SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson won the first hole of their afternoon match against Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren with a birdie.
Then things got weird.
Water guards the green at the par-3 2nd hole, and Watson splashed his tee shot to lead things off. Then Noren followed him, finding the water with a tee shot of his own.
Simpson made it three in a row when he, too, found the water from the drop zone. Garcia followed from the drop zone and finally cleared the hazard, but barely: He spun back off the green up onto the fringe and against the collar.
Watson finally got the U.S. team on the green with his next shot, but his approach settled some 30 feet left of the hole. No matter: Simpson drained that putt. Meanwhile, Noren duffed his tricky chip, leaving Garcia with a 15-footer for double bogey.
In the end, it was matching triple-bogey sixes for the squads. Alternate shot is a beautiful thing.
