Presidents Cup singles results http://www.presidentscup.com/livescoring.html
Finally the Presidents Cup got what it needed, well almost..
As many on this side of the pond slept, as dramatic and exciting finish as you could script capped off a tremendous week of golf in South Korea and in the end the Presidents Cup came out the winner.
For the record the US are the winners of this 11th edition 15.5- 14.5, but it all came down to the final pairing, on the final green, with captain Jay Haas son Bill playing South Korea's Sang-Moon Bae, or simply "Moon" to his friends.
Guys who were supposed to win didn't, guys who weren't supposed to win did. There were great shots, there were terrible shots, there were chip ins, there were duffed chips, there were long snaking putts, and critically there were missed gimme's. There was passion, there were tears, there was sportsmanship, there was camaraderie....there was a Presidents Cup to remember.
I said from the start the International team had to win this year for the event to start to matter and I was wrong. What it needed was the International team, the media underdogs, to be in contention right to the end, and that's what happened, and the way it happened provided all the drama you could ask for.
With the matches and points all square, Bill Haas was in the greenside bunker in two at the 18th. Sang-Moon Bae was just short of the elevated green in two, needing to win the hole to halve the match. He chose a wedge to chip it up over the steep slope, took a long time practising his stroke, then with his entire nation holding their breath, with his team mates unable to look, he stuck his wedge into the ground, chunked it, the ball rolled up the slope, stopped then rolled right back towards him.
Bae sank down on his haunches, buried his face in his hands, his chance and his team's lost in a flash, as Haas splashed out of the bunker to 6 feet, Bae had to chip again and understandably chipped well past and ended up conceding.
To blame Bae is totally unfair, he was brilliant all week, in fact had made clutch shots on 16 and 17 to stay just 1 down, there were many other dramatic moments in the other matches, this was a team loss and a team victory, but as I said off the top, it was a victory for the Presidents Cup and for golf.
Here are the match recaps..
Patrick Reed halved Louis Oosthuizen This match was why they have halves ! Patrick Reed didn't have a great week but his was back at his firey best in fact was 2 up until Oosthuizen squared the match with birdies at 12 and 14 but made a bogey on 16 to trail by 1. Then dramatically on the 18th which would be such a pivotal hole all day he hit his shot of the day from 220 yards right onto the green to just 12 feet and then holed the putt for eagle 3 and the halve. Great match.
Adam Scott def. Rickie Fowler 6 and 5: Scott’s return to the regular length putter was painful to watch all week as he struggled to find his touch. Playing Rickie he found it on the 7th green with an 8 footer, then made 2 more to win 8 and 9 and suddenly was 3up. He kept it going with more putts and more wins on the back nine and ran out a 6&5 winner over a subdued Fowler. and afterwards explained “It’s the first week I’ve putted with the short putter in a while and just getting a feel for it.
Dustin Johnson def. Danny Lee 2 and 1: To say Danny Lee wears his heart on his sleeve is an understatement and it showed again all day today after he bogeyed the first three holes to fall 3down but he suddenly started to make some putts including a 20 footer to tie the match at the 11th and his emotional rollercoaster continued when he won the 14th to go 1up then just as promptly lost the next three holes with bogeys to give DJ the 2&1 win.
Hideki Matsuyama def. J.B. Holmes 1 up: Here was another great match and just the kind of win the International team is going to need to beat their higher ranked American opponents. Matsuyama and Holmes were close all day until the Japanese star won the 16th to go 1up, then Holmes squared it on 17 with a birdie. They were both short of the 18th green in two shots. Matsuyama chipped his closer than JB, who came up short and missed the putt as Hideki made his for the win. Johnny Miller called JB's miss a choke which in my opinion was very harsh.
