THE UNITED STATES go into the final day of the Presidents Cup with a commanding lead of 13-9 over the Internationals at Royal Melbourne, as Tiger Woods finally managed to secure a win in the foursomes.
Captain Fred Couples persevered with the former world number one despite two opening losses, the first of which was a 7&6 hammering at the hands of Adam Scott and KJ Choi, and was rewarded when Woods got the better of that duo in partnership with Dustin Johnson.
While the American pair went on to lose to Koreans YE Yang and KT Kim in the fourballs, it was a successful day overall for Fred Couples’ side against the Internationals.
Jim Furyk continued to be the star of the tournament, beating Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley in tandem with Phil Mickelson, before defeating Ernie Els and Adam Scott 1 up in the four balls with Nick Watney. Mickelson had been stood down by Couples at his own request.
The Internationals’ only foursomes victory came when Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar lost to Ryo Ishikawa and Ernie Els 1 down, but they fared better in the fourballs, winning three of the five matches.
However, the Americans’ commanding lead is unlikely to be bested as neither side has recovered from such a deficit in the last eight matches.
