South Korea’s Kim Kyung-tae drained a clutch putt on the 18th hole to beat Tiger Woods in their four-ball match and give the Internationals a glimmer of hope with the US closing in on a seventh Presidents Cup victory yesterday.
Partnered with Y.E. Yang, Kim’s six-foot knee-trembler in front of a massive gallery at Royal Melbourne sealed a 1-up victory over Woods and Dustin Johnson as the Internationals edged the US 3-2 in the four-ball matches.
Having dominated the morning foursomes 4-1 on a wet and windy day, the US carry a 13-9 point lead into today and need only five wins from the 12 singles matches to clinch their fourth straight trophy at the venue of their sole loss in 1998.
Photo: AFP
Kim and Yang’s personal triumph marked a banner day for South Korea as K.J. Choi partnered with Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy to defeat Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar 1-up.
However, the Internationals’ traditional weakness in the alternate shot format might ultimately prove decisive as the disparate band of nations once again failed to gel.
Having lost 4-2 in Thursday’s foursomes, they finished 8-3 for the tournament in the format, which the US play on alternate years in the Ryder Cup.
“It’s a hell of a tough task. I’ve seen so many captains come and go, and you know, we still haven’t got the formula right,” South Africa’s Ernie Els said. “But it’s a difficult thing to get going, but once that clicks, you know, this could be a lot different, but we’ve got to find that formula.”
Retief Goosen and fellow South African Charl Schwartzel ended the dream run of Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson in the first four-ball match, but the US hit back through Billy Haas and Hunter Mahan.
Mahan rolled in a 22-foot putt on the par-four 17th to seal a 2-and-1 win over Australians Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day and celebrated a win in an atmosphere he likened to the Ryder Cup.
Adam Scott, who partnered Els, had a chance to steal a late half-point against Jim Furyk and Nick Watney on the 18th, but his long putt slid right of the hole as the US won the final matchup 1-up to snatch back the momentum at the close.
The US were earlier sparked by a third leadoff win by Cup debutants Watson and Simpson, who marched to a 3-and-2 win over Australians Robert Allenby and Ogilvy, their third straight victory.
Mahan and David Toms had teamed up to thrash Goosen and Schwartzel 5-and-4, while Woods broke his points drought by teaming up with Johnson to down Adam Scott and Choi 3-and-2.
Phil Mickelson and Furyk closed out their third successive win with a 2-and-1 victory over Baddeley and Day.
Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa provided a rare bright bright patch on a gloomy morning for the Internationals with some brilliant clutch putting late in his matchup with Els to win a point against Haas and Kuchar.
He finished off nervelessly sinking a five-footer to seal the win and give the pair a breakthrough victory after two straight losses to Watson and Simpson in their opening matches.
Staring at his second straight Cup defeat as captain against US captain Fred Couples, this time on home soil, Greg Norman tried to keep positive in the face of the mammoth task to upend the US today.
“Right now, we have got our backs against the wall, no question about it and you’ve got to believe that you can come back,” he said. “I believe the guys can.”
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