Round 5: Presidents Cup
November 19 2011
11:22 pm
Match 28: Watney def. Choi 3 and 2
MELBOURNE, Australia — Nick Watney earned his first point of the Presidents Cup on Saturday afternoon in Four-Balls and he rode that momentum into the Singles.
Watney beat K.J. Choi, who was the leading point-getter on the International side, by a 3-and-2 score in the sixth match on Sunday. The U.S. now needs three points to win the match.
Watney never trailed in the match after winning the fourth and fifth holes with a par and a birdie. Choi did manage to square the proceedings with a birdie at No. 7 and a par at the 11th but Watney won three of the next five to earn the win.
11:13 pm
Match 23: Kim defeats Simpson 1 up
MELBOURNE, Australia — Ryo Ishikawa told Greg Norman that K.T. Kim would win his match and the young Korean delivered, beating Webb Simpson 1 up in Sunday’s opener.
Kim appeared to hit his stride on Saturday afternoon when he and Y.E. Yang beat Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson. Some were surprised when Norman sent him off first in Singles, but the move was certainly rewarded.
Kim won the fourth and fifth holes with pars to put the International flag on the scoreboard early. He was the third International player to win in the first three matches, and a fourth was leading on the 18th hole when Kim finished.
Kim never trailed in the match, although Simpson did square the match with a birdie and a par at the 15th and 16th holes. Undaunted, Kim made a 10-footer for birdie at No. 17 and held on for the win.
11:04 pm
Match 24: Schwartzel def. Johnson
MELBOURNE, Australia — Charl Schwartzel made a 13-footer for birdie at the 17th hole to halve the hole and beat Dustin Johnson 2 and 1.
The victory was the second for the International and closed the gap to 14-12. Greg Norman’s team, which leads in four more matches, needs eight points to tie and nine to win the Presidents Cup.
Schwartzel took control of his match with Johnson early, making birdies on the second and third holes. Johnson cut into the lead with a par at the fourth hole but had to concede No. 7, and the South African was 3 up at the ninth after winning with a par.
A 6-foot birdie putt at the 11th hole gave Schwartzel a 4-up advantage. Johnson did manage to get two back with birdies but Schwartzel hung tough and delivered the win.
10:53 pm
Match 25: Ishikawa def. Watson
MELBOURNE, Australia — Ryo Ishikawa made short work of Bubba Watson on Sunday to earn the first point for the International Team.,
When the 20-year-old from Japan finished off his 3 and 2 victory, Greg Norman’s squad led in five other matches, including the first four. The International Team needs eight Singles wins for a tie and nine to win.
Watson actually won the first hole with a birdie but Ishikawa answered with a birdie of his own at the next to square the match. The Japanese pro then won three of the next four holes with a bogey, a par and a birdie to go 3 up.
Ishikawa double bogeyed the eighth hole to give one back but immediately got that back at the ninth when Watson made a bogey. He rolled in a 12-footer at No. 13 for another win and coasted home.
Watson did win the 15th hole when he two-putted for birdie from 43 feet on the par 5. But it was a case of too little, too late and a pair of bogeys at No. 16 sealed the International win.
Ishikawa, who was a late arrival at Royal Melbourne, has now played in two Presidents Cups and won both his Singles matches. He went 1-2 in the team matches, partnering with Ernie Els.
10:50 pm
Match 27: Mahan def. Day 5 and 3
MELBOURNE, Australia — Hunter Mahan never trailed on Sunday as he beat Jason Day 5 and 3 to earn the first point for the U.S. Team. It was also the first point of a hard-fought afternoon.
Mahan sealed the victory with a 13-footer for birdie at the 15th hole. The win was his fourth in five matches this week at the Presidents Cup.
The Americans now need four more points to win the Presidents Cup. When Mahan’s match was over, the U.S. led in five other matches and the Internationals in six.
Mahan won the first hole with a par and never looked back — building a 5-up advantage through eight holes. Day had a miserable front nine, shooting 44 with five bogeys and two double bogeys.
Day did manage to cut into Mahan’s lead briefly on the back nine, first with a birdie at the 11th and again when Mahan double bogeyed the 13th. But the American went back to 4 up with an 18-footer for birdie at the 14th hole and the match was dormie.
The Singles result had to feel good for Mahan, who lost the 17th hole and the deciding match at the Ryder Cup in Wales last year.
9:49 pm
Mahan solid, Day struggles
MELBOURNE, Australia — The last time Hunter Mahan played a Singles match for the U.S. the Ryder Cup was on the line.
Mahan ended up losing the 17th hole, as well as the match to Graeme McDowell, and that turned the tide in Europe’s favor. The loss was so painful Mahan broke down in the press conference after the event was over.
Mahan is having a much easier time on Sunday at the Presidents Cup with Jason Day, though. He’s 5 up through 10 holes and primed to put the first U.S. point on the board.
Day has experienced what can only be called a terrible afternoon. He shot 44 on the front nine, making five bogeys, two double bogeys and just three pars.
At one point, International Captain Greg Norman came over and talked with Day. When NBC’s Jimmy Roberts asked what he said, Norman just smiled and indicated he couldn’t repeat it on TV.
"I just told him we all go through things like this," Norman said. "I told him to keep his focus."
9:10 pm
Match update: International flavor
MELBOURNE, Australia – To win The Presidents Cup, the International team needs to win nine of 12 singles matches on Sunday.
Impossible task? Maybe not.
With all matches now on the course at Royal Melbourne, the International team has started out strong. Greg Norman’s squad leads in seven matches, with one other – Tiger Woods vs. Aaron Baddeley – all square through three holes.
Should the Internationals win eight matches, they would tie the U.S. and share the Cup. The home team entered Sunday’s play facing a 4-point deficit and an uphill climb.
But Korean K.T. Kim jumped out on top of Webb Simpson in the lead match. Charl Schwartzel is having no trouble with Dustin Johnson; neither is Ryo Ishikawa in his match against Bubba Watson. And Geoff Ogilvy leads Bill Haas in the fourth match of the day.
In addition, Adam Scott won his first three holes against Phil Mickelson.
For the Americans, Hunter Mahan (over Jason Day), Jim Furyk (over Ernie Els) and David Toms (over Robert Allenby) have the most comfortable leads.
8:17 pm
Furyk, Els should be tight battle
MELBOURNE, Australia — One of Sunday’s marquee matchups pits Jim Furyk of the U.S. against Ernie Els for the Internationals.
The American and South African are each playing in their seventh Presidents Cup, and both have solid records in Singles. Furyk is 4-2 while Els is 3-3. The two go off in the ninth match of the day with the International Team trailing 13-9 and facing a stern challenge.
Furyk likely comes in with more confidence — he was on a winning team in his first four matches this week and has a chance to become just the fourth player to go 5-0. Els, on the other hand, is 1-3-0 this week, with his one win coming in Foursomes with Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa.
"We have to do a Brookline, we have to do a miracle tomorrow," Els said. "It can be done. The guys are in there and they are ready to go. It’s going to be a once in a lifetime deal if we pull it off, but it can be done."
Furyk said the Americans are wary, even though the U.S. owns a four-point advantage and no team has ever come from behind on Sunday to win the Presidents Cup. He was on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1999 that overcame the same deficit in Singles by winning a phenomenal 8 1/2 points.
"I think first and foremost, we have to feel very fortunate we are in the position that we are in; that we played well and we earned it to this point," the veteran said. "But … I remember at Brookline, one of the players on the other team making the comment that ‘this is over,’ in the press room, and that’s actually the wrong attitude to have and maybe it’s one of the reasons it bit them.
"I think we as a team have to realize … that we have to come out firing … and it’s important for each and every one of us of the 12 players to go out there and work the hardest they can to get their point. We’ll look forward to it.
"It’s a bunch of good players on the other side, and I think the attitude, though, is … you get 2 up with four to play, you don’t let your guard down. You keep trying to keep the pedal down and keep trying to win another hole and that’s what we need to do (Sunday). You need to keep that pedal down and try to win our matches."
7:19 pm
Norman looks for history on Sunday
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
MELBOURNE, Australia — Greg Norman knows what has to be done on Sunday.
"It’s always great to create history, isn’t it?" the smiling International Team captain told NBC’s Jimmy Roberts as the second Singles match got under way on the final day of the Presidents Cup.
Norman’s team trails the U.S. 13-9 and needs to win nine matches in order to capture the Cup. The Internationals have only prevailed in the Singles session once in the previous nine Presidents Cups, winning it 7-5 in 2007 at Royal Montreal
The only International victory at the Presidents Cup came at Royal Melbourne in 1998 when they took a lopsided 20 1/2-11 1/2 victory.
"The message I gave the guys last night before they went to bed was to think about the greatest come-from-behind victories in sports," Norman said. "I told them to think about that because it can be done."
The wind at Royal Melbourne has changed and will blow in from the west/southwest at 15-25 mph. Norman said Nos. 6-11 and perhaps the final two or three holes will be most affected by the stiff breezes.
"This is not the easiest of winds," Norman said. "… But this is mano y mano, and you’ve got to go out and get it."
Norman’s American counterpart, Fred Couples, knows his team is in the driver’s seat but he wanted to be sure the U.S. players didn’t let up.
"It’s an individual day but it’s a team day, too, and our guys are going to rock," Couples to Roberts. "We know they are going to come out firing, too.
"I told our guys that everybody needs a point. If they don’t get one they’re just going to make it tougher on the guys behind them."
Couples then walked over to Norman, who was surrounded by a group of Australian fans clad in yellow shirts and green Hogan caps. The fans started singing and Norman and Couples played along, even donning the green caps, then hugged and high-fived each other before casting an eye on the action again.
Norman kept the Hogan cap he borrowed, turned it backwards and watched the rest of the action on the first tee.
6:51 pm
International Team faces big challenge
MELBOURNE, Australia – The International Team will have the partisan crowd on its side on a sunny and cool Sunday at Royal Melbourne.
Trailing by four points, though, Greg Norman’s squad faces an uphill battle in Sunday’s Singles matches. The Internationals have only won the session once in the nine previous Presidents Cups – winning seven of the 12 head-to-head battles at Royal Montreal in 2007.
A team needs 17 1/2 points to win the Presidents Cup, so the Internationals, trailing 13-9, would need an historic rally. But it wouldn’t be unprecedented in global team competition – the U.S. scored 8 1/2 points on a thrilling Sunday at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., to rally and win the 1999 Ryder Cup.
Wonder if Greg Norman had the same kind of “feeling” Ben Crenshaw did 12 years ago?
| Year | Score entering Singles | Final score |
| 1994 | U.S. led 12-9 | U.S. wins 20-12 |
| 1996 | U.S. led 10 1/2-9 1/2 | U.S. won 16 1/2-15 1/2 |
| 2000 | U.S. led 14-6 | U.S. won 21 1/2-10 1/2 |
| 2003 | Internationals led 12 1/2-9 1/2 | Internationals, U.S. tie 17-all |
| 2005 | Internationals, U.S. tied 11-11 | United States wins 18 1/2-15 1/2 |
| 2007 | U.S. leads 14 1/2-7 1/2 | U.S. wins 19 1/2-14 1/2 |
| 2009 | U.S. leads 12 1/2-9 1/2 | U.S. wins 19 1/2-14 1/2 |
| 2011 | U.S. leads 13-9 | TBD |
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