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US beats Internationals to claim Presidents Cup

Woody Austin of the US wears swimming goggles as he plays the 14th hole at the Presidents Cup on Sunday in Montreal. Austin fell in the water while playing a ball on the 14th hole on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Phil Mickelson, Scott Verplank and Stewart Cink won the deciding matches on Sunday to bring the US their first Presidents Cup victory over the Internationals off home soil by a score of 19.5 to 14.5.

The US team improved to 5-1-1 against their non-European rivals and sent a message that they intend to make a tougher fight at next year's Ryder Cup after losing five of the past six to the Europeans.

"We came into this week with a little score to settle in the international golf arena and I think we showed everybody that we can play again," said Cink, whose 6-and-4 victory over Australian Nick O'Hern provided the clinching point.

Mickelson, 0-3-3 in prior Cup singles, beat Fiji's Vijay Singh 5 and 4, Verplank 4-0 and South African Rory Sabbatini 2 and 1.

"Scott Verplank was my rock," US captain Jack Nicklaus said. "Phil was great and Stewart played great. That's what we needed. We've squeezed it out."

With most of the attention focused on Canadian Mike Weir's 1-up victory over world No. 1 Tiger Woods, there was little reaction from the fans at the 14th hole when Cink closed out the US team's triumph.

"I'm happy to be the one to clinch the Cup," Cink said. "When you're by yourself it means you won your match early. You don't want to keep playing golf when you're ahead."

Once Cink pushed the US across the line at Royal Montreal Golf Club, the Internationals finished well but victories by Weir, Australian Adam Scott, Argentina's Angel Cabrera and South Korean K.J. Choi only shrank the final gap.

"It's disappointing for us, but I played better every day," Scott said. "It's just hard-fought matches. The US played great throughout the week and we left ourselves a lot to do."

Internationals players, who won in 1998 at Australia and drew in 2003 at South Africa, had never outscored US rivals in any Presidents Cup singles session until doing so 7-5 on Sunday.

"Our guys can hold their heads high," Internationals captain Gary Player said. "They won more singles matches, made a match of it."

Mickelson lost the first hole but won four of the next six and never trailed again while Cink began with five birdies to humble O'Hern, who twice has beaten Woods in match-play.

"We wanted the momentum," Mickelson said. "I was fortunate to get off to a good start and was able to close it out early."

Verplank birdied the last two holes and improved to 10-3 in the Presidents and Ryder cups to keep Sabbatini winless in team competitions.

"I just love playing team golf," Verplank said. "I have a pretty good record because I enjoy it so much. I feel like I'm a pretty good teammate and I know how to work with teammates, too."

South Africa's Ernie Els, 3-down after six holes, won four of his last six holes to beat US rookie Hunter Mahan 2-up, but that only delayed defeat.

"I was in deep trouble," Els said. "I got off to a slow start. I bettered myself and got back into the game, made some birdies on the back nine and got it done."

David Toms beat South African Trevor Immelman 2-up after the outcome was no longer in doubt to become the week's top US point producer at 4-0.

Jim Furyk dropped his first Cup singles match in five starts, falling 2 and 1 to South African Retief Goosen in the last match to finish.

Weir's emotional comeback triumph over Woods before a loud crowd was not an anti-climax for the home-nation star, who went a Cup-best 3-1-1 this week. Weir ranked beating Woods with his 2003 Masters victory as his greatest in golf.

"Winning the Masters was such a thrill. It's right there with it," Weir said. "I had to play my absolute best to beat him.

"To have this kind of support, it's overwhelming. I have a tough time putting into words what this really means to me, maybe even more special than the Masters," he said.
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