Here's a quick run down of how the match went last night between JALAII & Hightower3 and Ryan.Anderson and paulmcm. It was very close in the end and i know all players were feeling the nerves a bit.
1st Hole:
JALAII v Ryan
Both hit good drives down the middle, ryan played first and put his 2nd shot within 9ft, Jalaii then came up short, leaving himself a 30ft putt for birdie, which he didn't make and ryan holed out to win the hole and give the Int team the perfect start.
Int 1up
2nd Hole
Hightower3 v paulmcm
With a 10mph helping wind i hit a decent drive down the middle leaving 103y to the pin, hightower pulled his drive into the dreaded trees (brick walls) on the left and ended up in the weeds with i think a 50/60 lie, all he do was hack out to to the 2nd cut of rough and his 3rd shot was played up to the edge of the fairway about 65yd short, i played my second putting it around 17 ft past the hole and hightower put his 3rd within 6 ft, i missed the birdie and left a 3.5ft putt but hightower missed his bogey putt leaving me 2 for the win, i holed out to go 2up.
Int 2-up
3rd Hole
Ryan put his t-shot to about 15ft or so short right of the hole, Jalaii was a bit further right and left a 30ft putt again from the fringe, which he put to within a couple of feet and made par, Ryan missed his birdie but safely made par - hole halved
Int 2up
4th Hole
After decent drives all round i played my second leaving my favoured 60-70yd shot from infront of the bunkers, hightower played it similar, leaving himself a 50 yd shot in from the same position, i stuck my 3rd to 2.5ft and hightower went 11ft past the hole but made a great putt back down the hill for birdie, i holed out - another halve
Int 2up
5th Hole
Jalaii hit a very good drive into 10mph headwind leaving around 178y and ryan just clipped the rough but rolled out to leave around 192yd, ryan landed his 2nd on the right hand side of the green, and it ran through to rough, leaving him a 13yd chip. Jalaii 2nd came up just short and caught the lip of the bunker at the front and rolled back into the sand but he played a decent recovery to within 3ft, ryan left his chip a bit short, leaving around a 4.5ft for par - both players duly hole out - another halve.
Int 2-up
6th Hole
With a helping wind of 10mph hightower hit the drive of the match catching the hill and rolling down to leave 76yd to the hole - my drive was slightly too conservative and i ended up in the first cut of rough on the right of the fairway, halfway down the hill, 92 yd to the pin - i hit my second to 2.6ft and was thinking, great, at least 2 up or maybe dormie 3 here - how wrong was i - hightower produced a moment of magic and holed his 2nd shot for an eagle 2 and suddenly the US team had the momentum and were back into contention with 3 holes to play. US win the hole
Int 1up
7th Hole
Both players hit decent drives into a right to left cross wind, Ryan leaving himself around 259 to the pin with the wind now slightly helping, JALAII was a bit closer, with around 250yd to the pin - Ryan hit a great 2nd shot that rolled into the middle of the green leaving around 27ft for birdie, JALAII's 2nd came up 30 yards short, he then left his approach short again, leaving a very tricky 14ft putt. Ryan's birdie attempt was a little long, leaving a 3ft putt back from par, which he made, while JALAII holed his 14ft for a good halve.
Int- 1up
8th Hole
Playing first hightower pulled his tee shot to the left of the green, sensing a chance to close the match i hit a decent tee shot just past the hole to the left, leaving an 8ft putt. hightower pitched up to within 4 ft and i had my putt to win the match, slightly downhill and right to left, i hit it too hard and it didn't quite break enough and caught the lip and went 2 ft past, hightower holed out and the hole was halved
In 1 up
9th Hole
Both JALAII and Ryan hit decent drives, with ryan's ball travelling about 10 yards further, Jalaii 2nd landed in the rough just short of the green to the left of the bunker while ryan's landed on the green and rolled through to the rough at the back, both players put their 3rd shots to within 3 feet and both holed out - hole halved.
International team won - 1up.
It was a great game to play in and i think all the practice games me and Ryan had put in paid off in the end, all credit to JALAII & Hightower3, because after 2 holes they looked down and out, but they battled back well to take the match all the way to the last hole. Cheers.