The novelty of Las Vegas and the fun of Sunday night wore off by 7:00 PM Monday evening at the start of the much talked about team competition. History has seen Team USA reign supreme in the event, winning the Cup three-out-of-four times, only losing to the international squad in 2004 by one-point.

But unlike years past, Team USA went into 2007 as underdogs due to what the player community was calling a weakened team because of the eight draftees. With their limited tournament experience and unknown reputations, these eight men formed the biggest concerns regarding USA's success against what was undoubtedly the strongest World Team in Championship history. Past experience helped Eversole determine which veteran players were best to pit against the top World Team competitors, but if the USA were to succeed help was needed from the eight draft picks.

In a pre-match interview, former World Champion and 2007 Team USA member, Jeff Harlow of Florissant, MO, shed some light on the role of the draft picks in the Team Competition. "Everyone is stacking the odds against [Team USA], it's going to be close," he said. "The eight [draft selections] really do know what they're doing and if they can put it all together we'll win."

As always, Team Competition consisted of three formats spread over six rounds. Players paired up to compete in Alternate Shot and Alternate Hole matches and each team member competed in two individual matches for team points. With 48 points available, the first team to 24.5 points would be declared the winner.

Round one (Alternate Hole) was evenly matched, with all of America's best players facing-off with Canadians - historically the toughest contingent of the World Team. Things kicked off to a tough start for America's aces as they split points with the World Team. The most notable match was a big upset pulled off by Canadians Tim Glenn and Andrew Cosgrove over two former World Champions Graig Kinzler and Chris Eversole.

Things picked up in round one as the questioned draftees stepped-up to UK and South Africa's best, winning three of their four matches. Most notably, John Totura of Naperville, IL and Justin Taylor of Ontario, OR pulled off a stunning upset over Brits Neil McGuinness of Manchester, England and Liverpool's Dav Cooper.

With their two point lead, underdog's Team USA teed-off in round two (Alternate Shot) with a new found confidence in their "For the Love of the Game" draft picks. Matt Keogh of Dallas and Ryan Torkelson of Crystal MN scored an upset victory and gained a point with their win over western Canadian JD Keele and rookie Brit, Andy Wallis. Like round one, things were even again and scores were tight. Kinzler and Eversole got some Canadian revenge over Eddy Nesdoly, of Waldheim, Saskatchewan and Derek Gibb of Toronto, Ontario. But the Canucks answered in a big way when 2005 World Champion runner-up, Enzo Polidori and two-time World Team member, Nick Feijo, upset event favorites Andy Haas of Stowe, OH and Matt Estepp of Round Lake, IL. South African's Morne Goosen and John Hobson contributed a point to the round, defeating USA rookies, Totura and Taylor but it wasn't enough to close the two-point gap.

Round three (Singles Play Round One, Squad One) featured many tough match-ups, including a rematch between Glenn and Kinzler and a match-up that many thought we be a preview for the finals, Haas vs. Polidori. Glenn took down Kinzler during the spotlighted match and Haas bested Polidori. American Dean Liakakos of Dayton, OH earned a point over Aussie Adam Williams with Estepp and Harlow earning victories as well. Aussie Mark Sommer made some noise on the World Team side with his big win over rookie Totura. Additionally, Nesdoly and Keele won their matches for the World Team. Again, two-points separated the teams.

Round four (Singles Play Round One, Squad Two) was a good one for the Team USA Selection Draft picks as Wichita's ringer, Danny Beall defeated Brit, Dav Cooper in a tight match on Indigo Mound. Ramsey Thomas of Minneapolis, MN and Keogh also contributed points with big wins over their international opponents, and Virginia Beach's Dave Burgess just missed an upset over South African, Goosen. Goosen's teammate, John Hobson, was also victorious in the third round. Cincinnati's Chris Litzinger defeated UK star, Neil McGuinnes, while Team UK member and co-captain, Phil Marsh, defeated American, Rod "Sothpa" Critchlow for another point. Canadian Andrew Cosgrove also contributed a point but again, it still was not enough to overcome the 2-point gap.

Momentum swung towards the World Team during round five (Singles Round Two, Squad One) as it became apparent that Team USA captain, Eversole, saved his best competitors for the sixth and final round. Whether or not the strategy would prove effective was to be determined but the World Team pounced on the opportunity. With the exception of Ramsey Thomas defeating Andy Wallis, round five was all World Team. Seven-of-eight match points went to the international squad with representatives of every country earning a win. The two-point gap swung to a four-point World Team lead and forced the American's to perform in round six.

Prior to the sixth round (Singles Round Two, Squad Two), Eversole and Kinzler rallied the US squad outside of the Tilted Kilt for a pep talk and strategy meeting. Team USA needed six-points to tie and six-and-a-half to win, while the World Team needed only two-points to hit the magic number. Eversole placed Team USA's fate into his strategy, pitting the World Team against one of the most formidable lineups in the history of the game. Eversole, Kinzler, Haas, Litzinger, Estepp, Harlow, Critchlow and Beall - if ever there were an American lineup that could pull off a sweep, this was it. Haas was the first American to post a win over Canadian, Anthony Goertz, shortly followed by Yankee wins from Beall and Litzinge. Nick Feijo defeated Matt Estepp on Indigo Mound after Estepp ran into some tough luck on the "Pyramid Hole".

Team USA's breathing room was reduced to one loss from that point and it forced the Yanks into overdrive. Eversole won his match and minutes later Harlow came back to beat Cosgrove on Glacier Ranch when the Canadian ran into some unfortunate luck off the tee on #18. Team USA had made their run to guarantee a 24-24 tie at worst while Rod Critchlow battled for an outright Team USA win against Brit, Dav Cooper. Critchlow carried a one-stroke lead off the 18th at Rustic Bridge until he missed the green and Cooper made an amazing shot for the eagle/win. The underestimated Team USA had to settle for a tie.

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