Tiger leads the way as US break Internationals’ hearts with Sunday sweep

By Rahul Banerji

Tiger Woods knew he had to set the tempo with Team US trailing 8-10 in Sunday’s singles. He also knew he had to be there at the finish if they were to halt a determined young International team from winning the Presidents Cup for the first time since i998.

The world’s greatest golfer donned both hats with ease, first closing out his opening match in quick time, and then seeing the remaining 11 pairing bring home the prize.

It was left to fellow senior Matt Kuchar to deliver the winning half point against South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen as battles raged up and down the order and fortunes swung one way and other other.

But with 11 of the world’s top 20 in their ranks, the contest was always tilted in favour of the Americans, who finally closed out an exhilarating contest at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club 16-14.

“All of us will look back and have these pictures hanging on our walls and say we played for and alongside Tiger Woods, the greatest player ever. It was awesome,” Kuchar said later.

Added the emotional Tiger, who hid his face in his cap after the final match, “I’ve cried in pretty much every Cup we’ve won.

 “I’ve been doing this a long time. Any time you have moments where you’re able to do something that is bigger than us as an individual is so much more meaningful and so much more special.”

Game fighters

Spare a thought for Ernie Els and his Internationals. The loss will take a long time to get over but they will leave Australia knowing they had stretched the one of the greatest golf teams assembled right down to the wire.

Tiger led off in the top match and beat the previously undefeated Abraham Ancer 3&2. It cut the overnight deficit right away and in all, the Americans swept the 12-match session by an 8 to 4 margin, making it a first time for the trailing team to win the Presidents Cup.

Tiger, 43, also surpassed Phil Mickelson for the most wins in Presidents Cup history with 27. He was undefeated for the second time in the competition, 3-0 this week against 5-0 in 2009.

It was the eighth straight victory for the US team in the competition.

Korea’s Sungjae Im made a successful Cup debut by contributing 3.5 points which included an impressive 4&3 win over US Open champion Gary Woodland in the singles to give the Internationals some breathing space from the unrelenting US pressure.

Lost advantage

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama let slip a 4-up lead after 10 holes against Tony Finau to settle for a tie while China’s Haotong Li went down 4&3 to world no. 2 Dustin Johnson. Taipei’s C.T. Pan fell 4&2 to Patrick Reed with his debut record reading two wins, a tie and a loss.

Els was proud at how his squad, featuring seven rookies, battled the powerful Americans. “It’s been an incredible week. The players were just incredible.

“They were open for a new formula, so to speak, and embraced what I said to them, and you know, here we are. You know, we lost 16-14, and you know, we’ve got to swallow that,” said the South African great.

“But great strides were made, especially in our team play. I felt that our team play was the core of our team, and that never was previously. We never felt like we could play Foursomes or Four-Ball together as a team. We did that well.

“I think the US Team, and I think you guys (media), and the people around the world will look at these guys in a different way.

‘No comparison’

“If you compare our team on paper with other teams in other sport, you would have laughed us out of the building. But we gave it a hell of a go and we came mightily close to winning and upsetting one of the greatest golf teams of all time.

“If you look at their record and where these guys are at the moment, they are going places; I can tell you that.

“We do have Major winners up here. We have no. 1s, former no. 1s, but we also have had guys playing for the first time, and I can only see their future going in a very – in a great manner.”

Final score: USA beat Internationals 16-14

Singles result (US names first)

Tiger Woods bt Abraham Ancer 3&2

Tony Finau tied Hideki Matsuyama

Patrick Reed bt C.T. Pan 4&2

Dustin Johnson bt Haotong Li 4&3

Bryson DeChambeau tied Adam Hadwin

Gary Woodland lost to Sungjae Im 4&2

Patrick Cantlay bt Joaquin Neimann 3&2

Xander Schauffele bt Adam Scott 2&1

Webb Simpson bt Byeong Hun  An 2&1

Justin Thomas lost to Cameron Smith 2&1

Matt Kuchar tied Louis Oosthuizen

Rickie Fowler tied Marc Leishman

Mithun Perera grabs RCGC Open lead

Also read: Internationals take shock 4-1 lead after Tiger, JT win opener