ESPN 2008 Ryder Cup

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood returned to the Ryder Cup mix for Europe after getting the morning off.

Garcia and Westwood, Europe's two longest-serving players, were benched for alternate-shot matches after the Americans built a commanding 5½-2½ lead Friday. Captain Nick Faldo said he wanted his two big stars fresh for afternoon best-ball.

With Westwood and Garcia watching from carts, the Europeans won two matches and halved another to cut the U.S. lead to 7-5.

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Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesEuropean captain Nick Faldo, consulting with Ian Poulter, turned out to have made the right move by sitting Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood for the morning foursomes on Day 2.

"We've got to give some guys some rest," Faldo said. "You've got four fresh guys going out starting right now, and they are going to be really pumped up from what they have just seen."

Westwood returned to the course with Soren Hansen, facing Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes in what figured to the most-watched match of the day. Westwood thought Weekley's antics to fire up the crowd on Friday were out of line, but the homespun American said he wasn't changing.

The bad blood was evident when Westwood stared down the grandstands after matching Weekley birdie for birdie at the first hole Saturday.

Garcia was paired with Paul Casey in a match against Ben Curtis and Steve Stricker. Faldo broke up Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, who had won two matches, pairing Poulter with Graeme McDowell. They were squaring off with Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk, the only U.S. pair from the morning to stay together.

The Americans shook up their other pairing, a hybrid of Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan coming together to meet Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson. Hot-putting Justin Leonard, who played three matches with Mahan, and 23-year-old Anthony Kim, who played three with Mickelson, got the afternoon off.

Mickelson and Kim blew a 4-up lead after six holes and shockingly lost to Stenson and Oliver Wilson.

Westwood conceded that he had blisters on his hand, but said that's not the reason he was benched for the morning matches.

"I wanted to play," he said. "I never asked to sit. I've never missed a match. This is Ryder Cup. I would play with my arm hanging off. A couple of blisters is not going to stop me."

Westwood had played in 22 consecutive matches and Garcia 22 before their benching. The Englishman matched Arnold Palmer's Ryder Cup record of 12 straight matches without a loss by earning two half-points on Friday, a mark he hoped to break in the afternoon.

"Of course we were worried. We don't want those two guys sitting on the bench," McDowell said. "It was a pretty brave move by Nick to do that, but I think obviously it worked in our favor. I think those two guys are going to be firing on all cylinders in the afternoon."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press