CHASKA, Minn. -- Phil Mickelson was facing the prospect of a withering public beatdown, and man did he know it. This is why he could not sleep. This is why his heartbeat was pounding in his ears as he entered the arena for the 11th Ryder Cup of his career.Mickelson had brought it on himself, of course. Hed undressed a legend, Tom Watson, two years ago at Gleneagles, and hed spent part of this week reintroducing Hal Sutton to his most stubborn Ryder Cup haunt: a foolish, 12-year-old decision to pair Mickelson with a rival who couldnt stand him, Tiger Woods. It seemed Lefty had ripped every American captain except Captain America.But what he did to Watson in that infamous news conference, all but smashing a lemon meringue pie in the mans sun-beaten face, started the buildup to this moment. Mickelson had a losing Ryder Cup record (16-19-2) and had been a part of eight losing American teams. He ended up on a Ryder Cup Task Force, and then on a committee -- with Woods, Davis Love III and a small handful of PGA of America suits -- to lord over a biennial event dominated by European teams that forever took advantage of Mickelsons wayward aim off the tee.In other words, Lefty planted himself on the end of a long and lonely limb. He was the guy who gave that unfortunate thumbs-up to Justin Rose at Medinah, who blamed Watson for everything but the breakfast options in Scotland, and who figured Suttons long-forgotten choice to team him with Woods was a subject worth revisiting.I felt it last night, Mickelson said Friday as he stood near Hazeltines 18th green, right after Lefty and Rickie Fowler finished off Rory McIlroy and Andy Sullivan in a morning sweep of the Europeans in the 41st Ryder Cup.I had felt it for two years coming. I knew that this was going to be a pressure-packed Ryder Cup, but yet I thrive on that, Mickelson added. I couldve totally sat out this morning, but that wouldve been a big cop-out, you know? Stand up and go play and win your point.Mickelson had no choice but to win that point. The Ryder Cup forces golfers, card-carrying individualists, to assume the team-sport burdens assigned to the LeBron Jameses and Tom Bradys of the world. It isnt easy when youre playing for a circle of men depending on you, when youre playing for a cause bigger than a new four-car garage. Its even harder when youre playing for your country.Thats why this competition is so much fun. Big-name golfers cant hide at the Ryder Cup. They cant cash a big check for finishing 14th and then jump into a waiting courtesy car for a ride to a private jet and another week of fully catered living.Golfers are treated here like NFL, NBA and MLB players -- and then some. If a superstar in another sport trashes his captain or gets his coach fired, and then fails to perform in the biggest games, hes destroyed by media and fans.An old hand at 46, Mickelson was experienced enough to know that tidal wave was heading right at him. This is a match, he said, where I felt more pressure than I felt in any Ryder Cup.The pressure was so intense, Love said, that the U.S. captain debated whether to bench his oldest player for the first half of the Friday doubleheader.He went through a lot the last few days, Love said. He and Hal had some tough conversations and made up, and Phil was really upset about that. And so we worried about sticking him right out there this morning. We asked him, Are you ready to go?Yes, Phil said, he was ready to go. Asking for a timeout until the afternoon, Mickelson conceded, would have been a total weak move.About as weak as his tee shot on the sixth hole, a ball Mickelson sent whistling out of bounds. Fowler responded with his own alternate-shot crime, landing his drive up against a fence and forcing Lefty to attempt a right-handed slash with an inverted clubface -- the resulting line drive nearly struck a credentialed observer nearby. Mickelson and Fowler were already down two holes to Sullivan and McIlroy, who had the Ryder Cup track record to mock the disbanded U.S. task force and Loves claim that his was the best golf team, maybe, ever assembled.It looked bad -- really, really bad -- for Mickelson, at least until his younger friend started talking some sense into him. This guy, Lefty said of Fowler, loosened me up. Thats why I wanted him as my partner. He knows what to say and when to say it.Fowler did his talking with his clubs at No. 9, capping a run of three straight winning U.S. holes by chipping in. The Europeans stormed back to take a seemingly safe two-hole lead with four to play, a momentum swing that unleashed all of McIlroys fist-pumping, primal-screaming fury. But even though Mickelson had been driving it all over the joint for the sake of old times, Fowlers patience and light touch kept the old man in the game.Rickies laughing at Phil for hitting it out of bounds, Love said, rather than stomping off and getting mad. ... Phil can hit a few bad drives and Rickie can handle it.Fowler handled it far better than Woods did in 2004, when a fatal Mickelson misfire left Tiger shooting daggers Leftys way. After Mickelson won the 15th with a par putt, Fowler helped him recover from another accidental drive on the par-5 16th and put Mickelson in position to hit his sweet approach shot. That birdie preceded the mornings most damaging mistake: Sullivans tee shot into the water at 17.The Americans carried a one-hole lead to the 18th, and Mickelson honored his two primary responsibilities -- he kept his drive in play, and then he deftly lag putted for a conceded par that forced McIlroy to make a birdie he didnt make. When it was over, Mickelson sank into a long hug with Fowler, and then a longer one with his wife, Amy, who confirmed her husband had been too nervous this week to sleep.What I love about Phil, she said, is that hes as hardworking and passionate and invested as he was when [I was] in college and he was in his first Ryder Cup. Im proud of him. Im proud of the way he mentors guys. Im proud of the role he has in the room. On the other side of this successful partnership, Fowler had exorcised some demons of his own. He entered the day with a 0-3-5 Ryder Cup record -- and a whole lot of people