Skinner escapes injury in cart mishap, leads Team USA

Sonny Skinner had to leap from a speeding golf cart before it crashed into a bunker Friday, then rebounded to team with Kyle Flinton to win their match and set the stage for a big foursomes session for Team USA.

By Bob Denney, The PGA of America

LOCH LOMOND, Scotland -- The United States PGA Cup Team, which dodged what could have been a serious injury to Sonny Skinner midway through Friday's Morning Foursomes, displayed the right dose of chemistry at The Carrick, grabbing a 3-1 lead over Great Britain & Ireland in the opening session of the 24th PGA Cup.

Skinner, 49, the oldest member of the U.S. Team and a PGA teaching professional at River Pointe Golf Club in Albany, Ga., partnered with Kyle Flinton of Edmond, Okla., for a 6-and-5 triumph over Great Britain & Ireland's Jamie Harris and Barry Taylor.

However, the match outcome could have been much different had not Skinner survived a scary moment on the 11th fairway when he was involved in a golf car mishap.

The bizarre chain of events began when Flinton, the PGA head professional at Quail Creek Golf & Country Club in Oklahoma City, hit his tee shot in the alternate-shot format into thick rough right of the fairway, and later determined the ball was lost. The U.S. twosome was on a roll at the time, owning a 5-up advantage through 10 holes.

Skinner became a passenger in a golf car to be driven back to the tee to hit a provisional ball. The golf car, driven by PGA Rules Panel member Nic Gilks of Nuneaton, England, sped down the fairway. As car neared the crest of the fairway, which hid a deep pot bunker, Skinner instinctively jumped from the vehicle, landing into a section of the bunker and then tumbling several times in the fairway.

Gilks plowed into the sand, taking a hard jolt, but remained in the vehicle. He reported that he was uninjured.

"Guilty as charged," said Gilks. "It never should have happened, but the best thing is that the player was OK."

Skinner and Flinton conceded the hole, trimming their lead, but the pair rebounded quickly. After allowing another foursome to pass through, Skinner declared himself fit to continue play, then stepped up to the par-3 12th tee and hit a 4-hybrid 198 yards to within a foot of the hole.

That shot moved the U.S. duo to 5 up, and closed out Harris and Taylor with a conceded par putt to win the 13th hole and post a 6-and-5 victory.

"Sonny hit the prettiest hybrid shot I've seen," said Flinton. "That goodness he was OK. I never should have hit my tee ball where I did, but we got through it. We got a 5-up lead through seven holes and just held things together after that."

The U.S. dominated the Morning Foursomes after constructing what each player determined was the best game plan in the challenging format.

The Americans got two other victories by the twosomes of Scott Hebert of Traverse City, Mich. and Craig Thomas of White Plains, N.Y.; and Mike Small of Champaign, Ill. and Mark Sheftic of Ambler, Pa.

Hebert and Thomas closed out Andrew Barnett and James Lee, 3 and 2; while Small and Sheftic downed Paul Wesselingh and Jeremy Robinson, 2 and 1.

Hebert, the 2008 PGA Professional National Champion, is the PGA head professional at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa in Acme, Mich. He birdied the opening hole to set the pace in a duel with reigning Glenmuir PGA Champion James Lee and Andrew Barnett.

Thomas, the PGA head professional at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, N.Y., birdied the par-5 11th and held a 3-up advantage until Hebert missed a five-foot par putt on the 15th. They closed out the match at 16, when Lee hit his tee shot wide left of the green into heavy rough and Barnett was only able to hit the second shot a few inches. Lee punched the ball out to the side of the green and Barnett then chipped it in for a bogey 4.

Hebert lagged a 30-foot birdie putt from off the fringe to three feet, and Thomas rolled it home for a winning par.

"We mixed it up pretty good today," said Hebert. "Craig came up with a good plan, determining who would tee off on the odd holes. The object of foursomes is to hit it safe and not screw it up for your partner."

"It worked pretty good," said Thomas, the PGA head professional at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains. "We enjoyed our playing together and it was good to get off to a good start."

Small, the reigning PGA Professional National Champion, said that he and Sheftic ended up playing different but effective roles.

"I was the guy on the par 3s and Mark was the driver today," said Small, the head men's coach at the University of Illinois. "Mark played very well, and he was driving it so straight."

The duo overcame bogeys at the third and fourth holes to collect four birdies in a six-hole stretch between the sixth and 11th holes.

They took a 2-up lead into the 16th hole and finished with two consecutive halved pars to seal the victory.

"We won as a team and Mike hit a lot of great putts and I was driving the ball well," said Sheftic, the PGA assistant professional at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., who made his PGA Cup debut. "They [Wesselingh and Robinson] played well, too, but I think that it motivated us to play even harder.

"I can't describe how nervous I was on the first tee. I've never been that nervous in golf. You see your teammates and a great Captain [Brian Whitcomb] there and the 'USA' up on the scoreboard. Because of those three letters, you know that you are playing for your country. I knew that I was playing with a great champion and knew that he was going to play well. That made me go out and play more at ease."

Great Britain & Ireland avoided a morning shutout when Jon Bevan and Will Barnes downed Ryan Benzel and Lee Rinker, 4 and 2.

"We didn't capitalize by making any putts," said Benzel.

"They ended up with birdies on 3 and 9 after two bad drives," said Rinker. "They got a fairway wood to 10 feet on the hole on 3 and made that, and then Will chipped it in from off the green at 9 for birdie."

"To be fair to the guys, they didn't make anything," said Bevan, who competed on the 2007 GB&I Team and is a teaching professional at Wessex Golf Centre in Dorset, England. "The birdie at nine was a key."

Barnes, winner of this year's Wales Open, and making his PGA Cup debut "wasn't nervous until I took the club backwards on the first tee, and then got bleary. When we got to 9, I told my caddie walking up the fairway that I was going to chip it in."

MORNING FOURSOMES

USA    3, Great Britain & Ireland 1

Sonny Skinner, Sylvester, Ga. &     Kyle Flinton, Edmond, Okla. (USA) def. Jamie Harris, Kent, England & Barry Taylor, St. Helens, England, 6 and 5

Jon Bevan, Weymouth, Dorset, England & Will Barnes, Lancashire, England (GB&I) def. Ryan Benzel, Bothell, Wash. & Lee Rinker, Jupiter, Fla., 4 and 2

Scott Hebert, Traverse City, Mich. & Craig Thomas, White Plains, N.Y. (USA) def. Andrew Barnett, Denbighshire, Wales & James Lee, South Wales, 3 and 2

Mike Small, Champaign, Ill. & Mark Sheftic, Ambler, Pa. (USA) def. Paul Wesselingh, Derby, England & Jeremy Robinson, Evesham, England, 2 and 1