Mammoth task ahead of Internationals

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 The Presidents Cup | Day Three | 19 Nov 2011

It was a new look Royal Melbourne which greeted players on day three of the 2011 Presidents Cup but, by the end of the morning Foursomes matches and ultimately late in the day, there was an airily familiar feel about what was being seen on the leaderboard.

Heading into tomorrow’s 12 singles matches the USA side lead by 13 points to 9 and while the task may appear forlorn for the Internationals, at least there is still a chance albeit a small one.

The rain which fell late on Friday and again overnight continued through the day taking the sting out of golf course that was one of the most demanding tests possible on Friday.

The Internationals needed to find a way to get back into the contest but it did not take too long before the USA side threatened to put the overall result beyond doubt.

They trailed in three matches early but the further the morning went on the more the realisation sank in that the Americans were beginning to control the outcome of not only the morning matches but possibly the outcome of the overall tie.

The only International winners in the morning encounters was the pairing of Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa who finally gelled after two earlier losses, Ishikawa finally beginning to find his way around the subtleties of Royal Melbourne.

The pair recovered from a two hole deficit through 9 holes to finally take the match at the last with Ishikawa making a crucial par saving putt for par to keep he and Els’ noses in front. The relief on the face of the Japanese superstar was there for all to see and as he and Els embraced it became clear that the 20 year old was finally developing a comfort zone with this great layout and winning the admiration of his significantly senior playing partner.

It was perhaps a pity that just half an hour earlier Captain Norman had dropped Ishikawa from his afternoon line-up.

Ernie Els was delighted to have guided his partner through the opening two days and to be rewarded for his efforts by Ishikawa’s performance. “The man has got so much heart,” said the South African

“Even in our first two matches, we ran up against Bubba and Webb and they played great. Yesterday was yesterday and it was a difficult day. But I could see Ryo was finding his feet on the golf course.

“This is a golf course where you’ve really got to know where to hit it and he started striking it so and his putting reminds me a little bit of myself back in the day (laughing).

“He’s got a great future obviously and he’s a great player, and I’m so glad to have played with him.”

The balance of the matches went the way of the Americans, Tiger Woods finally getting a point when he paired with Dustin Johnson to comfortably account for Adam Scott and K.J. Choi.

“It was a day of patience,” said Woods. “The weather was kind of iffy and the greens are another different speed to them; three days, three different speeds. They gave us some pretty tricky pins out there, and just had to be patient.

“I felt like Dustin and I were hitting the ball well, just keeping a lot of heat on them and eventually one should fall. Unfortunately it was not till the last hole.”

Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk continued their winning ways making it three wins from three outings this week when they fought back from a two hole deficit to Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day to win 2 up.

Intriguingly Mickelson made the decision to stand down in the afternoon Four-ball matches. “No, we talked about it,” he said referring to the discussion he and Fred Couples had. “I wanted to take the afternoon off if it was possible. I thought and Fred thought that everybody was playing well and we had some good pairings they wanted to send out.

“This gives me a chance to get ready for my singles match and also follow some of the matches and maybe just show some support. I really enjoy that part of The Ryder Cup where we have four guys sitting. We don’t have the opportunity much in The Presidents Cup, because only two guys sit.”

Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel were hammered in their match against Hunter Mahan and David Toms, the margin of 5&4 telling the story after the Internationals had taken an early, albeit brief lead.

Greg Norman and many others felt that the combination of Melbourne natives Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy might serve to inspire the locals but it would not be the case, Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson continuing their winning way by taking the match 3&2.

Allenby was stood down in the afternoon to recharge the batteries for tomorrow’s singles. “We all felt pretty comfortable with how everything was going, and you know, our pairings and that.

We liked our pairings the first day and we liked our pairings today. I mean, Geoff and I are pretty good together. But I just didn’t yeah, I mean, you know, match play is such a fiddly game. You can play well and lose and you can play bad and win. It’s just one of those things.”

