Team Europe is clinging to a 1.5-point lead after the second day of the Skechers World Champions Cup as the United States used a strong day to chip into the margin.
All three teams in the competition have a shot at victory when they return Sunday to Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, Fla. Europe sits at 109.5 points, the Americans are at 108 and the International team is another 1.5 points behind at 106.5.
Stewart Cink and Jason Caron had the best day of any duo, garnering a whopping 22.5 points for the U.S.
The unique three-way team competition pits PGA Tour Champions players and benefits the Shriners Children’s hospital network. It debuted in 2023 and was canceled last year due to hurricane damage in Florida.
Three points are awarded on every hole over the course of nine-hole matches. Thursday and Friday feature a “six-ball” (best ball) session and a Scotch sixsome (modified alternate shot). After a day off Saturday, all players will participate in singles on Sunday.
The team or player with the lowest score on a given hole scores two points for his team, the second-best score garners one point and the highest score receives zero points. Points are split one apiece whenever each team/player finishes with the same score. Points can also be split if two teams/players tie for the best score or the worst score on a given hole.
Jim Furyk captains the American team, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke captains the European roster and Canada’s Mike Weir captains the International roster.
On Friday, Cink and Caron put up 11 points in the opening six-ball against Europe’s Clarke and Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), the top-scoring duo from Friday, and the International team’s Y.E. Yang (South Korea) and Mark Hensby (Australia). Cink and Caron took two points with the only birdie on the opening hole and were not shut out on any hole.
They fared even better with 11.5 points in the sixsomes, rattling off four birdies on the first five holes and adding another at No. 8.
“Like Jim Furyk said to all the players who (hadn’t played) in team events before, after the first tee ball there is no more rookies,” Cink said. “And (Caron is) not acting like look a rookie at all. He played great and we matched up really well. Actually I think we kind of flipped today. Whereas yesterday it was more my tee balls, your iron shots, my putts, today we had a lot more of your tee balls in play, I hit second shots.”
The American team of Jerry Kelly and Steve Flesch amassed 16.5 points, as did the tandem of Steve Stricker and Justin Leonard.
The International group had a great showing in sixsomes to stay in shouting distance. Weir and Steven Alker of New Zealand scored 10.5 points in both sessions, but in sixsomes they won their session against Stricker/Leonard and Germans Alex Cejka and Bernhard Langer thanks to an eagle 2 on the par-4 eighth.
The highest single score of the week came from the International duo of K.J. Choi (South Korea) and Angel Cabrera (Argentina), who racked up 12 points on six birdies to win their sixsome.
“Today is very comfortable distance,” Choi said of their round. “Ninety yards, 150 yards, 100 yards, 70 yards. I’m chipping, he make a putt. So, so comfortable.”
Langer returned to the course after having to miss the first day of action due to an illness.
–Field Level Media
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