The scorecards don't match because we dropped and restarted halfway through and never found a good spot for me to miss a gimme on the back nine.
Hole-by-hole:
#1: Tailwind and we both play short of the green. Both chips run past the hole, but mine barely stays up about 5 yards past while his runs 30+ feet by. He misses and I hole the nearly straight par putt. 1UP USA.
#2: Headwind. We both have short to mid iron approaches. Both are put inside 9 feet and both birdies holed. 1UP USA.
#3: Wind right to left. I pull my tee shot and it catches the slope, running a good 40 feet left of the hole. Tom hits a fine shot that settles 3 feet above the hole for an easy birdie. A/S.
#4: Wind right to left and slightly against. Tom plays his approach first and finds the bunker short; I overcompensate for the slight downslope I'm on, blasting my 3 iron up onto the slope above the green. I try to chip it just to the edge of the ridge, but it's tough to judge and I end up running it all the way off the front into the rough. Tom blasts it to gimme range, and I don't get enough rollout on my pitch shot to see whether my line is right. 1UP ROW.
#5: Headwind. Both approaches are safely below the hole, just inside 30 feet. Tom's curls just around the edge of the hole; I give mine a little extra oomph and bang it into the hole for a birdie. A/S.
#6: Wind right to left and helping. Both of us try running our approaches up the final slope, and both fail. Hole is halved with two-putt pars. A/S.
#7: Tailwind, slightly right to left. Both have short approaches, but Tom hits it to perfection - nearly holing it. My 9 iron can't quite get up the hill. Once again I need to hole a pitch shot, and this one is closer, but that's not good enough. 1UP ROW.
#8: Strong tailwind leaves us both with irons into the green. Tom hits first and runs his 3 iron up on the back slope, where it hangs for a bit... and then trickles down to about 4 feet below the hole. I try a 4 iron with a bit of topspin, and it just crawls up the final ridge and settles 5 feet past the flag. Both eagle putts can be very tricky, but are well holed this time. 1UP ROW.
#9: Headwind, slightly left to right. Tom nearly hits the flag and finishes about 9 feet past. My putt is 12 feet almost straight up the hill, but I take too long lining it up and rush a putt that misses low. Tom's putt lips out the top edge. 1UP ROW.
#10: Wind right to left. I play my drive too far right and have a bad angle to the hole. That mistake is compounded when I come up short and in the bunker. Tom hits a fine approach to 6 feet; I get out of the bunker well enough, but he holes the tricky downhiller. 2UP ROW.
#11: Wind is nearly dead against. Both 3 wood approaches find the green, with Tom 26 feet short and me 12 feet short right. His putt curls around the hole, but mine finds the bottom for another birdie. 1UP ROW.
#12: Wind right to left and slightly helping. I fail to get my drive up to the green; Tom coolly strokes his up the slope behind the hole and brings it back to 3 feet. For the third time in the match, I'm forced to attempt to hole my pitch. This one comes up well short off the upslope. I make the birdie putt, but it's useless as Tom taps in for eagle. 2UP ROW.
#13: Headwind, slightly right to left. That means left to right wind on the approach, and of course neither of us could keep the ball on the upper tier. Halved with two-putt pars. 2UP ROW.
#14: Headwind -- we can barely reach the fairway. Tom hits it a little further left than perhaps he wanted, and his ball stops on the steep slope short of the fairway bunker. I play mine further back and right, leaving a full 3 wood which I hit to the fringe 5 yards short. Tom's approach proves to be impossible as it runs well past the green. But he hits a beautiful punch wedge that catches the slope and stops within three feet. I figure I need to hole my putt to have a chance at the match... but no such luck. Hole is halved. 2UP ROW.
#15: Headwind, slightly right to left. Tom plays safely long left to a little more than 20 feet. I have to be a little more aggressive given the score, and it pays off as mine is inside 12. Tom's putt refuses to break at the end, and I watch his putt before doing exactly the same thing. Hole is halved with pars. 2UP ROW.
#16: Right to left wind. Both drives are on the right side of the fairway with little slope to worry about. I hit my wedge first and nearly hit the flag before running 7 feet past. Tom doesn't make that mistake, but does leave it nearly 6 feet short and above the hole. I knock mine in. Tom hits it firm and high -- just a little too firm and high, as it lips out. Instead of dormie, it's now 1UP ROW.
#17: I hit first and go long, about 12 feet. Tom's shot inexplicably comes up 20 yards short and in the bunker; perhaps he'd somehow gotten the wrong club from the bag. His birdie try from the sand actually hits the flagstick and bounces out! I hole my birdie putt and the match is A/S going to the last.
#18: Wind left to right, not reachable. I lay up in the neck 60 yards short. Tom has a bad lie on the slope and puts it in the sand 40 yards short. My punch shot is successful, leaving some 4.5 feet for birdie. Tom's sand shot lands on top of the ridge short of the green and hangs there instead of running down to the hole. He is unable to chip it in, I make my short putt, and that's the match. 1UP USA!
A very fair match. Tom had superior approaches and short game throughout the round, but I made some longish putts that I wouldn't expect to. Otherwise he would likely have won 5&4 and not had to worry about the last few holes.
I would also like to thank whoever was in the other room chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" at me during the match.