by PAT EASTMAN
CLEARWATER, Florida – Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjørn won their afternoon Scotch Sixsomes round, while Alex Cejka and Søren Kjeldsen were the stars of the morning Six Ball as Team Europe took an early lead on the first day of the Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s.
Team Europe finds itself at the top of the leaderboard with 57 points, with Team International and Team USA tied at 52.5 apiece. The PGA TOUR Champions event, being played at Feather Sound Country Club, features three teams playing nine-hole rounds each morning and afternoon over the course of three days. Friday’s play will include Six Ball in the morning and Scotch Sixsomes in the afternoon, and following a Saturday pro-am, the tournament will be decided by 12 nine-hole singles rounds Sunday.
“Obviously it was a good day for Europe,” said Clarke, the playing captain for Team Europe. “We got off to a nice start, but as you can all see, scoring is still really, really tight, really close. There’s a lot of volatility in the matches to come. Thomas played nicely this morning, and I sort of didn’t really. Then we got a little bit better this afternoon.
“It’s exciting to see where we’re at. There’s only four points or something between everybody after the first day’s play.”
Clarke and Bjørn were the leading point scorers, with 21 points total between their two rounds. Cejka and Kjeldsen totaled 20, with Kjeldsen, a vice captain, filling in as a last-minute replacement for Bernhard Langer. The World Golf Hall of Famer was out with an illness but is set to play Friday’s afternoon round alongside Cejka.
“I’m glad we have (Kjeldsen) here,” Bjørn said. “I think for guys that might not have played Ryder Cups or might not have been in that environment or Presidents Cup, for them to have a chance to play in this, that’s a pretty big deal.
“I could see Bernhard was not great when we came here. Søren, you could see that he got kind of the idea that he might be playing. He prepared well. I think that says a lot about him. A lot of guys would have come here as a vice captain and just kind of bobbled around not doing anything. Søren prepared like he was going to play, and that’s why he went up and played well. That’s the character of the man, so good on him.”
Each of the three teams in the Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s is made up of six players, including a playing captain, as well as two non-playing vice captains. The tournament airs Friday on ESPN (12-4 p.m. ET) and Sunday on ABC (1-5 p.m. ET).
Friday, December 5 is designated as Folds of Honor Friday in recognition of the national foundation that provides academic scholarships to the families of fallen or disabled military servicemembers and first responders. Friday’s activities will begin with a special ceremony on the first tee with the playing of the national anthem, and to encourage patriotism, fans are encouraged to wear red, white and blue. Folds of Honor pins will also be distributed throughout the day at Feather Sound Country Club. To fortify this partnership, the World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s has committed to funding 13 Folds of Honor scholarships
(Pat Eastman is a photo/journalist. She can be reached at eastmanpat@aol.com)
