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Camp notes
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 | | Mickelson |
Lefty alert: Phil Mickelson was winless in four matches at the last Presidents Cup. He was 1-2-1 the time before that. This year, he's 3-1 -- and can make it 4-1 with a win over Mike Weir on Sunday. That match features the first all-lefty pairing in Presidents Cup history.
Fact-finding mission: Curtis Strange walked the course on Saturday -- no surprise since he lives nearby. But he was also doing a little scouting. Strange is next year's Ryder Cup captain, and he may see several members of this year's Presidents Cup team.
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And finally...
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 | | Triplett |
Hat trick: Kirk Triplett was wearing the same hat he's worn since Thursday -- one that didn't match the ones worn by his teammates. He wore a blue one with a red bill; the rest of his team was in all blue. Will he wear again Sunday? "Not this one, but probably one just like it," Triplett said.
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LAKE MANASSAS, Va. -- The rap against the Americans is that they don't play as well as a team as international players do in events like the Presidents Cup. Too much money. Too many individual commitments. It's not quite the old "25 players, 25 cabs" line that once described the Boston Red Sox, but it's close.
"We hear that every time we show up at these things," said Davis Love III. "They say we're not together. They say we don't bond well. That's just not true."
And as evidence, Love offered up this: "My snowboard equipment is in David's garage for the summer," he said. "We're friends. We know each other."
Love and Duval certainly knew each other well enough Saturday. Playing Ernie Els and Nick Price -- on paper the most formidable International team -- the Americans took turns picking each other up.
Even at the seventh, Love and Duval spent an inordinate amount of time looking over Love's 8-foot birdie putt. He made it, then watched as Price and Els -- both inside of him and on a similar line -- missed.
On the back nine, Love birdied the 10th to put the Americans 1-up. He birdied the 12th to put the U.S. 2-up. Duval, after watching Norman birdie the 13th, matched him with a birdie putt of his own. With Duval out of the hole at the par-4 15th, Love responded with a birdie on top of one from Price.
And on the 16th, Duval missed a short birdie putt, but watched as Price missed one of his own to end the match.
"We didn't both have it on the same hole, but we partnered well," said Love. "We're real comfortable with each other. We both hit a lot of good shots -- not all on the same hole, but we hit a lot of them when you add us both together."
The team thing became contagious for the Americans. Hal Sutton and Jim Furyk won for the second straight time. Tom Lehman and Phil Mickelson won for the second time. Stewart Cink and Kirk Triplett won for the third time.
The only team seemingly struggling for the U.S.? Former Stanford teammates Notah Begay III and Tiger Woods, who are just 2-2 after losing Saturday.
"We listen to how independent we are and we're all individuals and we can't come together and play as a team," Sutton said. "That's all we've heard for several years. And we just wonder how much we've got to do in order to convince everybody that we are certainly a team.
"We certainly believe in one another. We lean on one another. We ask advice of one another. We actually care for one another. How many different ways can I describe this. Is anybody satisfied yet?"
Sutton regrouped after another question.
"We are teammates," he said. "I hugged Jim when we won. He wanted to shake hands, and I said, 'Let's hug, man.' "
"I almost hugged him after the three birdies on the first three holes, but I held back then," Furyk said.
Sunday, it's every man for himself. And the team. And if all goes as planned, a big group hug on the majestic clubhouse steps at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
"I hate to not get to play with him tomorrow," Duval said of Love. "I kind of wish they'd play the singles first, then finish up with the team events, because this is a team."
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