It was 2.38am this morning when Adam Scott's 25 footer to halve their match just curled below the hole at the 18th, thus ending a long, wet and at times windy Saturday of foursomes and fourballs at Royal Melbourne in this Presidents Cup.
Traditionally in match play, notably the Ryder Cup,the American side was always at a disadvantage because they grew up never playing it, all stroke play, where as in the UK matchplay is the backbone of every golf club in the country, so their pros were more familiar with all it's nuances.
However as captain Greg Norman pointed out, the tide has turned in the Presidents Cup because the US team is know playing them every year, while his lads just get together every two, and are a different mix from different continents each time.
USA 13 Internationals 9 is the final score heading into the 12 singles and despite a full on fight back in the afternoon fourballs by the International team, it was the arse kicking 4-1 loss in the morning foursomes that will probably seal their fate.
Saturday morning foursomes
Simpson/Watson
WINS 3 & 2
Allenby/Ogilvy
Haas/Kuchar
WINS 1 UP
Els/Ishikawa
Mahan/Toms
WINS 5 & 4
Goosen/Schwartzel
Woods/Johnson
WINS 3 & 2
Scott/Choi
Mickelson/Furyk
WINS 2 & 1
Baddeley/Day
Robert Allenby hasn't won a point, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel all battled but just went off the boil they had going at the wrong time, while the likes of Webb and Bubba and Phil and Hunter and Matt have it in top gear and Jim Furyk needs a singles win over Ernie to go 5-0.
That made the score USA 11 - Internationals 6 at lunch and Norman's men were squarely behind the eight ball, and really needed to run the tables in the five fourballs to make Sunday's singles meaningful.
Here are the pairings and results from those fourball matches..
Simpson/Watson
WINS 2 & 1
Goosen/Schwartzel
my thoughts.. it was the 1st loss to the US pair, and they were down 4 with 5 to play bur the Goose who was stellar all day missed 2 five footers for the win before finally closing it on the 17th.
Woods/Johnson
WINS 1 UP
Kim/Yang
my thoughts you would have got 100-1 in any Australian bookmaking shop on this result but trust me the South Koreans, who came off the bench after sitting in the morning, were full value, and when little KT Kim rammed home a breaking downhill 6 footer on the 18th, they became as popular at home as Mike Weir is here when he beat Tiger in Montreal in 2007. Tiger, who is definitely showing progress with his game and Dustin could not make a putt to save themselves.
Stricker/Kuchar
WINS 1 UP
Ogilvy/Choi
my thoughts.. at one point early in this compelling match, Matt Kucher made 4 birdies in a row from long range and he only gained one hole because Ogilvy made 3 of his own..KJ made a 30 footer at the 8th to square the match, then Ogilvy made a 20 footer for birdie at the short par 4 11th, and they battled every hole right to the 18th and made that 1up stand. Great match and the Internationals have their tails up, in dismal weather. The temperature hovered around 60*F in a steady rain and wind, a 30*F drop from Friday.
Mahan/Haas
WINS 2 & 1
Baddeley/Day
my thoughts..First Baddeley and Day, especially Jason were not at their best, but battled with Mahan and Haas who showed that great match play ability to pick up your partner when he is out of it, ham and egging is the phrase. It ended in spectacular fashion on the 17 when Day, from 30' above the hole raced in big breaker down the slippery slope that all before him had misjudged, right into the back of the cup for a birdie 3 and he leapt into Baddeley's arms as they were about to square the match.. HOWEVER...Hunter Mahan with the ghosts of Celtic Manor still in his DNA, simply nailed a 25 footer of his own right in on top of Day's, tossed his putter and marched across the green to be congratulated by his partner on the win, and then by a stunned pair of Aussie's.. that will go down as one of the turning points in these matches..
Furyk/Watney
WINS 1 UP
Scott/Els
my thoughts.. now more drama was to follow, Watney and Els did all the scoring, Watney had his team 2up until Ernie won 9 with a par 4 and 10 with a 10 foot birdie 3 putt. Watney with birdies at 11 and 14 put the US 2up until Ernie signalled an International team comeback with a huge 30 footer for birdie at 15. Enter Adam Scott..
After he and Furyk halved the 16th in par, Scott was left with a right to left curling 10 foot downhiller to halve the match on the 17th. He took his time and for all the world he looked like he had made it as he has done so many times with his new broom handle, but it curled right across the face of the hole and stayed out. On to the 18th still 1 down, now looking for a win to halve the match.
The US pairing were both on in 2, Ernie made a mess of his drive into big rough and was out of it, but Adam punched his 190 yard approach to within 25 feet, the best of the bunch. Watney made par and now Adam had his for the win. Again he hit a beauty of a putt, right on line, good speed and at the last minute it broke hard and just grazed the cup.
So what could have been 12-10 is now 13-9 going into the singles later today (6.30pm Golf Channel) which should be more than enough for the US squad to avenge their loss here in 1998.
Despite that spirited fight back by the International team, it was the 4-1 foursomes loss in the morning that was their undoing.
Here are the pairings for the 12 singles matches in the final day of The Presidents Cup. The U.S.go into the session with a 13-9 lead, requiring the International team to win at least 8-1/2 points to claim the Cup, while the Americans can win with just 4-1/2 points.
The captains alternated their selections, with the players listed below in the order in which they were announced. Couples said he put his veterans out late to give them time to sleep in, and no Scott and Tiger are not paired, although I trust that is old news after all this drama.
The first match begins at 10:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET Saturday), and the weather forecast is for the morning partly cloudy and cool 14*c, with a 5k wind from the west, warming up in the afternoon to a mainly sunny 21*c with the breeze freshening to 15k SW.
MATCH 23 – K.T. Kim, International vs. Webb Simpson, U.S.
MATCH 24 – Dustin Johnson, U.S. vs. Charl Schwartzel, International
MATCH 25 – Ryo Ishikawa, International vs. Bubba Watson, U.S.
MATCH 26 – Bill Haas, U.S. vs. Geoff Ogilvy, International
MATCH 27 – Jason Day, International vs. Hunter Mahan, U.S.
MATCH 28 – Nick Watney, U.S. vs. K.J. Choi, International
MATCH 29 – Adam Scott, International vs. Phil Mickelson, U.S.
MATCH 30 – Matt Kuchar, U.S. vs. Retief Goosen, International
MATCH 31 – Ernie Els, International vs. Jim Furyk, U.S.
MATCH 32 – David Toms, U.S. vs. Robert Allenby, International
MATCH 33 – Aaron Baddeley, International vs. Tiger Woods, U.S.
MATCH 34 – Steve Stricker, U.S. vs. Y,E. Yang, International
To check out how each player is doing just click http://www.pgatour.com/2011/tournaments/presidentscup/11/18/Individualrecords/index.html
Check out my earlier Q school post for all Canadian results..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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