cup but not the last one, and that lack of a TOUR win seems to hang over his resume like a black cloud. But there's no doubt he has the chops to compete on a world stage.
At last year's Deutsche Bank Championship, Clark shot a second-round 62 that really had "59" written all over it. And this week, he's been the hottest player at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. In 32 holes played, he has 11 birdies. And no bogeys.
Obviously, there is still plenty of golf before we reach Harding Park, but is anyone else willing to bet that Clark, provided he makes the team, might face Tiger at some point at The Presidents Cup?
For the immediate future, Clark will face Northern Ireland teen sensation Rory McIlroy in Friday's third round. Consider it a battle of journeyman vs. up-and-coming. More important, consider it another excuse to check out a player who will likely become a fixture of European Ryder Cup teams.
McIlroy showed his form as a closer to beat Hunter Mahan, a member of last year's winning U.S. Ryder Cup team. The floppy-haired youngster has shown the kind of cool which has him ranked 16th in the world, even though he's yet to reach 20 years old. On Thursday, he birdied four of the last six holes to overtake Mahan, who was 1 up midway through the back nine.
The Clark-McIlroy duel is not the only one in the Bobby Jones Bracket that has "International Implications" written on it. The other match offers one former Presidents Cupper (Australian Geoff Ogilvy) and one future one (Colombia's Camilo Villegas), and may very well be the most entertaining of the day. Villegas has rolled through two matches here; he's barely had to work up a sweat with his Spider-man routine.
But the real statement, the one that raises the most eyebrows, is being made by the Englishmen in the field. Of the final 16, five are Her Majesty's Golfers, equal to the number of Americans still left.
We know about Ian Poulter, who is making his reputation in match play; he was the best golfer on either side at Valhalla last year. Paul Casey and Luke Donald have five combined Ryder Cup appearances, and will have several more. Ross Fisher was close to making the Ryder Cup last year, just edged out by Martin Kaymer for the 10th spot.
Oliver Wilson, who delivered the biggest non-Tiger-related message Thursday by downing American Anthony Kim 2 and 1, setting up a Friday match with 1999 American Ryder Cup hero Justin Leonard.
Make that downing him again. Wilson and Sweden's Henrik Stenson beat Kim and Phil Mickelson in foursomes by that same 2 and 1 score last year. If you're 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie, that might mean something, right?
"He's a great player, and obviously the Ryder Cup maybe helped me a little bit, knowing that I've already beat him before," Wilson said of Kim.
And obviously the next Ryder Cup is so far off that perhaps we shouldn't even be discussing the messages being delivered this week.
Or should we? The English have come to play, and more impressively, have come to play on a distinctly American course, in the desert, surrounding by all types of cactus, the sun beating down. It's not exactly the kind of conditions a young English lad might find while trying to squeeze in 18 holes at the nearest public course.
Fisher, for instance, noted that 7-irons that he usually hits from 155-160 yards are being struck this week from 222 yards. He says the adjustment is difficult ... yet he managed to find his way into the round of 16, thanks to his win over, you guessed it, another American, Pat Perez.
"I've found it quite difficult to adjust," Fisher said. "I've still misclubbed a few times, trying to play that ball that is going an extra bit further. It's very tricky."
Fisher now gets a chance to send yet another message Friday when he faces American Jim Furyk, who has been on six Ryder Cup teams. Furyk went to college at Arizona in nearby Tucson and will have the crowd behind him. It won't be a Ryder Cup-type atmosphere, but it will be good preparation for Fisher in case he makes the 2010 team.
"I'm not thinking that far ahead," Fisher says.
But considering the way the English are playing this week, the way Rory McIlroy continues to impress, as well as the fact that Tiger has lost, Kim has lost, Phil Mickelson has struggled with the lead in both of his matches ... well, maybe the rest of us should be taking notice.
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