NEWS FROM THE SPIRIT TOURNAMENT

Scotland on two-under-par 142 after first round

SCROLL DOWN FOR FIRST-DAY SCOREBOARD

TRINITY, TEXAS - The United States men's team of Jordan Spieth and Ben Martin walked off the eighth green at The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship dejected after their second straight bogey. They were 2-over on their round. That's when their captain chimed in with some advice that put it all in perspective.
"It's a four-round tournament," Paula Creamer said. "You guys haven't even played nine holes yet."
That calmed them down. Spieth and Martin went on to card six birdies and no bogeyss for a 68. The women's US team of Alexis Thompson and Jennifer Johnson shot a 6-under 66. That gave the Americans a 10-under team total, which has them in a tie for second with Germany at The Spirit, held at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.
Chinese Taipei set the early pace with a 14-under team total, greatly helped by the 9-under 63 from the men's team of Tao Huang and Chien-Yao Hung, the No. 1-ranked Chinese Taipei junior golfer.
Taipei's total could have been even lower. All four golfers on the squad had makeable chances for birdie on the par 5 17th but failed to cash in. Then, the women's team bogeyed the closing hole, with Yu-Leing Hsieh's par putt horseshoeing around the cup.
None of the Chinese Taipei golfers are older than 18, but they are one of the most experienced teams. Hung, Hsieh, and Hsuan-Yu Yao all played in the last Spirit, in 2007.
The Spirit is an Olympic-style team best-ball competition. Teams from 20 countries, consisting of four golfers each, two men and two women, come every other year to compete at Whispering Pines. They are housed on-site in an International Village. Golf fans can watch the action at The Spirit in live-streaming video for all four rounds at www.amgolf.com. The webcast starts every day at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.
Thompson, all of 14, was the MVP of the US team in round one. She scored the first birdie for the United States when she nearly hit the par 5 2nd green in two with a 3-wood from 254 yards. If she hadn't drawn the shot, it would've run on. She got up-and-down for four. It was the first of Thompson's four birdies, bookended by a 35-foot putt on the par 5 17th. Johnson added birdies on 11 and 13 for a 66 total for the women.
Things were going in the opposite direction for the boys, who couldn't get any birdies to fall. Creamer said that Spieth and Martin had psyched themselves out. "They were out there thinking, 'Birdies, birdies, birdies,'" Creamer said. "They forgot to play their own game."
"Paula's advice was so obvious but so perfect," Spieth said. "From then on I was pretty pumped up."
Spieth birdied nine and 11, Martin chipped in on 13. It looked like they would give a shot back on 14, a 392-yard par 4 that's driveable for a handful of golfers in The Spirit field. Golfers must hit their drive over Lake Livingston to a dogleg left fairway, which is guarded by an imposing pine tree. Martin's drive landed deep in the rough, short of the fairway. He was lucky to find it. It took him two shots to blast onto the green, and had a 25-footer left for par. Meanwhile, Spieth drove through the fairway in the deep rough. His wedge flew the green, nestling deep in the greenside Bermuda rough.
"My ball was really buried down deep in the Bermuda," Spieth said. "My caddy and I were talking about where to land it, but it's just such as guess when the ball is buried like that. Luckily I guessed correctly. Not only that but it had the right speed.it gave me time to wind up for a big fist pump."
Back-to-back chip-ins. On the par 3 15th, Spieth rolled in a 12-footer for the pair's third straight birdie.
"Chip-ins just get it done for you," Spieth said. "They get you pumped up and give you a ton of confidence. Those things are better than bombs."
Martin finished it off on 17 with a wedge approach to three feet for a kick-in birdie. Capt. Creamer was encouraged by the fact that her team left shots on the course but still finds itself in second place, only four back.
"I think today was a great lesson for us," Creamer said. "Don't try too hard or try to force things. Jordan and Ben definitely didn't have their ball-striking the way they wanted it but they still made a ton of birdies and played great on the back nine. I know Jennifer was disappointed in her putting, she had about four birdie putts inside of six feet that she missed. We don't have to feel like we're pressing. They're settling down. I think they're ready to play some really good golf."
FIRST DAY TEAM SCOREBOARD
Par 144
130 Chinese Taipei (men 63, women 67).
134 Denmark (m 65, w 69), Germany (m 65, w 69), United States (m 68, w66).
135 Colombia (m 69, w 66).
136 England (Stiggy Hodgson & Matt Haines 71, Holly Clyburn & Rachel Jennings 65), Belgium (m 67, w 69), Sweden (m 64, w 72).
137 South Korea (m 67, w70).
139 Italy (m 64, w 75), France (m 71, w 68).
140 Argentina (m 70, w 70).
141 Canada (m 66, w 75), Norway (m 69, w 72).
142 Scotland (Paul Shields & Mark Bookless 70, Kylie Walker & Louise Kenney 72), South Africa (m 71, w 71).
143 Mexico (m 72, w 71).
145 Philippines (m 74, w 71), Australia (m 68, w 77)
146 Czech Republic (m 73, w 73).

+Kylie Walker birdied the eighth and 14th for Scotland but both bogeyed the seventh and Louise Kenney's bogey at the 11th also counted. Mark Bookless had a birdie at the ninth while Paul Shields birdied the first and sixth. Mark Bookless's bogey at the fourth also counted.