U.S. still one ahead at Presidents Cup

Each side won three of Friday's four-ball matches and the United States leads 6 1/2 - 5 1/2 over the International side after two days of the Presidents Cup.

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker continued to be the strongest team on the course. They hammered Geoff Ogilvy and Masters champion Angel Cabrera, 5 & 3, in Friday's last match.

In the opener, Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard got the U.S. its first point with a 3 & 2 win over Retief Goosen and Adam Scott at Harding Park.

The Internationals struck in matches two, three and four.

Ernie Els and Mike Weir won the last three holes for a 2-up victory over Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim. PGA Champion Y.E. Yang and 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa handled Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry, 4 & 3.

The last match to finish on Friday afternoon was match four between Vijay Singh and Tim Clark against American major winners British Open champion Stewart Cink and U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover.

The match ended 1-up for the Internationals when Clark sank a 15-foot eagle putt on 18.

"I was pretty calm until I had to stand over it," joked Clark.

Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan secured a full point for the U.S. with a 2 & 1 win over Robert Allenby and Camilo Villegas.

The U.S. appeared to be in good shape through most of Friday, but it was a late rally by the Internationals that kept this competition close. It was comeback victories by Els and Weir and Singh and Clark that has the Internationals only a point behind.

"You have to get the momentum going," said International captain Greg Norman. "Never look back, always look forward. I'm extremely proud of them. We needed that today."

The American side was more philosophical.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with leaving here 3-3," said American leader Fred Couples. "We have to come out and fight tomorrow."

Leading the fight for Couples in Saturday morning's foursomes will be the awesome duo of Woods and Stricker.

The two have been dominant through two sessions. After a 6 & 4 drubbing on Thursday, Woods and Stricker built a 3-up edge through eight holes and stayed there until the 14th.

Stricker birdied 14 to go 4-up and the Internationals conceded the 15th hole and the match to Woods and Stricker.

"Steve and I gel well together," said Woods. "In this format, you have to make a bunch of birdies. We did most of the day."

Another strong performer for Couples has been Mickelson.

The first match saw the U.S. hold the lead through much of the match, but a Scott birdie at 12 squared the contest. Mickelson birdied the 13th and Leonard sank a 15-footer for birdie at No. 14 to give his team a 2-up cushion.

Two holes later, it was Leonard once again with the flat stick. He holed his birdie putt to give the U.S. a full point and to exorcise some putting demons from Thursday.

In the last match Thursday, Leonard and Goosen had an odd exchange which was revealed later that Goosen didn't realize the score. Leonard had three feet for birdie in that match that would halve the hole and give the Americans a win and a full point. Leonard missed the putt for a halve, but he delivered on Friday.

"I was pretty upset when I finished, mad at myself yesterday," admitted Leonard. "I went in and kind of made a joke about it in the team room. I made a couple putts today so it's all very good."

It went bad for the U.S. team after Mickelson and Leonard and Woods and Stricker got their points.

Furyk and Kim were 1-up through 15 holes, but Kim struggled badly on the way into the clubhouse. He bogeyed the 16th, but Weir won the hole with birdie to square the match.

Els birdied 17 to give the Internationals a 1-up cushion with one to play. Weir and Furyk both hit spectacular second shots into the par-five closing hole, but the Americans would need to win the hole to earn a halve.

Furyk had 18 feet for eagle and missed his putt. The U.S. conceded the hole after that, giving Weir and Els the victory.

"Mike played solidly all day. I played pretty well coming in, but I still have a cold putter," said Els, who is 2-0 so far this week. "Mike made the biggest putts of the day."

Yang and Ishikawa won the first hole and barely let up. The Internationals were 4-up through six, but Perry and O'Hair cut it to 2-down with a Perry birdie at 12.

The Internationals made birdie at 13 and the PGA Champion rolled in a 20- footer for birdie at 14 to quickly reclaim his side's 4-up advantage. One hole later, Ishikawa and Yang got the Internationals a win.

The U.S. major-winning tandem went 1-up over Singh and Clark thanks to a long birdie putt from Glover at the 16th. Singh hit a huge drive at 17 and chipped close for a conceded birdie. Neither Glover nor Cink could make birdie putts so the match was square with 18 to play.

Clark, the shortest hitter of the quartet, reached the putting surface with his second from 248 yards out. He poured in his eagle putt to complete the come-from-behind win for the Internationals.

Johnson and Mahan were in command virtually the entire match. Johnson had a chance to win the match on 16, but couldn't get it done. One hole later, the former Masters winner cashed in from seven feet to get the U.S. a crucial point.

Latest Comment View all comments