Medinah // Keegan Bradley made yesterday at the Ryder Cup feel like the best day of his life, and it wasn't too shabby for the rest of the Americans.
Bradley led a strong performance by rookies on both teams at Medinah by teaming with Phil Mickelson for two wins against Europe's best two partnerships. Even with Tiger Woods getting shut out on opening day for the fourth time, the United States took a big step toward regaining the cup with a 5-3 lead.
Next up for Woods is a session on the sideline.
Sticking to his plan of not wanting his players worn out by the end of the week, US captain Davis Love III decided to bench Woods for the first time in his Ryder Cup career, ending his streak of playing 31 consecutive matches.
As for Bradley? His energy is boundless.
Mickelson took Bradley under his wing last year for a series of money games at the majors to prepare the 26-year-old from New England for a stage like this. And did he ever deliver. He was into every shot, cocking his head to the side to read putts, charging up the gallery and Mickelson in a command performance.
"This is literally what I've dreamt about since I was a little kid," Bradley said. "I got to do it next to my idol all day."
Bradley holed a 25-foot birdie putt in morning foursomes to hand Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia their first loss ever in Ryder Cup foursomes. Next up were Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, and the Americans won the first three holes. Mickelson wasn't there only for support. Right when Europe was trying to rally, the four-time major champion closed it out with a 7-iron to 2 feet that was conceded for birdie.
It was a day Bradley didn't want to end. "Oh, baby, I wish we could go 36 more," Bradley said.
He wasn't the only rookie to shine on a mild day in the Chicago suburbs. Nicolas Colsaerts, the 29-year-old from Belgium, helped Europe avoid getting shut out in afternoon fourballs by single-handedly taking down Woods and Steve Stricker.
Colsaerts made eight birdies and an eagle - a 10-under 62 if he was keeping score on his own. He teamed with Lee Westwood, who was just along for this amazing ride for a 1-up victory that ended 11 hours of enormous cheers and plenty of American red on the leaderboard.
"I don't think there has ever been a better debut than that," Westwood said.
Woods and Stricker also lost to Ian Poulter and Justin Rose in morning foursomes, making this the fourth time in the seven Ryder Cups that Woods has played that he lost both matches on the opening day.
There was nothing Woods could do against Colsaerts, the biggest hitter in Europe who isn't too bad with the putter, either.
"Nicolas probably had one of the greatest putting rounds I've ever seen," Woods said, high praise coming from a 14-time major champion.
Woods turned in a mixed performance. He missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 15th to fall 2 down, and then came back with a bending, 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th and a shot into 4 feet on the 17th that looked as if it might square the match. Instead, Colsaerts rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt for a halve. Woods had a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to halve the match, only it caught the left lip.
"We ran into a guy who made everything today," Woods said. "I don't know what he shot. He was like 7 under through 10. I quit counting after that."
Love said he told Woods and Stricker they would be sitting out the foursomes matches Saturday morning, "and I can guarantee you, neither one of them are very happy about it. Not because they are sitting out; because they have to wait till tomorrow afternoon to come back."
Both captains made sure all 12 of their players got into the game early, though European captain Jose Maria Olazabal set himself up for second-guessing when he sat out Donald, Garcia and Poulter for the afternoon matches. They have a combined 31-13-5 record in the Ryder Cup.
Olazabal put Donald and Westwood together for Saturday morning, while Colsaerts will play with Garcia. McIlroy and McDowell will play for a third time, although the Spanish captain said the pairings were not the problem.
"I'm going to make it clear to the boys that they need to step it up," he said. "They need to play better golf, simple as that. There is no secret about this game. You have to make more birdies than your opponent. And if you don't do that, you're going to struggle."
Mickelson set an American record by playing in his ninth Ryder Cup, and he won his opening two matches for the first time in his career. Mickelson came up with some big putts and amazing shots, and the 42-year-old felt about 10 years younger playing alongside Bradley.
"It could be the best day of my life," Bradley said.
Europe has won six of the last eight times in the Ryder Cup, and it wasn't about to hang its head after one day. It was leading all four of the opening matches early Friday under a gloomy sky. The sun came out, and the Americans came to life.
"There's a long way to go in this tournament," Rose said. "There's ebbs and flows. Obviously, there's momentum for the U.S. team right now, but that could all swing back in our favor tomorrow."
Even so, the Americans headed to their team room full of confidence. It won five of eight matches without getting a point from Woods, and they picked up a little extra momentum when Mickelson and Bradley took down McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world.
The Ryder Cup again lived up to its billing as the most exciting tournament in golf with relentless action, huge swings in momentum and endless cheers.
Bubba Watson asked the crowd to keep chanting and cheering when he stepped to the tee for his afternoon fourballs with Webb Simpson, and the Masters champion belted his drive down the middle, raising his driver to play to the crowd. Then, the Americans did a number of Paul Lawrie and Peter Hanson, going 6 up through eight holes and closing them out on the 14th hole.
Matt Kuchar ran off four straight birdies as he and Dustin Johnson built an early lead against Rose and Martin Kaymer.
