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Leonard and Verplank Out-birdiedBy Rick Adams Prince William County , Virginia (September 24) – Retief Goosen and Adam Scott caught fire Saturday afternoon and Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank got smoked. After hanging tough with the International team's strongest pairing through an 18-hole halve in the morning alternate-shot match and another six holes in the afternoon best-ball, Dallas natives Leonard and Verplank might have felt like barbecued roadkill as the world's No. 5 and No. 7 players lit the turbocharger on their birdie machine. Goosen and Scott were sub-par on 10 of their 14 holes in a 5-and-4 cruising. In the process, the South African and Australian set a President's Cup record for most points by a pairing, 3 ½ of a possible 4 (matched later in the day by Phil Mickelson and Chris Dimarco). “We had a great match this morning,” noted Verplank. This afternoon they just blistered it. Even if we played great, we'd still be one or two down. That was pretty impressive.” So two years after the unprecedented tie and shared Cup at Fancourt in South Africa and two days of 22 two-man matches, the International and US teams remain knotted. Captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player vow there will not be a tie when Sunday's 12 singles matches are completed. (See “Cup Clippings” below for details on the revised playoff format to be used.) Leonard and Verplank, who had won two appetizer matches on Thursday and Friday, were served the main course by Nicklaus on Saturday. “They are both good players, and I think winning breeds winning,” Jack stated. “When you have two guys that have been winning and they are pumped up about it, I think you give them a little bit more to chew or bite off each time.” The Dallas duo almost dined on the meat of Player's lineup in the morning foursomes format. After falling behind in the early going for the third consecutive match, Leonard-Verplank squared the score with birdies on the 5th (JL 10 feet) and 7th holes (Verplank 12 feet). On No. 12, a reachable par-5 where both teams laid up on their second shots, Adam Scott's short birdie putt did a 360-degree lip out and Justin knocked in a 4-footer to take the lead. On the next hole Scott redeemed himself with a birdie to get things back to even. Verplank's 8-iron to the 156-yard par-3 14th got a fortuitous hop out of the rough short of the green, and rolled to within 8 feet. Leonard, already at greenside when his partner was hitting, was able to watch the path of the ball as it rolled by the cup. When he drained the birdie the Texans were 1-up again. On the shortish 15th, Adam Scott's wedge was a foot inside Verplank's approach to 12-feet. JL misread the break, missing right, and Goosen made his to again even the battle. On 16, Verplank's birdie attempt from 20 feet hit the left edge of the hole but lipped out. Goosen had to pop in a three-foot tester for the halve. On the next, Leonard striped a drive and Verplank wedged to within 10 feet of the difficult right-side cup. Goosen's drive put Adam Scott behind trees on the right, and the best he could do was get it on the front of the green about 40 feet from the hole. The stage was set for another dramatic JL birdie putt on a 17th hole to secure at least a half-point. NBC announcer Roger Maltbie suggested that Justin probably made “8 or 9 out of 10” from that length, implying that the putt was fairly easy. (In fact, Leonard's year-long average from 10 feet is only 60%, and he's one of the best on Tour for short putts.) The heroics will have to wait a day; JL pulled the putt left. Before the teams had halved the 18th and the match, Nicklaus and Player had already set the rematch for the afternoon's first four-ball pairing. After a very brief lunch break, Goosen quickly put the Leonard-Verplank pair in an early hole again with a gimme birdie at No. 1. You had to wonder when the Internationals' extra distance off the tee would wear down the modest-length Americans. It isn't so much that Goosen and Scott average 15 more yards (295-300) than Verplank and Leonard (280-285), it's the strategic advantage the extra carry and higher trajectory yield. For example, on the par-5 3rd hole, the Internationals both blasted the ball directly over a bunker at the corner of the dogleg, leaving irons for approaches. Verplank plunked it in the sand, and Justin had to angle it to the left side of the fairway, leaving him blocked from the flag by trees and a large hill. Both of the shorter hitters laid up. Regardless, Leonard pitched his third shot to 20 feet and made the birdie to regain a tie. On No. 4, Verplank covered the flag, checking up within three feet, but Adam Scott likewise birdied to keep pace. On the 5th, Gary Player's favorite early-round perch, it was Goosen's turn to wow the crowd, nearly holing his three-quarter wedge approach for eagle. Verplank trumped him. On No. 6, JL's 9-foot birdie halved the third hole in a row with birdies when both Goosen and Scott missed makeable eagles. Then the Internationals rocketed away. Adam Scott's 8-iron to the par-3 7th took two hops – one to the right of the cup, one back to the left, and stopped 3 feet beyond. Fourth birdie in a row. Goosen rolled in a 14-footer on the 8th – 5th birdie in a row. On the watery 9th, Goosen birdied yet again. The teams matched birdies on the par-5 10th, but two bogies by the Americans on 11 pushed the margin to 4-down. With the blimp's motor droning overhead, Scott's 10-foot birdie from the fringe on No. l 3 sealed the romp. Cup Clippings
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