US prevails in gripping Presidents Cup

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2005 The Presidents Cup | Wrap | 26 Sep 2005

“It ain’t over till its over” may well have been the common conversation theme around the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club after what had earlier appeared to be a United States blitz in the final day singles at the 2005 Presidents Cup turned into a gripping last thirty minutes.

The last two matches of the day carried a lot more interest and significance than it had appeared they would, when the last group hit off. At that stage the Americans led in nine of the twelve matches and the writing appeared to be on the wall. Even Captain Player was struggling to put a positive spin on it at that stage.

Within twenty minutes however things took a remarkable turn and while the Americans still led, they were ahead in only four of the matches, behind in two and six of the matches were evenly poised. The inevitable now seemed anything other than that and we were in for a gripping afternoon’s viewing.

The first match out between Justin Leonard and Tim Clark remained close until the 8th where the American holed from 25 feet to move two ahead. Leonard kept the pressure on until finally winning at the 15th to be four under for his round. At that time Leonard had secured the first point and the Americans were also ahead in seven of the other eleven matches.

The David Toms-Trevor Immelman match was a hard fought affair with the American finally getting home. The highlight of their close match was when both eagled the 12th, Toms after a sensational iron for the fairway and Immelman when he holed from the back bunker. It would be Toms’ superb second to the 15th from the fairway bunker that would create a two shot lead and the cushion to win 2 & 1.

Immelman surprised many with his gutsy debut in Presidents Cup and despite losing today, Gary Player will be pleased with the manner in which he responded to his wild card selection.

The third match settled was between Mark Hensby and Kenny Perry and it would develop into a somewhat one sided match. Perry was five up by the turn and when the match finished at the 14th by a margin of 4 & 3, Perry was seven under for the day.

The fourth match to finish was between Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen in what would develop into a classic encounter. There was no more than a hole in either way but Goosen finally broke clear at the 17th with a putt from 23 feet to win 2 & 1. Tiger appeared inconvenienced with a back ailment over his closing few holes.

That win started a swing back towards the Internationals. Mike Weir finished his match with Scott Verplank at the 16th after a good tee shot at the 14th and a good putt at the 16th saw him break clear of what had been a close encounter and win 3 & 2.

Vijay Singh and Fred Couples always promised to be an interesting match up. Singh did not appear to be on top of his game for much of the week and again today he struggled on the greens. There was never much in this match although Couples did briefly go two up when he birdied the 10th. He made a very important 6 footer at the 13th to save the hole and remain one up but Singh found a way to come back at him when he hit a magnificent second to the par five, 12th, and then, when he was conceded a birdie after fine second to the 16th, the match was all square.

It was still square when they reached the 18th tee but Singh drove it badly into the trees right. His recovery was superb but Couples was more than equal to the task from the fairway. He holed his birdie putt from 20 feet to take a point, the importance of which would become even more evident in the following hour or so.

Perhaps surprisingly, given his good form from earlier in the week, Adam Scott struggled against Jim Furyk and that match finished at the 16th with the American winning 3 & 1. The scoring was good and although beaten, Scott was far from disgraced. He had played his part in the earlier combined matches.

Peter Lonard was solid as a rock in his match against Cink and was never behind. Lonard hit several shots that he will still be enjoying, namely his second to the 12th and his follow up eagle putt, his tee shot at the 14th which he all but holed and his second to the 16th which settled next to the hole for another win and the match.

Michael Campbell, considering his demanding schedule in recent weeks was magnificent in wining again his 3 & 2 win over Fred Funk. Campbell has had a great week with three and a half points out of a possible five.

When Davis Love III accounted for Nick O’Hern in a hot scoring match, the overall score was now 17 to 15.

There were now two matches left on the course. Mickelson had threatened on a couple of occasions to get away on Angel Cabrera but the Argentine wasn’t going away. Cabrera’s tee shot at the par three 14th was magnificent and set up a win there to square the match. Mickelson won the 15th to go one up again but Cabrera won the next two holes to move one ahead. His second to the 17th from the left hand rough was simply stunning given its timing and degree of difficulty.

Now with the Americans needing half a point from the last two matches, Cabrera drove first at the last and pushed his tee shot a fraction into the right rough. Mickelson found the fairway and hit a sensational pitch to 5 feet. Cabrera found the green with yet another fine shot from a hanging lie but had 18 feet left. When Cabrera missed Mickelson had his putt to tie the match and what he thought was to guarantee victory for the Americans. He did but he soon discovered that he would be required to continue into extra holes to determine a winner.

In the final match between Chris DiMarco and Stuart Appleby, Appleby has staged a fine comeback from the 10th hole with five birdies between there and the 16th. At the 17th, with a one up lead, he did all he could but DiMarco holed from 18 feet to win the hole and move to the 18th all square. DiMarco was right with his tee shot and found a hanging lie adjacent to the fairway bunker. With one foot in the bunker, DiMarco somehow fashioned a second shot of extraordinary brilliance. It came to rest some twenty two feet from the hole.

Appleby’s pitch was long and came to rest on the back edge of the green. He ran his shot down but it provided an opening for DiMarco which he wasn’t about to let slip. When he holed that, the halve, that had been much sought after for the previous twenty five minutes, was the Americans and so was the Presidents Cup.

The continuing match between Cabrera and Mickelson was called off with both players earning a half. The final result therefore was a 18.5 to 15.5 but the three shot margin was perhaps not a true reflection on what had been a gripping day.

More than any other Presidents Cup encounter, this sixth staging of the event highlighted that this concept now has serious legs. To have been able to take the Americans so close on what has become their home ground gave an indication of what we can expect in future such encounters and despite losing, the Internationals can hold their heads high in what has been a most impressive week.

The leading individuals in terms of points were Chris DiMarco (4.5) and Jim Furyk (4) for the Americans and Retief Goosen (4.5) and Adam Scott (3.5) for the Internationals.

To the Americans go bragging rights for another two years but that might not be the same the next time these two teams meet.