Bubba Watson halved Thongchai Jaidee Nobody but the International team gave the diminutive Thai a chance against his good pal Bubba, who incidently had donated his entire first prize cheque to Thongchai's charity when he won in Malaysia. Watson led by a hole all day but Jaidee squared the match with a par at 17. Then in true Bubba fashion he hit a brilliant chip and runner 3rd on the 18th to within 5 feet, then as he had done on Saturday missed the putt for the win and afterward promptly threw his caddie under the team bus !“I hit a great shot, and then Ted had the putt read right and I said, ‘I just can’t see it going that way,’”
Steven Bowditch def. Jimmy Walker 2 up: This was another good win for the Internationals, and remember Bowditch and his Aussie mates did not have a great week but he played well and Walker is not in good form, but was grinding out a 1up lead at the turn before Bowditch won three in a row to get 2up. Walker won 17 but Bowditch finished in style with a birdie at the 18th.
Phil Mickelson def. Charl Schwartzel 5 and 4: In the post match greenside interviews Jordan Spieth paid tribute to the leadership of veterans Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson who was playing an out of sorts Charl Schwartzel who won just two holes. Mickelson won 2 holes with pars and when he had his 3rd chip-in of the week, this time on the 11th it was his first birdie of the match. Poor showing by the South African when his team needed him the most, but Phil was one of the stars of the show this week.
Chris Kirk def. Anirban Lahiri 1up : This one was painful and crucial from the International perspective. It was very close all day and they came to the 18th A/S. Lahiri hit a brilliant spinning chip which stopped a mere 3.5 feet away. Kirk's chip was long but dramatically he made the double breaking downhill 15 footer putting the pressure on the 0-2 Indian star. As fate would have it, Lahiri’s birdie putt lipped out, he dropped his putter in disbelief as Kirk and his team celebrated his vital 1up win.
Marc Leishman def. Jordan Spieth, 1 up: I said earlier that some guys who weren't supposed to win did, and you can put this match firmly in that category as the Aussie Marc Leishman struck the ball beautifully all day and putted well. Spieth was 2 up after 2 and it looked like he was settling in but Leishman squared the match with a birdie at 14 and then won 15 and was suddenly 1up. He finished a solid day's work with another birdie at 18 to hang on for a famous win over the Player of the Year.
Zach Johnson def. Jason Day, 3 and 2: Lets be blunt. Jason Day was 0-4-1 this week and it was remarkable his team kept the score so close without him. Zach Johnson on the other hand 3-0-1 for the week and that right there, along with a 4-1 thumping in the Thursday foursomes, are the major reasons why it's the US and not the Internationals are drinking champagne tonight. Johnson won the 2nd with a par, he never trailed and led the rest of the way. Day is so out of gas that Johnson only made 2 birdies and still won handily.
Branden Grace def. Matt Kuchar, 2 and 1: The undoubted star of the week was Branden Grace who didn't lose a match finishing a perfect 5-0. After he won the first two holes he never looked back and had luck on his side with an across the green 60 footer on the 9th to go 5up. Kuchar regained some form won four times on the back nine to make a match of it, but just ran out of holes.
I've been watching Grace win for years on the European Tour and if he decides to make the move from South Africa to the US, he will become a force on the PGA Tour.
Bill Haas def. Sangmoon Bae 2 up: Do you think somewhere in a back room like wrestling, the promoter gets together with the two captains and says " OK first Haas will get Bae in a camel clutch then gouge his eyes," I mean you couldn't have a finish like this unless it was scripted.
As I said earlier, it all came down to the final match and the final hole and after Bae's brilliant up-and-downs at 16 and 17 he gave himself a chance but as it turned out Haas won the hole anti-climatically, though, after Bae's chunked chip. The South Korean is heading to the army for 2 years and that's a long time to remember that chip, but I really think his time there will put into perspective what life and living is all about and he will realize that in the big picture of this world and all it's problems, playing golf is just a game...
But thanks to him and his 23 other pals, it was a hell of a game this week, and the best news is the Presidents Cup is back and we can all look forward to Liberty National in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in 2017.
Bryan Angus
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