Woods finds compatible partner in Stricker

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Steve Stricker (left) and Tiger Woods won handily in their opening match at Harding Park.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Earlier in his career, there seemed to be a problem finding a compatible partner to play with Tiger Woods at The Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup.

Related

Scores: Thursday's Foursomes
Scoring Summary
Pairings: Friday's Four-balls
Photos: Round 1
Notebook: Round 1
Recap: Woods/Stricker win

Now the game's No. 1 player may have two, and that has to make United States Captain Fred Couples a happy man.

The most recent candidate is Steve Stricker, who ranks third in the world. He teammed with Woods on Thursday for a dominating 6-and-4 win over Geoff Ogilvy and Ryo Ishikawa at Harding Park in the opening Foursomes session of the eighth Presidents Cup.

Stricker and Woods will tee it up again in the Four-ball session on Friday, too. And Ogilvy will have a chance to exact revenge with reigning Masters champion Angel Cabrera in the clean-up match.

"We got very lucky because we wanted Tiger to go at the end of the day," Couples said. "I think it's going to be a made-for-heaven match with Ogilvy and Cabrera against Stricker and Tiger."

And on the off chance the two don't jell in Four-ball, Couples has another proven partner waiting in the wings in Jim Furyk. He played with the world No. 1 at the 2006 Ryder Cup and 2007 Presidents Cup and they compiled a 5-3-1 record.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Stricker and Woods play so well together given his success with Furyk. Both Stricker and Furyk are extremely steady, low-key performers he can depend on, and both have formed solid friendships with Woods.

Not to mention, Stricker and Woods played together seven times during the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup because they were ranked 1-2 in the standings each week. They understand each other's games and personalities, as well as they way they react to adversity.

"We have been playing the last month and a half together," Stricker said with a smile. "So I think that made things a little easier."

Still Stricker acknowledged that he felt some added pressure as the two embarked on their first match as teammates on Thursday. The alternate-shot format is a difficult one for players used to playing their own ball and making -- and recovering from -- their own mistakes.

"It's kind of confusing, I guess, what I'm going to say," Stricker said. "I was comfortable having him as my partner, but I wanted to make sure he was comfortable having me as his partner, just because I didn't want to feel like he had to hold up my end as well as his end.

"But I think what was good is we got off to a good start. I made a good putt at 1. Hit a good shot in on 2, and he made the putt and we got off to a good start. I think that just calmed me down and felt very comfortable with him out there today.

"It was a lot of fun. We had a good time. We did a lot of good things."

Indeed. Woods and Stricker put the second American point on the scoreboard on Thursday. The Americans were solid in every category -- hitting all but one fairway and two greens, while using just 20 putts, with Stricker making most of the birdies.

"It's kind of the nature of this golf course and how it fits and who tees off on odds or evens, and if you hit greens in reg, there's a stretch there that you're not going to be putting a whole lot," Woods said. "And I think that during that stretch, the only green we missed was I think that one green I was supposed to putt on.

"Other than that, we had Steve putting on every hole, which, trust me, it's a pretty nice feeling. I only hit four putts today, and granted, Steve only had to hit like about six putts and made them all."

On Friday, they'll play their own balls as they did during those seven rounds in the Playoffs.

Woods was 15 under during that stretch while Stricker clocked in at 8 under and that included a 63 at TPC Boston on the way to victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship, his third of the season. A week later, Woods won his sixth of the year at the BMW Championship.

Ogilvy and Cabrera could be an explosive duo, too, though. Ogilvy has won two World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championships -- and while that is individual competition, he has the proper mindset. He'll want to shake off Thursday's lopsided defeat, too.

"Geoff's Geoff. He's as calm as they come," International Team Captain Greg Norman said. "He doesn't like getting beaten. Nobody likes getting their rear end handed to them, but at the end of the day when you know that you step up there and guys are making a lot of putts on you during the day, it's going to be a long, hard day for yourself. It's over and done with. They got beaten and they are looking forward to tomorrow."