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Tiger with the fanatics in Melbourne
Smiling Tiger

Tiger back in the winners' enclosure as US secure Presidents Cup

The American team claimed another Presidents Cup win with a 19-15 victory over Greg Norman’s International squad.

TIGER WOODS CLINCHED the crucial point as the US won their fourth consecutive Presidents Cup by 19-15 at Royal Melbourne on Sunday.

Jim Furyk became only the fourth player to win all five of his matches, and the bottom half of the lineup was then strong enough to give the Americans their latest win over an International selection.

US captain Fred Couples was criticised for using a pick on Woods, who had been out with an injury most of the summer and had not won since his personal life crumbled two years ago. But the former world number one played well all week, even if he didn’t always get rewarded with a point.

In his singles match against Aaron Baddeley, he was never seriously challenged. Woods closed the match out, 4 and 3, and the celebration was on. It was left for Steve Stricker in the anchor match to beat Y.E. Yang and decide the final score.

“I was hoping it wasn’t going to come down to us,” Woods said. “I was hoping that Stricks and I could take a victory lap back here. But we didn’t get off to a good start early. I was telling Joey (LaCava) on the range, ‘It’s probably going to come down to the last four matches.’

“We needed to get our point, so we went out there and played really well and put a lot of heat on Badds.”

Couples insisted that Woods was always the right choice.

“He was ready for a month,” he said. “Certainly, I couldn’t answer how he was going to play, but this week I think he showed to himself that his swing is back and he’s healthy, and that’s more important to me.

“Obviously, we want to win the cup, but it’s more important for me to have people realise that he can play the game.”

He can celebrate too. Woods took his turn in joining in the Fanatics, the Aussie group that goes to big sporting events. Woods even donned one of their green caps and slapped hands in the crowd.

It was a small measure of revenge for the Americans, whose only lost came at Royal Melbourne in 1998. And it was vindication for Couples, who said a month early that he was taking Woods because he was the “best player forever”.

International captain Greg Norman got in on the debate, saying he would have taken PGA champion Keegan Bradley over Woods.

“(Tiger) stepped up to the plate. He putted extremely well,” Norman said. “Any player hates to see another great player struggle, because we all know what it’s like to go through the ins and outs of the game. At the end of the day, you want to see the player who has dominated the game come back.”

As for Couples’ taking Woods over Bradley? “I did make those comments,” Norman added. “I probably still would have gone for Keegan Bradley because he’s a major champion.”

The International team’s only win came 13 years ago at Royal Melbourne, when the Americans suffered their biggest loss in any team competition. There was no repeat this time, not even close.

The Americans led after each session, and their 13-9 lead going into the final session Sunday was too much for the International team to overcome, even with a loud and boisterous Australian crowd behind it.

Ryo Ishikawa, Charl Schwartzel, K.T. Kim and Geoff Ogilvy got the International side going, but the outcome was never seriously in doubt. Furyk, David Toms and Woods were at the bottom of the lineup, and none ever trailed.

Toms routed Robert Allenby, 7 and 5, giving the Australian a dubious distinction. He joined John Huston as the only captain’s picks to not win a single point.

Furyk, coming off his worst season since he was a PGA Tour rookie, joined Woods, Shigeki Maruyama and Mark O’Meara as the only players to record a 5-0 record in the Presidents Cup. Furyk made an eagle on the par-five second and beat Ernie Els 4 and 3.

“I felt better about my game than what I’ve been playing this year, and I kind of want to thank my partners,” said Furyk, who won three matches with Phil Mickelson and another with Nick Watney.

Couples wasn’t planning on Furyk winning all his matches. Then again, nothing ever surprises him.

“We needed it. He was a leader,” Couples admitted. “He and Phil told me, which was very odd — I wasn’t planning on it on Tuesday night — that they wanted to play together. And they rode and rode and rode. Jimmy going 5-0 is great.

“It’s cool. It’s unique. It’s fun. And I think he’s happy, as the rest of the 14 guys are.”

- Reporting from AP

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Associated Foreign Press