The only rookie who didn't deliver a point was FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker, though it wasn't from a lack of effort. Snedeker and Furyk were 3 down through 12 holes against McIlroy and McDowell in the morning when they put together a furious rally, with Furyk carrying the bulk of the load. They squared the match going to the 18th when Snedeker hit a drive toward the hospitality tents well right of the fairway, and Furyk couldn't convert a 20-foot par putt to halve the match.
But it was a sign of the American fight.
Bradley turned into a rock star at Medinah, especially on the par-3 13th, perhaps the toughest tee shot because it was long and into the wind, requiring a hybrid. He hit it to 15 feet left of the flag, and as the crowd chanted, "USA! USA!" Bradley nodded at them repeatedly.
Mickelson, who first played in these matches in 1995, smiled and gently patted him on the back to let him soak up the moment. Lefty then holed the birdie putt for a 2-up lead, and Garcia missed a 3 1/2-foot par putt on the next hole. It was the Spaniard's first loss in 10 foursomes matches dating to 1999.
Bradley was so into the moment that his focus was broken walking up the 15th hole when he spotted fans holding a large American flag on the left side of the gallery. He jogged over to them for high-fives, waited for Mickelson to play a wedge into the green, and then holed the 25-foot birdie putt.
His caddie, Steve Hale, swung the flagstick around like a baseball bat until Mickelson's caddie reminded him to put it in the hole for Donald to play a bunker shot.
"There's a simple reason why Keegan is perfect for the Ryder Cup," Mickelson said. "The more pressure the situation, the better he plays, the better he sees the shot, the better he focuses. And the better the result. As a player, you feel more pressure and intensity during these matches than you do at any other event.
"And that's when he's at his best."
Jason Dufner, another American rookie, actually showed some emotion with a tiny fist pump when his 15-foot birdie putt on the ninth stopped next to the cup, then dropped in the left side. Dufner made birdie on the next hole for a foursomes win with Zach Johnson over Westwood and Francesco Molinari.
Poulter holed a bunker shot, a long birdie putt and a clutch par putt from 7 feet on the 16th hole that carried he and Rose to victory over Woods and Stricker. Poulter has lost only three times in 12 matches in his Ryder Cup career. Two of those had been to Woods.
"I never wanted to have another one," Poulter said.
Next up is another long day of foursomes and fourballs, a chance for Europe to get back in the game going into the Sunday singles.
Love could not have asked for a better start, particularly from his rookies - and especially from Bradley.
"I felt young," Mickelson said. "And it felt great."
* Doug Ferguson
KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone
Top 5 concerns globally:
1. Unemployment
2. Spread of infectious diseases
3. Fiscal crises
4. Cyber attacks
5. Profound social instability
Top 5 concerns in the Mena region
1. Energy price shock
2. Fiscal crises
3. Spread of infectious diseases
4. Unmanageable inflation
5. Cyber attacks
Source: World Economic Foundation
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Color Purple
Director: Blitz Bazawule
Starring: Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo
Rating: 4/5
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
RIDE ON
Director: Larry Yang
Stars: Jackie Chan, Liu Haocun, Kevin Guo
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Bio
Born in Dibba, Sharjah in 1972.
He is the eldest among 11 brothers and sisters.
He was educated in Sharjah schools and is a graduate of UAE University in Al Ain.
He has written poetry for 30 years and has had work published in local newspapers.
He likes all kinds of adventure movies that relate to his work.
His dream is a safe and preserved environment for all humankind.
His favourite book is The Quran, and 'Maze of Innovation and Creativity', written by his brother.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
The five pillars of Islam
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m
8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: ASI (formerly DigestAI)
Started: 2017
Founders: Quddus Pativada
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Artificial intelligence, education technology
Funding: $3 million-plus
Investors: GSV Ventures, Character, Mark Cuban
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Mozn
Started: 2017
Founders: Mohammed Alhussein, Khaled Al Ghoneim, Abdullah Alsaeed and Malik Alyousef
Based: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Industry: FinTech
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Raed Ventures, Shorooq Partners, VentureSouq, Sukna Ventures and others
Law 41.9.4 of men’s T20I playing conditions
The fielding side shall be ready to start each over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed.
An electronic clock will be displayed at the ground that counts down seconds from 60 to zero.
The clock is not required or, if already started, can be cancelled if:
• A new batter comes to the wicket between overs.
• An official drinks interval has been called.
• The umpires have approved the on field treatment of an injury to a batter or fielder.
• The time lost is for any circumstances beyond the control of the fielding side.
• The third umpire starts the clock either when the ball has become dead at the end of the previous over, or a review has been completed.
• The team gets two warnings if they are not ready to start overs after the clock reaches zero.
• On the third and any subsequent occasion in an innings, the bowler’s end umpire awards five runs.
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Nick's journey in numbers
Countries so far: 85
Flights: 149
Steps: 3.78 million
Calories: 220,000
Floors climbed: 2,000
Donations: GPB37,300
Prostate checks: 5
Blisters: 15
Bumps on the head: 2
Dog bites: 1
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.