The players stood down for the afternoon therefore would be Americans Phil Mickelson and David Toms and for the Internationals Ryo Ishikawa and Robert Allenby.

Isolated heavy rain continued to fall through the afternoon but such is the base of this golf course that while softer underfoot it was clearly very playable.

The morning result which went the American way 4 – 1, therefore, had extended the Americans lead to five points 11 – 6 and things looked even more ominous for the Internationals.

The afternoon pairings in the four-ball format had Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel out first against the previously undefeated pairing of Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson. The South Africans led from their opening birdie and although things tightened a little towards the end they got home by 2&1.

“All of the points are important right now, said Goosen. “But me and Charl played solid from the first few holes and got up on them early on. Then we got a bit spooked or I got spooked the last few holes and couldn’t get a ball in the hole, but luckily we finished it off.”

The next point to come the way of the Internationals was that earned by K.T Kim and Y.E Yang both of whom had lost their opening two encounters and both of who had been stood down for the Saturday morning foursomes.

As if they had a point to prove they took on Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson in what was in some respects a David and Goliath encounter, but were never headed. Kim will be delighted having come into the event under the radar given that he plays his golf essentially in Asia and Japan.

Kim is however a fine player fully deserving of his place in the team having earned his place courtesy of his great play in Japan, in One Asia events and when doing well in one or two PGA Tour events this summer.

“I think first of all, when I heard I was being paired up with Tiger, I was a bit nervous, especially because I haven’t been playing well the last two days,” said Kim. “I’ve felt a lot of pressure. But because we had the morning off, I think it helps conditioning wise, and I think I got used to the course. I also think that at the tail end, I think we trusted each other. That’s probably the main reason why we won.”

The next match to finish was that of Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley who after winning the first hole in their afternoon encounter fought hard against Hunter Mahan and Bill Haas. When Jason Day holed a 35 foot curling right to lefter at the 17th for birdie the match appeared as if it might go to the 18th opening up the possibility of an important half point but Mahan was up to the task holing a lengthy birdie putt of his own to seal the match.

“We hope we can pull something through and maybe hopefully win that one,” said Day referring to tomorrow. “You know, hopefully we just need to get some rest. I think we are all tired after today. We are all wet, tired, and we just need to get some rest and then coming into tomorrow’s round and just let things happen.

“We just have to play our own game. I think if we can just play our own game and keep the ball in front of us, I think we might have a chance of winning this. But the American Team are very, very tough. They have got a lot of good players on their side.”

K.J. Choi and Geoff Ogilvy had won their opening match on Thursday to give their side hope on a day that had worked against them overall and again today the same combination may well have kept any remote hopes alive by adding yet another point for the Internationals.

They overcame an early deficit against Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar to win 1 up.

Ogilvy knew the importance of his win but was also aware of the task at hand. “It was good. This morning was disappointing obviously. We were hoping to do a 3 2 our way or 4 1, balance it up a little bit but it didn’t go our way.

“So we had to bounce back this afternoon and have a good day, and we’ve done that. We are going to still need a really big day tomorrow but we are still in with a chance.”

That left one match on the golf course trying to scrape out the one remaining point or half point on offer. Adam Scott missed a very makeable birdie chance at the 17th that would have squared his and Ernie Els’ match against Jim Furyk and Nick Watney and opened up the possibility of a win at the last. The half point up for grabs at their final hole would still be potentially very important however.

Scott found the green at the last but was unable to hole a 25 footer that would have secured the half point.

At the end of a long wet day around one of the golfing world’s great layouts therefore the USA side lead by 13 points to nine.

Is it a bridge too far for the Internationals? More than likely yes but at least the door has been kept ajar by the Internationals fighting display this afternoon.

With an excited, partisan crowd and a fast start who knows what might happen on a day that brings to a conclusion an event that has so far had it all.

A tight and dramatic final day would put the icing on the cake.

It might be hoping against hope but at least there is still hope.

Discuss this article in our forums