Great Britain & Ireland leads by a point after Day One

Great Britain & Ireland rallied for a pair of victories and a halve in the foursomes Friday afternoon to grab a 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 edge over the United States on Opening Day. The teams had battled to a 2-2 draw in the morning four-balls.

By Bob Denney, PGA of America

GREENSBORO, Ga. -- Great Britain & Ireland Captain Gary Alliss strolled off the 18th green Friday afternoon at The Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation feeling like he was almost back home in the West Midlands.

"I told our boys that this course was like playing a course in Britain," said Alliss, who toured the course last June. "It has the tall pines, the swirling winds and it has the feel that we're playing in a place we know well."

That cozy feeling was fueled by Great Britain & Ireland rallying for a pair of victories and a halve in the Afternoon Foursomes to build a 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 lead after the opening day of the 23rd PGA Cup.

The premier international event for PGA Golf Professionals became a study in two well-matched 10-member teams that took turns bumping each other from gaining a distinct advantage. The U.S. collected 40 birdies and one eagle, while Great Britain & Ireland had 36 birdies and some final-hole dramatics.

"A half-hour ago I would have taken a 4-4 draw," said Alliss. "But we did have good fortune, and have some genuine strong players, and to nose ahead by a point makes me feel very good."

The ebb and flow of the matches left United States Captain Roger Warren of Kiawah Island, S.C., believing that he had made the right choices in the pairings.

"I thought that we played very well today and it was not unexpected that we would take two more matches to 18 this afternoon," said Warren, the Honorary President of The PGA of America and president of the Kiawah Island Golf Resort. "I learned they had the character I thought they had. They didn't get here without strong character.

"I thought the pairings worked very well, and we did blend well together. We expected this to be close, and perhaps the match may be decided on the last day, at the last hole and the last putt."

Great Britain & Ireland, which holds possession of the Llandudno Trophy, battled to a 2-2 draw after the Morning Four-Balls, and trailed in three of the four Afternoon Foursomes (alternate shot) until the final four holes of the back nine.

America's duo of Mike Small of Champaign, Ill., and Alan Schulte of Fishers, Ind., assured a point in the afternoon by building a five-hole lead through eight holes, thanks to five birdies. They went on to close out Ireland's John Dwyer and Duncan Muscroft of Padova, Italy, 5 & 4.

Great Britain & Ireland bounced back as Craig Goodfellow and Michael Nesbit rallied from a two-hole deficit, making a memorable par on the 18th hole to halve their match with Ryan Benzel of Bothell, Wash., and Don Yrene of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Goodfellow's tee shot on 18 came to rest a foot from slipping into the left-side hazard, and following a recovery to the right side of the fairway 30 yards from the green, got a second chance. This time, Goodfellow delivered by pitching to within eight feet of the hole. Nesbit then sank the winning par putt.

Yrene failed to hit the green from 237 yards away with a 19-degree hybrid, the ball coming to rest against the face of a greenside bunker. Benzel could barely blast the ball loose on to the green.

"I was trying to put my partner into any other place than where I ended up leaving him," said a disconsolate Yrene. "We let them off the hook. We didn't play well the last few holes. The execution wasn't there, and they made the putts they had to make on the last two holes."

Nesbit called the afternoon "a bit of a scruff."

"I think we both would have been disappointed had we lost," he said. "We knew a half-point could make a difference in the overall score."

Great Britain & Ireland added two other points in the afternoon, beginning with England's Paul Wesselingh and Andrew Barnett of Clwyd, Wales, downing Tim Thelen of College Station, Texas, and Butch Sheehan of Rancho Mirage, Calif., 2 & 1.

England's Jon Bevan and George Ryall then added the final point of the day with a 1-up victory over Lee Rinker of Jupiter, Fla., and Chris Starkjohann of Cardiff by the Sea, Calif. Ryall nearly holed a chip from off the 18th green, and Starkjohann missed a 12-footer for birdie that would have garnered a half-point.

"The course is great; I didn't chip well," said Starkjohann, who arrived at 3:15 a.m. Thursday after a cross-country flight from having earned a berth into the 2008 PGA Professional National Championship. "I hit a couple of shots that were weak. I was trying to play too safe. Sometimes you do that in match play."

The Morning Four-Balls produced a 2-2 draw. Small, the head coach at the University of Illinois teamed with Schulte for a halve against Wesselingh and James Whatley.

Rinker added a key par save on the 18th hole to produce a halve with partner Thelen against Muscroft and England's Jon Bevan.

Four of the day's eight matches reached the difficult, 485-yard 18th hole, which Warren said was a valid measuring stick between the teams.

"It speaks a lot to the quality of the golf course," said Warren. "This 18th hole is a great hole to decide a match. I think you're going to see that this entire match is going to be like this."

Small, the leader in the 2007 PGA Golf Professional Player of the Year race, guided the morning halved match by teaming with Schulte for birdies on the 230-yard, par-3 13th hole.

"I was getting a bit comfortable when we got a couple up and I didn't think that they were going to come back at us," said Wesselingh, who is making his fifth PGA Cup appearance. "Then we made a stupid mistake at 12. I put it in the water and James (Whatley) put it in the back (of the green). They birdied it anyway.

"They made two fantastic shots at 13," said Wesselingh, who is making his fifth PGA Cup appearance. "Then, I missed a short putt for birdie at 14. It's always going to be tight, but I love it."

"Both teams were 6 under par today on this course and under these conditions," said Small, who made a key 15-foot birdie on the par-5 17th hole after his second approach landed in a greenside bunker. The putt was needed to match Wesselingh, who knocked home a four-foot birdie. "We came back and I think it's going to be a close match the whole way."

"Those guys can play," said Small. "I started making a few puts at the end and I missed some birdie putts in the middle of the round that kind of hurt us. On 17, I was happy to make the (birdie) putt. I was upset by the way I had played the hole, leaving me a long up and down."

Each team enjoyed one rout in the morning session.

Long-hitting Craig Goodfellow of Cumbria, England, led partner Michael Nesbit of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, with three consecutive birdies to open the round for a three-hole advantage over Ron Philo Jr. of Amelia Island, Fla., and Chip Sullivan of Daleville, Va. Nesbit then took over with three birdies on the 10th, 11th and 13th to close out a 6 & 5 victory.

Benzel birdied the par-4 ninth hole to spark a stretch run on the back side that carried he and partner Yrene, to a 5 & 3 victory over Dwyer and England's Danny Taylor. The Americans won five of the next six holes to close the match.

The PGA of America is the world's largest working sports organization comprised of 28,000 men and women golf Professionals who are the recognized experts in growing, teaching and managing the game of golf while serving millions of people throughout its 41 PGA Sections nationwide. Since its founding in 1916, The PGA of America has enhanced its leadership position in a $62 billion-a-year industry by growing the game of golf through its premier spectator events, world-class education and training programs, significant philanthropic outreach initiatives, and award-winning golf promotions. Today's PGA Professional is the public's link to the game, serving an essential role in the operation of golf facilities throughout the country.