Watson and Simpson lead US charge at Ryder Cup

[September 29, 2012]  MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) -- Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson birdied their first hole and never looked back.

The winners of the year's first two majors earned the first U.S. point in fourballs Friday with a 5-and-4 victory over Paul Lawrie and Peter Hanson, and the Americans were poised to add a few more to the lead before the afternoon was done. They had multi-hole leads in two other fourball matches.

The only source of trouble was Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker -- again.

Watson and Simpson birdied seven of their first eight holes, and their lone par -- on No. 2 -- was still good enough to win the hole. When Watson made putts from inside 8 feet for birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8, the question wasn't if they'd win, but whether if they'd do it in record fashion. They did not, and the Europeans actually won a hole on Lawrie's 5-footer on 11.

But that only delayed the inevitable. On the green in two on the par-5 14th, Watson needed only to two-putt from 45 feet to end the match. He got close enough on the first try, and the Europeans conceded the putt.

[Associated Press; By NANCY ARMOUR]

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