Kentucky Native Perry Starts Slow

LOUISVILLE, Sept. 19 -- As Kentuckian Kenny Perry prepared to tee off Friday morning in his alternate-shot match, he warned playing partner Jim Furyk that he would probably have to carry the load over the first few holes because Perry was a jangle of nerves.

"I told Jimmy, 'You're going to have to play the first couple of holes and let me settle down a little bit,' " Perry said. "I was nervous out there. I never felt that way in my whole life, even in team competitions or anything. I had all the crowd chanting my name. It was phenomenal. I'm guessing the Euros are kind of getting tired hearing it, but it was great."

Perry and Furyk seemed poised to win their opening match against Europe's best alternate-shot team, Sergio García, 8-0 in the format in previous Ryder Cups, and Lee Westwood, 6-2-2. The Americans opened a 2-up lead through 16 holes, but eventually had to settle for a tie when the Europeans won the last two for a half-point.

Perry had an eight-foot putt for par at the 17th hole that would have won the match, but missed it, sending the Americans to the last hole with a 1-up lead. It was Perry's turn to drive at the 18th, and his tee shot was blocked out to the right, finding a pond down that side. The Americans never recovered, making bogey as Europe won the hole and halved a match that kept alive García's run of never being beaten in alternate shot.

"Both teams had some crucial putts in the middle of the round that didn't go in that could have changed it," Furyk said. "But we had opportunities. . . . We're happy with the way we played. We ground out half a point."

Crowd Noise

U.S. Captain Paul Azinger has asked the American galleries to become his team's "13th Man," but he raised a few eyebrows when he told a crowd gathered downtown Thursday night for a raucous pep rally that it is all right for them to cheer missed putts by the Europeans.

"I think I said you can cheer when they miss," Azinger said Friday. "When we go over there [to Europe], they cheer when we [Americans] miss. I don't think the American fans are really into what the Ryder Cup is all about in the fact that there is that other element, I don't think the American fans get that part. It wasn't meant to be malicious. And I'm really proud that the fans have been perfectly behaved.

"I was just making sure that if they understood that if we win a hole, they can cheer, and even if someone misses a putt for us to win a hole. That's all that really was. I think you'll find that so far, the great fans of Kentucky have not done anything to let us down or embarrass us."

European Captain Nick Faldo said he had no complaints about the obviously partisan, frequently flag-waving American crowd.

"The atmosphere out there is great," Faldo said. "And the crowds are really fair."

Still there was plenty of booing, all directed at one American golfer. That would be Boo Weekley, who made his Cup debut in the afternoon best-ball session and heard "Boooooo" everywhere he walked. His opponent, England's Westwood, was not happy that Weekley waved his arms trying to rev up the fans.

Said Weekley: "You can't control the crowd. I was just trying to keep them positive, and us positive." . . . The U.S. team played all 12 players on the first day, as Azinger said he would. Faldo used 11 of his 12 men, sitting Englishman Oliver Wilson in the first two sessions. Wilson will make his debut Saturday in alternate shot paired with Henrik Stenson against Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim.