News: Presidents Cup
November 20 2011
8:37 am
Watch: Day 4 recap
Day 4 recap: The Presidents Cup 2011
In final-day play at The Presidents Cup, the American Team retains the Cup with a 19-15 advantage over the Internationals.
5:34 am
Woods finally gets some putts to fall
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
MELBOURNE, Australia — Tee to green? Tiger Woods had been really good all week at Royal Melbourne.
With a putter? Not so much. He couldn’t buy a putt. Too many lipouts, not enough center cuts.
Until Sunday.
Woods finally put together a complete performance in Sunday’s singles at The President Cup, and it paid off in a 4 and 3 win over Aaron Baddeley in a match that clinched the Cup for the United States. It’s the second consecutive Presidents Cup in which Woods provided the clincher.
Woods produced five birdies (and was conceded another one) against one bogey in a performance that was as dominant as any on the final day of competition. It was the payoff to a solid week of golf that had been frustrating for Woods because he couldn’t get any putts to drop. He entered Sunday with a 1-3-0 record, including a shocking 7 and 6 loss with Steve Stricker to K.J. Choi and Adam Scott in Thursday’s foursomes.
"Today," he said, "was a different deal."
Indeed. According to the match details, he rolled in a 10-footer at the fourth hole, a 17-footer at the fifth, a 21-footer at the sixth, a 10-footer at the eighth and a 17-footer at the 10th while also keeping his scorecard clean during that span by draining those testy 3-6 footers that had been troublesome at times this year.
Not until the 14th did he suffer his first bogey, and by then he had the match firmly in hand.
"He didn’t miss a putt inside 20 feet," Baddeley said. "That was the difference."
Woods saw his four days at Royal Melbourne as a continuation of his play at last week’s Australian Open, when he produced three solid rounds.
"I felt like I could easily have won that event if I had just putted halfway decent on Saturday," Woods said. "I was hitting the ball well enough. Unfortunately just had one bad day of putting which cost me an event.
Woods added: "This week, I played even better, and a lot of putts, they just didn’t go in (until Sunday)."
Teammate Steve Stricker gave Tiger "a little lesson" on the putting green, though, and that made a difference on Sunday. Woods said his body position felt more natural, he started seeing his line and could feel the release.
"Whatever he says about putting," Tiger said of Stricker, "I’m going to do."
Woods entered this week intent on proving Fred Couples’ faith in him as not only a Captain’s Pick, but a pick that was made six weeks before it had to be announced. Some questioned the timing of Couples’ decision; others wondered if Woods should be on the team at all as he worked through his swing changes with Sean Foley. Even International Captain Greg Norman said he would’ve selected PGA champ Keegan Bradley over Woods,
In the end, of course, Woods proved his doubters wrong. Something he has a habit of doing.
"I’m very pleased with the progress I’ve made with Sean," Woods said, "and it’s finally paying off under pressure."
On Sunday, that was good news for the U.S. Team.
And perhaps bad news for the rest of his PGA TOUR competitors in 2012.
12:33 am
Nervous early but U.S. ends on a roll
Highlights
In final-day play at The Presidents Cup, the American team retains the Cup with a 19-15 advantage over the Internationals.
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
MELBOURNE, Australia — There were some anxious moments early. The Internationals set the aggressive tone off the first tee by using driver. U.S. Captain Fred Couples was walking in circles, hoping his team could just win a hole.
In the end, no worries for the Americans. Needing to win five matches on the final day of singles competition to retain The Presidents Cup, the U.S. ending up winning six of the 12 matches to finish with a 19-15 advantage.
"I was very nervous," Couples said. "I really didn’t think Royal Melbourne was on our side today. But our guys closed it off."
This is the seventh time in nine Presidents Cup that the U.S. has emerged victorious. The win also avenges the Americans’ only loss in this event, 13 years ago here at Royal Melbourne. The only other time they didn’t win the Cup outright was in 2003 when they shared it with the Internationals.
Greg Norman’s squad, with five Australians on the roster, had high hopes coming into this week. But an 8-3 advantage for the Americans in foursomes proved to be too much to overcome.
"That’s what really put us behind the 8-ball," Norman said, "and we never really recovered."
Jim Furyk, the 2010 FedExCup champion, was the top point-getter for the U.S. He became just the fourth player in Presidents Cup history to win all five of his matches.
It was an emotional moment for Furyk after he closed out Ernie Els 4 and 3 on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Furyk won three matches with Phil Mickelson and one match with Nick Watney as his partners. He thanked both players for helping him grab a place in the record book
"I didn’t expect to play as well as I did," said Furyk, who did not win on the PGA TOUR this year, "but it had to do a lot with my putting this week."
As he did two years ago, Tiger Woods won the decisive point for the U.S. team, as he beat Aaron Baddeley 4 and 3 in the penultimate match.
Woods, a Captain’s Pick by Couples, justified his spot on the team as he finally holed some putts on Sunday after playing well from tee to green all week.
"I played well all week," Woods said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make putts. I hit putts well, but they just weren’t going in. Caught a lot of lips the first three days, first four matches.
“Today was a different deal. I, for some reason, felt it and they were pouring right in there.”
12:31 am
Match 34: Stricker def. Yang 2 and 1
MELBOURNE, Australia — Steve Stricker dearly wanted to play in the Presidents Cup.
So the 45-year-old worked with doctors and physical therapists to strengthen his neck and shoulder rather than opting for surgery during the offseason.
And on Sunday, Stricker went out and beat Y.E. Yang 2 and 1 in the final Singles match for the exclamation point as the Americans won the 2011 Presidents Cup. The win evened Stricker’s record this week at 2-2.
Yang drew first blood when he birdied the first hole but Stricker came back to even the match with a par at No. 3. The American won the next three holes, as well, with a bogey and two pars to seize control at 3 up.
Yang parred the seventh and ninth to narrow the gap but each time Stricker responded on the next to retain that 3 up lead. The Korean still wasn’t done, winning the 12th and 14th holes to get to 1 down, but an adventure in the tall grass proved costly at No. 16 and Stricker eeked out the win.
12:15 am
Match 30: Goosen def. Kuchar 1 up
MELBOURNE, AUstralia — Matt Kuchar clawed back but Retief Goosen hung tough to beat the American 1 up.
The victory was Goosen’s third in five matches this week at Royal Melbourne. But it came after Tiger Woods assured the United States of its seventh win in nine Presidents Cups.
Kuchar won the first hole with a par but Goosen promptly eagled No. 2 to even the proceedings. The South African then birdied the sixth and won Nos. 10 and 11 with pars to take a 3-up advantage.
Kuchar caught fire at that point, though, winning the next three holes with two birdies and a par. But Goosen seized the lead with a par at the 16th hole and brought it home for the Internationals.
12:00 am
Match 33: Woods def. Baddeley 4 and 3
MELBOURNE, Australia — In arguably his finest individual performance in months, Tiger Woods beat Aaron Baddeley 4 and 3 to give the United States the Presidents Cup.
Woods blasted out of a greenside bunker to a foot for a conceded birdie that would give the U.S. the win for the second straight Presidents Cup. The win was assured after Baddeley was unable to hole his chip for a halve to extend the match.
With the performance, Woods silenced the critics who questioned Couples’ using a Captain’s Pick on the former world No. 1. Woods was 5 under through 15 holes as he made six birdies.
Woods took the lead in the match with consescutive birdies on Nos. 5 and 6. He never trailed and eventually built a 5-up lead with a par at the 13th before Baddeley birdie the next to take the match to the decisive final hole.
Round 5: Presidents Cup
November 19 2011
11:55 pm
Done deal: U.S. wins Presidents Cup
MELBOURNE, Australia – The United States continued its domination of The Presidents Cup, officially clinching the trophy for the seventh time in nine attempts.
Just as he did two years ago at Harding Park, Tiger Woods won the decisive match to give the American an insurmountable lead. Woods, a Captain’s Pick by Fred Couples, beat Australian Aaron Baddeley 4 and 3 to provide the necessary 18th point for the U.S.
“It does feel good,” said Woods, who was in the penultimate match of the day. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come down to my match.”
Two matches were still unfinished when the U.S. clinched the Cup.
By winning at Royal Melbourne, the U.S. avenges its only Presidents Cup, which came here in 1998 when the International team dominated the event, winning by nine points.
Since then, the U.S. has won every Presidents Cup except in 2003 when the event ended in a tie and the teams shared the Cup.
The Americans’ dominance in foursomes competition proved too much for the International to overcome. The U.S. won eight of 11 matches in foursomes, including a 4-1 advantage in the Day 3 morning session that made an International comeback near impossible.
The U.S. needed to win just five of 12 singles matches coming into Sunday while the Internationals had to win eight of 12.
The first four players that International Captain Greg Norman sent out all won their matches, but the home team could not carry the momentum through the rest of its lineup.
The Internationals will get their next shot at winning the Cup in 2013 on U.S. soil at Muirfield Village.
11:43 pm
Match 31: Furyk def. Els 4 and 3
MELBOURNE, Australia — Jim Furyk completed an undefeated run through the 2011 Presidents Cup on Sunday when he beat Ernie Els 4 and 3.
Only three other players — Mark O’Meara in 1996, Shigeki Maruyama in 1998 and Tiger Woods in 2009 – have gone 5-0 at the biennial event. Furyk won three matches with Phil Mickelson at his side and the fourth with Nick Watney on Saturday afternoon.
Furyk’s point insured the United States at least a tie at the Presidents Cup. The U.S. now leads 17-14.
Furyk took the lead Sunday with a birdie on the second hole. He never trailed and doggedly built his advantage, twice getting to 4 up before earning the win.
The American now has a 20-10-3 record in seven Presidents Cup appearances. If Tiger Woods goes on to win his Singles match – he’s 4 up with four holes remaining – he and Furyk will be tied for the most matches won in Presidents Cup history.
11:35 pm
Match 26: Ogilvy def. Haas 2 up
MELBOURNE, Australia — Geoff Ogilvy completed an International sweep of the first four matches when he beat Bill Haas 2 up.
The point moved the International Team within three points of the U.S. at 16-13 — but needing to win the five remaining matches to win the Presidents Cup. The Internationals led in only one of those and another was all square.
Haas actually picked up the first win of the match when he parred the fourth hole. But Ogilvy birdied the next to square the affair and then went 1 up with a par at No. 8.
Haas, who didn’t make a birdie until the 17th hole, evened the match briefly when he parred No. 11. But Ogilvy, who grew up in a house adjacent to Royal Melbourne, responded with another birdie at the next and hung tough until Haas bogeyed No. 18 for the final margin.
11:28 pm
Match 32: Toms def. Allenby 7 and 5
MELBOURNE, Australia — David Toms won the first hole and never looked back as he handed Robert Allenby a 7 and 5 defeat.
Toms posted a 3-1 record, winning twice with Hunter Mahan as a partner, as well as picking up his third Singles win in four Presidents Cups. Allenby only won one hole Sunday as he went winless in four matches this week.
The point put the Americans within two of a win at the Presidents Cup. The U.S. leads 16-12.
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 
