By Rahul Banerji
Undaunted by a growing deficit, Team US fought back in Saturday afternoon’s foursomes to cut the Internationals’ lead to 10-8 on the penultimate day’s action in the Presidents Cup at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
The morning’s four-ball matches saw Ernie Els’ Internationals stretch their overnight advantage to four full points (9-5) before Tiger Woods’ men hit back in the second session.
Both sets of Saturday’s games were of four matches each, the Internationals recording two wins against one for the US in the four-balls while in the foursomes, they could only manage two draws against two wins for the US.
Justin Thomas continued to be the star for Woods having accrued 3.5 points for his team so far, as Abraham Ancer has done for the Internationals.
Solid display
On Saturday, Thomas first teamed up with Rickie Fowler to beat debutant Haotong Li and Marc Leishman 3&2 and then returned for the foursomes with Fowler to split the point against Leishman and Abraham Ancer as the US won two matches and tied the others to set up a fascinating Sunday singles showdown.
Tiger Woods, who benched himself for Saturday’s matches, will play the first of the 12 singles against new boy Ancer, who has been nerveless so far in the competition.
Besides Ancer, Els had more stars in Korea’s Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, while Taiwan’s C.T. Pan and Hideki Matsuyama too have come up with heroic performances.
Li’s debut ended in disappointment but the other four Asians put important points on the board, giving the Internationals the lead for the first time in 16 years going into the final day’s singles.
Clean slate
Im, 2019 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, teamed up with Ancer for a 3&2 win over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in the morning before Pan and Matsuyama combined for their second win in the four-balls, beating Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed 5&3.
An paired with Adam Scott added a half point in the morning when Tony Finau sank a seven-foot birdie on the last green to snatch a tie alongside Matt Kuchar.
The Internationals won the morning session 2.5 to 1.5, which marked the first time since 1998 they have recorded 2.5 points or more in each of the first three sessions.
In the afternoon, it looked like the US would win all four matches at one point before late fightbacks by the An-Joaquin Niemann pairing, and Ancer-Leishman ensured two drawn matches.
An and Neimann battled down to the wire against Finau and Kuchar in the final match of the day before An missed a seven-foot birdie chance on the final hole for the win.
Stirring fightback
In the afternoon, Ancer and Leishman emerged fought back from being five-down to salvage a draw against Fowler and Thomas, with the Mexican star holing a seven-foot birdie on 18 to seal the comeback.
“We had a lead. It looked like it was going to be wiped away (in the afternoon), and the guys absolutely played with their guts and I could not be more proud and more happy for those guys in that cabin tonight,” Els said later.
“They are as excited as you could ever see a team be, losing a session 3-1, I can tell you. It was some unbelievable golf, and my hat’s off to those guys,” he added.
Pan, the first from Taipei to play in the Presidents Cup, was over the moon after winning two wins out of two alongside Matsuyama, overcoming the Reed-Simpson combination on both occasions. Pan will take on Reed in Sunday’s singles.
“He’s a great teammate to have,” said Pan of his teammate. “He’s super solid. He hits pretty much every right shot and he made some crucial putts, and that’s big. He’s just someone I feel very comfortable to play with, and he helped me to play great golf, definitely.
“We’re just communicating, a little combination of body language and English. I just feel we have chemistry. It’s hard to explain. Our game fits each other and that really helps.”
Matsuyama takes on Finau and Haotong Li goes up against Dustin Johnson on Sunday as every one of the 12 on either side will finally be seen in action.
The Internationals need another 5.5 points from the 12 Sunday singles to wrest the Presidents Cup, which the US have won for the last seven times.
Saturday results
Four-Balls (Internationals first)
Haotong Li/Marc Leishman lost to Rickie Fowler/Justin Thomas 3&2
Abraham Ancer/Sungjae Im bt Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele 3&2
C.T. Pan/Hideki Matsuyama bt Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed 5&3
Byeong Hun An/Adam Scott tied Tony Finau/Matt Kuchar
Foursomes (Internationals first)
Adam Scott/Loius Oosthuizen lost to Gary Woorland/Dustin Johnson 2&1
Abraham Ancer/Marc Leishman tied Rickie Fowler/Justin Thomas
Sungjae Im/Cameron Smith lost to Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele 2&1
Joaquin Neimann/Byeong Hun An tied Tony Finau/Matt Kuchar
Internationals lead USA 10-8
Sunday singles (Internationals first)
Abraham Ancer vs Tiger Woods; Hideki Matsuyama vs Tony Finau; C.T. Pan vs Patrick Reed; Haotong Li vs Dustin Johnson; Adam Hadwin vs Bryson DeChambeau; Sungjae Im vs Gary Woodland; Joaquin Neimann vs Patrick Cantlay; Adam Scott vs Xander Schauffele; Byeong Hun An vs Webb Simpson; Cameron Smth vs Justin Thomas; Louis Oosthuizen vs Matt Kuchar and Marc Leishman vs Rickie Fowler.
Kapil Kumar holds on to RCGC Open lead
In Kolkata, meanwhile, Delhi’s Kapil Kumar kept his lead for the second day running with a 4-under-68 at the RCGC Open Golf Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Friday.
Kapil, still to win on the PGTI, was 8-under-136 and in the halfway lead by one shot at the Rs. 40 lakh event.
Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane (68) moved up one spot to second on 7-under-137 while Bengaluru’s M. Dharma was the day’s big gainer, moving up 24 places to third on 6-under-138 as a result of his tournament-best score of 7-under-65.
The cut fell at 5-over-149 with 51 professionals going through to the weekend.
Dharma (73-65) made the big move on Friday with eight birdies and a bogey. A marked improvement in Dharma’s tee shots on day two could be attributed to his decision to choose his two-iron over the driver.
The 33-year-old currently ninth on the PGTI rankings landed it close through the round except on the seventh where he knocked in a 20-footer for birdie. Dharma also ended the day with a good up and down for a par save on the 18th.
Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (70) was in fourth on 5-under-139 while Gurgaon’s Ankur Chadha (73), the joint overnight leader, slipped to tied fifth on 3-under-141.
Mohammad Sanju (71) was the highest-ranked Kolkata player as he joined Ankur Chadha, Sri Lankan Mithun Perera and Noida’s Amardip Malik in tied fifth. Kolkata’s Sunit Chowrasia (72) was a further shot back in tied ninth at two-under-142.
Delhi-based rookie Kshitij Naveed Kaul, the highest-ranked player in the field being fourth in the PGTI Rankings, was tied 12th on 1-under-143.
Also read: Kartik earns praise for Melbourne display; Tiger to open for US
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