wondered why he was even picked for the team, never mind the task force.Fowler made his own personal history with his first Ryder Cup victory (someone get the kid a cookie). And yet his biggest Round 1 contribution was found in the way he elevated a partner in dire need.I certainly played tight today, Mickelson said. I didnt play the way I wanted to off the tee. But Rickie was able to get the best out of me, and get me to hit some iron shots I needed to hit, and to get me to perform. We showed a lot of heart there those last four holes to win that match.It was a good thing, too, given the potential consequences of failure. Love chose to rest a spent Mickelson in the afternoon, when the Europeans predictably started draining all those putts theyd lipped out in the morning.Nobody knows better than Love, captain of that sinking Medinah ship, that anything can happen over the weekend, including another all-American meltdown. But above all else Friday, the home team couldnt afford its outspoken leader and most prominent player to fall flat on his face.Phil Mickelson didnt collapse under the weight of his own fears. As hopeful Ryder Cup signs go, it was a strong red, white and blue start.Cheap Dave Concepcion Jersey . 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Among the most glamorous of county crickets limited-overs side they finally have a chance to claim a T20 trophy that has long seemed overdue. But four-day cricket is a less endearing story. It is entirely possible they could go to Edgbaston uncomfortably placed at the bottom of the Championship.Midway through this match, Hampshire lead by 180 with nine second-innings wickets intact, a position made more secure in the final session by Jimmy Adams unbeaten 68.The plan now is bat and bat, said Liam Dawson. Well look to bat all day and see where it takes us. They might be bottom but that they have the capacity to grind out a batting day is beyond doubt.A Hampshire victory would send them above Notts in the table. Such an outcome would not just cause shivers in the East Midlands. Hampshire have long presumed to be relegation fodder and a victory would cause consternation for Surrey, Lancashire and Durham. Suddenly, the First Division relegation outcome would look likely to be contested deep into September.Quite how Nottinghamshire succumbed for 245, 74 behind on first innings, must have been a mystery for their combative captain, Chris Read, whose counter-attacking, unbeaten 70, full of attractive off-side drives, prevented total calamity. It was Family Fun day at Trent Bridge but only Read seemed to want to do much colouring in. He seems to have been staving off Nottinghamshire collapses for a lifetime and, by rights, his boyish dash should have been exhausted years ago.To make matters worse, Nottinghamshires morning collapse, in which they lost five for 77 in decent batting conditions, was engineered by Andy Carter, whose gangling pace bowling used to be at Notts service until he rejected a new contract and decamped to Derbyshire at the end of last season, only to abandon that in disgust after half a season because of his lack of Championship opportunities to join Hampshire, who at that point had so many injured fast bowlers they were almost reduced to looking for solutions in a Tesco bargain bucket.Read considered a bad day with consummate understatement. One day he will surely crack, grab everybody by the throat and promptly announce his retirement. Until then he merely said: It was a disappointing morning sessiion and ultimately, although it was a good fightback to get to 245, we were somewhat lacking in first innings runs.ddddddddddddndy Carter bowled nicely. We all like Andy here at Notts and weve fond memories of his time with us. Unfortunately for us he chose this moment to bowl a good opening spell. Weve not batted well all season; its one area we are trying to improve. We are working exceptionally hard behind the scenes to put things right but again we came unstuck.Hampshire went into the match with only Ryan McLaren taking his Championship wickets under 40s, but Carters debut gave them a bowler eminently capable of a hot spell or two, his Derbyshire return of six wickets for 73.33 best overlooked. An incisive pre-lunch spell underlined that as he removed three former team-mates for six runs in 12 deliveries.The nightwatchman, Jake Ball, hit his first delivery to Adam Wheater at midwicket, Riki Wessels found a bouncer from a former team-mate irresistible and holed out, fourth ball, at deep square leg, and Steven Mullaney chopped a rising delivery onto his stumps. Wessels has had an eye-catching one-day season and strange things can happen to an attacking player met by an old team-mate who bangs one in and suggests: Go on then, try to hit that for old times sake.When you need to dig in, Brendon Taylor is not your man. Neither does he immediately strike you as the sort of high-profile signing you want in a relegation battle. Since abandoning an unpredictable international career with Zimbabwe for the security of county cricket, he has produced the occasional destructive innings alongside rather too many lax dismissals to earn admiration in his new homeland.He fell to a good catch by Mason Crane at midwicket, off Gareth Berg, and soon afterwards Notts were 91 for 6 when Samit Patel was lbw, struck on the boot by Brad Wheal and hobbled off. He was the hero of Notts NatWest Blast quarter-final win and the crowd rose to him with great fondness, which was nice to see, but the sense will forever remain that it is impossible for Samit to cross the road without the intervention of a couple of moments of tragi-comedy.That left Read to find support from Michael Lumb - a restrained innings ending when he edged an attempted pull and became a fourth wicket for Carter - and some tail-end spanking from Luke Wood and, more unexpectedly, Imran Tahir, helped by a missed stumping off Dawson. Wood was unhinged by a short ball from McLaren which deflected off bat and helmet. Carters simple catch in the leg-side allowed Dawson to wrap up the innings with wickets in successive balls. Hampshire are still kicking for all they are worth. ' ' '