American view: Tom Lehman refuses to second-guess himself, but that doesn't mean the rest of America won't. "Lehman," groused veteran Golf Digest scribe Dan Jenkins yesterday afternoon, "is a f***ing idiot. As Ryder Cup captain you can only hope to find one rookie who's playing well. He had him, so he benched him."

So where was JJ Henry yesterday afternoon when his country needed him? The rookie had done his part yesterday morning. He and partner Stewart Cink had battled their way back from three down at the turn, and in the end it was Henry's steely-nerved 10-foot putt on the final hole that halved the match.

Apart from their win in the featured match (in which Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk beat Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie one-up), that half point was all the US would get out of the foursomes, and it was mostly thanks to JJ Henry. The 31-year-old New Englander made five birdies on his own ball. He was easily the best American player yesterday morning, and apart from Sergio Garcia, he was the best player, period.

Henry was chomping at the bit. Riding the emotion of that final putt, he couldn't wait to get back on the course. Instead when he got to the locker-room and saw the afternoon foursomes line-up, his name wasn't on it.

Given what transpired over the afternoon, when the Americans didn't win a match, it was a decision which could come back to haunt Lehman. So why wasn't Henry out there? "That," said JJ, "is a good question."

Lehman's explanation, for public consumption, didn't sound particularly persuasive.

"JJ is playing great golf . . . but in the alternate-shot format, Stewart (Cink) and David Toms play great together as well, and David is such a phenomenal putter," said the US skipper. "Not to say that JJ can't putt. It's just that I think David is one of the best we have."

Got that, JJ? "Look, you're a competitor. You never want to be on the bench," said Henry. "I couldn't wait to go play again. It's that cool, especially when you're playing well, but it's not my decision. Would I have liked to play? Of course, everybody wants to play, but at the same time, captain Lehman has done a tremendous job.

"And," he pointed out, "it could be a blessing in disguise. Hypothetically, I might go out in the afternoon, not play well, and we lose the match, but now I feel I'm rested, I'm playing great, so hopefully I can come back in the morning and do some good things.

"Look," added Henry, "being a rookie, I didn't expect that I was going to play all five matches anyway, so who knows? I'm not the captain, but I know Tom is doing a great job, so I'll just go out tomorrow with a good attitude and hopefully continue to play well."

Henry supposed the way he and Cink clicked yesterday morning they'd have beaten any other European team but the Paul Casey-Robert Karlsson buzzsaw they ran into. Close, but not quite. Comparing matchplay cards from disparate games can be like lining up apples and olives, but a match of the Henry-Cink scorecard against the other games suggests they would have handled Harrington-Montgomerie (4 & 3) and Darren Clarke-Lee Westwood (2&1) all right, but would have been two down with two to play against Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal. How that dormie match might have ended will be forever shrouded in mystery, because the Spaniards were not obliged to play the final two holes.

"It was a great morning, and I'm really proud of the way Stewart and I played, especially after digging ourselves into that hole. To be able to turn it around on the back was great, and hopefully it'll give us some momentum for tomorrow and Sunday."

Henry is a native of Fairfield, Conn, where he grew up playing soccer, basketball, and baseball, in addition to compiling an undefeated (76-0-2) record in high school golf competition. He accepted a scholarship to Texas Christian University, and has continued to live in Fort Worth since his days with the Horned Frogs. Apart from the medium-stakes Nassau at his local club, yesterday was his first matchplay competition in eight years, since the 1998 US Amateur.

Henry had been warned about the pressure-packed jitters he would inevitably feel, but found himself strangely relaxed when play began yesterday. "I was on a mission," he said. "I was determined to go out this morning and prove to everybody that I belonged on this team."

It was, in his estimate, "a crazy match. You think you're going to win a hole and you lose it, like what happened on 7 and 16," recalled Henry.

On the former, Karlsson's approach shot landed on a television tower and came to rest between the feet of a cameraman. From there, given a drop, the Swede made par, which proved to be the only one on the hole. And on the par-five 16th, Henry related, "I hit two great shots just over the hole, and I'm thinking 'Just an easy little chip and we're going to win the hole and be dormie, two-up.' Then Paul makes a great, great putt and the match is even again."

In addition to Karlsson's fortunate drop from the TV tower, the Europeans also availed themselves of good fortune on the ninth, where Karlsson's drive caromed off a tree and back into the fairway, from whence he hit his approach to a foot. As they were walking to the 10th tee, Henry and his partner commiserated.

"We said, look, no disrespect to these guys - they were playing great and they got a couple of nice breaks, and Paul made an eagle on the fourth hole. But we just said, look, let's dig down here. We're playing good golf, and sure enough, we shot six-under on the back nine to get the halve. It's a great feeling."

The match came to the finishing hole all square, and things weren't looking good for the Americans when, with Cink struggling, Henry went for the green in two and found a greenside bunker.

"It was a very difficult shot," he said. "Luckily I had a bit of fringe, and the ball came out perfectly and rolled just past the hole." As he surveyed the putt, Henry told himself "Look, you've hit too many good shots and we've fought back too hard to give this away on the last hole.

"Was I nervous? Absolutely. I knew that half point would be big . . . it might be the difference in the Ryder Cup. I dug down and said 'I might miss a putt like this, but it's not going to happen today, and sure enough, I knocked it right in the middle of the hole."