Dodged bullet gives Internationals hope

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 The Presidents Cup | Day One | 09 Oct 2009

A missed 2½ foot putt by Justin Leonard at the final hole of his match Four-ball against Y.E. Yang and Retief Goosen might prove crucial over the latter stages of the 8th Presidents Cup encounter being staged at Harding Park Golf Course near San Francisco.

Not only did the missed birdie chance cost the combination of Leonard and Jim Furyk the chance of a full point but the salvaged halve by the Internationals will mean that instead of going into tomorrow’s Foursome matches 4-2 down they now trail by only 3½ to 2½.

Not only has it made a difference mathematically but it will have given the Internationals a significant boost as day one drew to a close, especially given the fact that for much of the early stages of day one they had dominated proceedings.

To have let their early lead in four matches slip into a 4-2 loss would have been a major blow for the pre tournament underdogs in this event but to head into tomorrow’s matches only one down gives them hope.

The Internationals took early leads in five of the six matches, the only exception coming in what would turn out to be a routing by Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker of Ryo Ishikawa and Geoff Ogilvy.

The first match out was that of Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson against Mike Weir and Tim Clark. The Internationals went one up early with a birdie at the second hole and although they lost the 6th to a bogey they were back in front by the turn after the Americans took bogey at the 7th and 9th holes.  Weir and Clark appeared to have the match under control until Kim hit a fine pitch to the 13th to set off four consecutive birdies which would carry the Americans to a 3&2 victory.

In the second match out Ernie Els and Adam Scott were never behind in their match against Hunter Mahan and Sean O’Hair and, although they were only even par for their 17 holes, they had done enough to win 2&1. Birdies at the 16th after a fine pitch by Scott followed by a great tee shot by that same player at the reachable par four 17th saw them hold off an American comeback and gain the second full point.

For Scott it was a significant moment after the scrutiny and controversy his selection had created. Els was quick to point out the quality of Scott’s play and role in the victory and it would surprise if they were not together again in tomorrow’s Foursomes.

As was the case with the Els and Scott match, Robert Allenby and Vijay Singh were never behind in their match against the US and British Open champions, Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink, although they were forced to fight off  a spirited comeback from the Americans before winning one up after a birdie at the 17th regained their edge.

Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson were one down early after a birdie by the International pairing of Camilo Villegas and Angel Cabrera but recovered with a birdie at the 3rd and were never behind from that point. Three birdies in their last four holes saw them run out the winners 2 up.

The most comprehensive victory of the day came, almost inevitably, by two of the game’s most in form players, Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, who never lost a hole against Geoff Ogilvy and Ryo Ishikawa, their match over at the 14th by the margin of 6&4. The Americans were 6 under par in the 14 holes they played so while the Internationals were trounced by the Americans they had not disgraced themselves in relation to par.

The final match of the day would provide the biggest roller coaster. Retief Goosen and Y.E. Yang raced to a three up lead through five holes against Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk but they would lose five of the next ten holes to slip to 2 down with three to play. Pars at the 16th and the Internationals were still two down with two to play but a superb tee shot by Goosen found the green at the reachable 17th and the margin became one.

In what would turn out to be a dramatic final hole, Goosen missed the green right at the par five 18th while Leonard appeared to have settled the outcome with a magnificent fairway wood to 30 feet. The odds were then stacked heavily in favour of the Americans at worst halving the hole, gaining the point and establishing a 4-2 margin after day one.

When Furyk ran his approach putt to just over two feet it appeared even more likely that the halve was all but a formality. Goosen had converted a nice pitch from Yang for the birdie but all Leonard needed was to hole his short putt and the win point would be the Americans.

It appeared briefly as if the Americans would be given their putt fellow team members watching on from alongside the green seemed to convince Yang and Goosen of the importance of making Leonard hole the putt. There was brief confusion before Leonard attempted his putt. It turned out to be an important call and might be an even more important call later in the week. Leonard missed and the match was halved.

Instead of leading by two the Americans lead by only one. A significant advantage, admittedly, but one that psychologically, as well as on the scoreboard, has surely assisted the Internationals.

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