USA hold off spirited challenge

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 The Presidents Cup | Wrap | 20 Nov 2011

The USA have won their 7th Presidents Cup in nine encounters and perhaps gained redemption for their surprising loss at Royal Melbourne in 1998 when defeating the Internationals 19 to 15 at Royal Melbourne this afternoon, sharing the honours in today’s twelve singles matches.

Interestingly, it was the very same result in the singles that had been the case 13 years earlier at this very venue but the difference this time had come in the foursomes matches where the Americans had dominated and where they had established their significant lead heading into day four.

Even the most optimistic of International supporter could have been forgiven for thinking that the fate of the 2011 Presidents Cup encounter at Royal Melbourne was all over bar the shouting as the opening singles match between K.T. Kim and Webb Simpson reached the first tee for Sunday’s deciding day.

After all, in the event’s previous eight encounters, neither side had ever won the nine singles matches the Internationals required in order for them to overhaul the four point deficit they faced as they headed in to the final day.

Perhaps nobody had reminded the players of that however as the manner in which the International Team tackled the early stages of day four suggested that an impossible task was the last thing they had on their minds

They were up in four of the five early matches, yesterday’s hero, Kim Kyung Tae, racing to an early 3 up lead over the previously undefeated Webb Simpson in the first match of the day.

When Charl Schwartzel and Ryo Ishikawa took early leads, the momentum the International Team had been hoping for was developing into something very tangible.

You could feel it and hear it on the golf course. The need to get the crowd involved early was a key requirement if the Internationals were to have any chance and they certainly did that. The crowd responded in kind and they were feeding off each other.

Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott were joining the party but as has been the case so often this week momentum can work both ways and when Jason Day began to struggle in his match against Hunter Mahan and Nick Watney went ahead in his match against K.J. Choi the Americans were responding to the challenge.

Two Australians struggled more than others today, namely Jason Day and Robert Allenby. Day looked completely out of sorts in his match against Hunter Mahan losing five of the first eight holes and although he staged a brief recovery he was beaten 5&3.

Day felt bad. “For me this is my first experience and I know now certain things that I won’t do in another couple years,” said Day. “It’s been a hard work. It’s good for a change, not just to think about yourself but think about others. And as long as I gave it 100 percent, I was happy with that. Obviously it was a tough day for me out there, bogeyed the first six holes or something.”

Allenby had lost all three of his earlier matches and a bogey at the first today to lose the hole in his match against David Toms suggested things were not about to get any better in a hurry. Allenby would go on to lose the match by a massive 7&5 completing what must have been a gut-wrenching week for him.

The time line and players comments were as follows;

2.45pm: Hunter Mahan defeated Jason Day 5&3 after never being behind in his match. Day was a massive ten over when the match finished at the 15th. The score was then 14-9.

“Well, it feels good,” said Mahan. “Any time you make a team, you want to validate yourself on the team. This is my fifth one, so I feel like I have a good understanding of what it takes to play well in these things and have a good mind set. My mind was right for this week. I played well, I had good partners and got a little lucky today.”

2.48pm. Ryo Ishikawa, growing in comfort with the Royal Melbourne layout after a slow start to the week defeated Bubba Watson 3&2 taking the overall score to 14 – 10.

“The International Team supports me a lot, so last night,” Greg said to us, "We can do it tomorrow, said Ishikawa. "So believe in yourself. So I can do it tomorrow, I thought, so that’s very great experience.”

2.51: Charl Schwartzel was always ahead in his match against Dustin Johnson eventually winning 2&1 and the score was then 14 – 11.

“Our early groups were obviously very important,” said Schwartzel. “We needed to get points on the board very early on, and sort of to give the guys at the back sort of inspiration to see that we can win this thing. Obviously playing against Dustin, an unbelievable player, was always going to be a tough match. I really dug deep. I really wanted to win.”

2.55: K.T Kim went one up against Webb Simpson at the 5th and although the American fought back from a three hole deficit to square the match at the 16th Kim won the 17th and then the match 1 up. The score had moved to 14-12.

“I tried to maintain a good condition from yesterday,” said Kim. “It wasn’t really a good start today but I tried to just think of myself, just play myself. I had a good result and I’m happy and I’m satisfied with today. I enjoyed it here, and this is the most memorable event that I have ever played. The team is really great, they are like family here.”

3.12: Nick Watney never trailed in his match against K.J. Choi eventually winning 3&2. The score was then 15–12.

3.16: The agony ended for Robert Allenby when David Toms defeated him at the 13th by the massive margin of 7&5. The score moved the Americans within two points of victory at 16-12.

3.20: Geoff Ogilvy keeps the slim International hopes alive when he defeats Bill Haas in ahrd fought match 2 up. The score is then 16-13.

“It’s hard to play someone like Bill because you like him so much and he’s one of the nicest guys in the world, said Ogilvy. “Really, match play is a lot easier when you don’t like the guy you’re playing. So that was hard.

“But in Melbourne, this has been a big week for us, the Australians. Royal Melbourne, we are very proud of this place and it showed every different aspect of why she’s a great golf course this week. It’s been fun to play.”

3.36: Jim Furyk moved the Americans within one when he kept his unbeaten record intact with a 4&3 victory over Ernie Els. The score was then 17-13. Furyk made special mention of the support he had been given by Phil Mickelson in the combined matches earlier in the week.

“I felt better about my game than what I’ve been playing this year, and I kind of I want to thank kind of my partners a little bit. I had Phil for three days, and he was playing great, he had a positive attitude.

“I have a feeling that I’ll probably see him in the media room later I have a feeling he probably asked to play with me because I felt like he could get a lot out of me; meaning that we have known each other for a long time, we are good friends, and he’s got a great leadership quality in these events, and you know, I struggled this year and he kind of took me under his wing and kind of boosted my confidence.”

3.37: Adam Scott broke Phil Mickelson’s great recent record at the Presidents Cup when he defeated him 2&1 to stall the inevitable. The score was then 17-14.

“It’s disappointing to maybe not get the Cup this year, but to have this event here at home, it has been a fantastic week and one I’ll remember for my whole career," said Scott. "You know, we played hard.

“I think it’s just a really demanding golf course. You know, we got 12 great players on our team and 12 great players on their team. No matter how good you are, on this course it’s just have to hit the ball well to get it around here, and they might have done it just a little bit better than us this week.”

3.55: The result was finally put to bed when Tiger Woods defeated Aaron Baddeley 4 up. The 18 points the Americans had been seeking had been achieved and they had retained the Presidents Cup.

“It does feel good, said Woods. "I was hoping it wouldn’t come down to my point. I was hoping that Stricks (Steve Stricker) and I could take a victory lap back here. But we didn’t get off to a good start early.

“I was telling Joey (caddie) on the range, it could come down to the last four matches. We needed to get our point so we went out there and played really well today, and put a lot of heat on Badds.”

The remaining matches became immaterial as far as the result was concerned but for the record Retief Goosen defeated Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker defeated Y.E. Yang making the final score 19-15.

And so the event is over and while it might not have been the result many were predicting, the opportunity for the Australian golfing public to witness 24 of the game’s great players playing on one of the greatest golfing layouts in the world was something that can only do good for the game here.

Where the Presidents Cup goes from here is anybody’s guess but the spirited comeback by the Internationals in yesterday afternoon’s four-ball matches and their great start to the singles matches today kept the contest alive a lot longer than it had appeared halfway through Saturday.

The teams will meet again in Dublin in Ohio in two years time, the Internationals still chasing their first victory in the US. Many of those who played this week will part of those teams and many will be the better for having experienced what has been a great week in Melbourne.

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