Bradley following in the footsteps of Mickelson

Phil Mickelson, winner of his first three Ryder Cup games 17 years ago, has talked about the thrill of helping Keegan Bradley do the exact same thing.

Mickelson said: “The European side has had some great team-mates – Seve and Ollie and some others – but to be able to share this experience with Keegan and to partake in his great play and experience the Ryder Cup together has been really awesome.”

The comment of America’s most capped player – this is his ninth successive appearance – followed a remarkable 7&6 win for the pair over world No 3 Luke Donald and world No 4 Lee Westwood.

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It was their third win together in Chicago and equalled the largest margin of victory ever by either side in 18 holes of either foursomes or fourballs.

“We’ve had so much fun,” added Mickelson, rested like Bradley from the afternoon fourballs so they would be fresher for the final day of America’s attempt to win back the trophy.

“The crowd has provided so much energy and it’s brought our best golf out.”

Bradley was little-known outside the States 14 months ago, but then won the USPGA Championship – the first major he had ever played in – and earned a cup debut by winning the Bridgestone world championship last month.

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“Right now I’m just thrilled I get to share this with Phil and play the way we did,” said the 26-year-old, whose aunt Pat is a six-time major winner in the women’s game.

“Phil was giving me a pep talk early in the round, saying we need to come out hot against these two great players. We were lucky enough to do that.

“It’s not very hard to get excited out there when you walk out onto that first tee and the crowd is going crazy. It’s just an unbelievable event, an unbelievable experience as a player and as a fan.

“I’m putting so much emotion into my rounds that it’s probably a good thing that I’ll be rested up for the singles.

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“In my career I have had big moments where I’ve showed my emotion, but it’s just very relaxing to know that I have a Hall of Fame partner that knows how to get it up and in from anywhere.

“The most emotional week for me was winning the PGA Championship and having my life change overnight, but this is a different type of emotion.

“I watched Bubba Watson tee off, he got the crowd going and I couldn’t contain myself. I was just so excited and so proud of him.

“Phil wants me to get fired up and to get the crowd excited – and get him excited. There’s been a few times where my caddie Pepsi and Bones (Mickelson’s bag-man) have reminded us it’s time to calm down. I think Chicago should be very proud of the way the fans have acted.”

Woods earns unwanted record after triple loss

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Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson now have even more unwelcome Ryder Cup history in common after Woods became the joint holder of the record for most defeats by an American in the event’s history.

Woods suffered his third loss of the week in Saturday’s fourballs alongside Steve Stricker – beaten on the 18th by Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald – after being left out of the morning foursomes; something that had never happened before in his Ryder or Presidents Cup career.

That was the former world 
No 1’s 17th loss in the biennial event, matching the total of Mickelson, who famously lost twice on the opening day at Oakland Hills in 2004 when paired with Woods by US captain Hal Sutton. Europe won then by a record nine points.

Woods insisted he was “absolutely” fine with current captain Davis Love’s decision to leave him out on Saturday morning, adding: “It was nice to be fresh, no doubt.

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“This is a long grind to go all five. I’ve done it before and it’s hard. I felt great this morning and it was nice to kind of sleep in and get a little bit of rest. I watched the guys on TV and tried to get out here and watch them a little bit (but) captain says, ‘Hey, it’s cold out here, stay inside, stay warm and be ready for your match’.”

Love even rested Mickelson and Keegan Bradley and Woods added: “That was the plan going into these matches (to rest everyone at some point). I put so much effort into that last match yesterday afternoon, and I was pretty spent. Five matches in three days is a lot, and hey, I’m not young anymore. I’m one of the older guys.”

Asked about his form, Woods added: “I’ve played well the last two afternoons and didn’t get a point. It’s tough. Yesterday I made a bunch of birdies and today I made five on the back nine and it just wasn’t enough.

“(I’m) feeling good about my game but just unfortunately haven’t got a point. Yesterday I played terrible in the morning, really, really struggled. (I) turned around in the afternoon and unfortunately we ran into a guy (Nicolas Colsaerts) who made more putts than anyone I’ve ever seen.”