Tiger leads US fightback in Melbourne but Internationals still up

By Rahul Banerji

Tiger Woods won his second match but the young guns on the opposite side were a match for the second day in a row as the Internationals continued to lead USA in the Presidents Cup competition at Melbourne on Friday.

The US team could not cut the three-point (1-4) deficit in Foursomes on the day, but they certainly limited the damage with a series of late results that saw scores at 6.5-3.5 for Ernie Els’ side.

Mexico’s debutant Abraham Ancer continued to impress with a second win in two days, but for Asia’s young guns, it was a day of disappointment as Koreans Byeong Hun An and Sungjae Im, and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama were balked at the last by a fighting USA.

US playing captain Woods and Justin Thomas won their second match together, needing a last-hole birdie to beat back An and Matsuyama who swapped leads with the Americans over the first 12 holes.

It took a 17-footer from Thomas, who exchanged roars and high-fives with his captain to get the first American point on the board.

Record win

The result gave Tiger joint top spot for most President’s Cup matches won alongside Phil Mickelson with 26. The US captain also becomes the most successful foursomes player in the competition with 12 wins.

Sungjae Im, 2019 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, and Cameron Smith led 2-up with three to play against Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland but the Americans two of the last three holes and halved the 18^th to put the only split point of the day on the board.

Earlier, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen beat Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar 3&2 while Ancer partnered Marc Leishman to a similar result against the Patrick Reed-Webb Simpson duo to give the International Team the lead into the weekend for the first time since 2005.

The 21-year-old Im was disappointed they let Fowler and Woodland off the hook. “I feel like both Cameron and I were hitting the ball really well, and he was putting great too.

“He made some amazing putts on the first few holes, but it’s a bit unfortunate to end the way we did, but we’re looking forward to tomorrow.

“The last few holes, we had a couple putts to win it, and captain Ernie and Cameron told me to look a little bit more but I went with my gut and it unfortunately didn’t go in. But we’re happy with our results.”

Close one

An and Matsuyama swapped leads with Woods and Thomas through their match before losing to spark celebrations from the US team members around the green.

“We’ve got the strongest pairings on their team, so I knew it was going to be hard. They played amazing golf, and so did we I think,” said Presidents Cup debutant An.

“We played some good golf. We got a lot of birdies starting on, and they had some birdies starting on. I knew it was going to be tough. It’s hard to get a win.

“But we’re not going to be too disappointed. I know we lost but we’re still leading the tournament. We’re in a great spot compared to the last couple years. Our confidence is high, and this definitely is not going to let us down, that’s for sure.

“I think we’re in a great position. I know they are going to fight back tomorrow but keep our foot on the pedal and just keep making birdies and sticking to the game plan and win our matches.”

Els was satisfied to share the five points available on Friday. “Yeah, it’s perspective, isn’t it? I’ve got to look at where we are.

“It’s easy to just look at where we could have been, because it was looking really unbelievable. But we’re in a very good position. Sometimes it bites you. Put a spear in it and bite back.”

Chinese history

On Saturday, Haotong Li, the first from China to qualify for the Internationals, teams up with Aussie Leishman for his first match in the opening Four-Ball session. Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan will go out with Matsuyama where they will be looking for their second win together.

Els is counting on Li to deliver alongside Leishman after sitting out the first two days.

“I expect him to play unbelievable golf,” said Els. “He’s been looking forward to this for two days. He’s been chomping at the bit and kicking my ass trying to get out there and I’ve been holding him back. He’s going to be like a racehorse coming out of a store,” he said.

Foursomes results (Internationals first)

Adam Scott/Louis Oosthuizen bt Matt Kuchar/Dustin Johnson 3&2

Joaquin Neimann/Adam Hadwin lost to Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele 1-down

Abraham Ancer/Marc Leishman bt Patrick Reed/Webb Simpson 3&2

Hideki Matsuyama/Byeong Hun An lost to Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas 1-down

Cameron Smith/Sungjae Im tied Rickie Fowler/Gary Woodland

Internationals lead USA 6.5 to 3.5

Four-Ball match-ups (Internationals first)

Haotong Li/Marc Leishman vs Rickie Fowler/Justin Thomas

Abraham Ancer/Sungjae Im vs Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele

C.T. Pan/Hideki Matsuyama vs Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed

Byeong Hun An/Adam Scott vs Tony Finau/Matt Kuchar

Chadha, Kapil share RCGC Open lead

Meanwhile, in Kolkata, Gurgaon’s Ankur Chadha and Kapil Kumar of Delhi shot 4-under-68s to share the lead in round one of the inaugural ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Thursday.

Chandigarh’s rookie Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Akshay Sharma besides Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane were tied third on 3-under-69s on day one of the Rs. 40 lakh event.

Sunit Chowrasia and Md Sanju performed the best among the local golfers to be tied sixth with 2-under-70s.

Also read: Birdie run carries Tiger up HWC standings; Reed in the lead