2015 Presidents Cup Day 1-2 Highlights
2015 Presidents Cup results: USA loses its commanding lead as Internationals fight back
Match 1: Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace vs. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson
International wins, 4&3 -- American captain Jay Haas made it clear he was going for the jugular in this second session when he put the power pairing of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson in the leadoff match. International captain Nick Price, however, had his strongest and most cohesive two-man unit going, in South African duo Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace. They were the only International pair to win a point on Thursday, so this was supposed to be a strength vs. strength match that would go the distance.
But Spieth and DJ looked shaky from start to finish, missing putts and hitting a variety of loose irons and wild drives. Grace and Oosthuizen, meanwhile, kept their form running throughout the match.
Match 2: Danny Lee and Sangmoon Bae vs. Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker
International wins, 1-up -- Fowler and Walker looked like the USA's most reliable pair through the first 27 holes of their two matches. Rickie did most of the work with his putter, draining everything on Thursday. But that streak ran out on the back nine on Friday, and the Korean-born duo delivered an enormous point for the International side on the very last stroke of the match. The two never lead, but Bae, the only Korean national on the International team, stood over a putt to steal a last-second one-up victory.
Match 3: Jason Day and Adam Scott vs. Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson
Halved match -- This was, by a good margin, the most action-packed and dramatic match of the session. It involved rules drama and an unprecedented penalty, a wild hole out from a fairway bunker, bombed putts and a full 18 holes to resolve it.
First, the sideshow: Phil Mickelson, playing in his 21st team match play competition for the US, made a horrible rules gaffe and rookie mistake. He changed the model of his golf ball on the 7th tee, which violates the one-ball rule. The penalty for this violation, however, was completely botched by the rules committee. Phil was told he was DQ'd from the 7th hole so he picked up his ball. Then on the next tee, there was a "match adjustment" assigned for the violation. Zach Johnson, who played by himself against Jason Day and Adam Scott, lost the hole. This "adjustment" added another hole deficit, so the USA team essentially lost it twice. The match came to the 7th green all square, and then the USA left it 2-down. The blow-by-blow of the sequence is here but it threw the match and session into confusing chaos.
Match 4: Steven Bowditch and Marc Leishman vs. Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes
USA wins, 2-up -- Holmes and Bubba, the country-ass bombers, were the only American team to go back-to-back and get two full points out of the first two days. Holmes is looking like a great captain's pick and fill-in for the injured Jim Furyk. Bubba specifically requested Holmes as a partner when he was added to the roster late last week, and the pair has worked out perfectly. They never trailed against their Aussie opponents and clinched the final point of the day to put the USA in front 5.5 to 4.5 heading to the weekend.
Match 5: Charl Schwartzel and Thongchai Jaidee vs. Chris Kirk and Bill Haas
International wins, 2&1 -- On paper, this was the least exciting match with some of the lesser-known and lower ranked players on each side. The fireworks up ahead largely obscured the anchor match, but the Internationals put their third point of the session on the board thanks to the Schwartzel-Jaidee team.
Haas and Kirk were the two American players to sit on Thursday and they did not exactly come to the course on Friday and light it up. Neither made a birdie in this best-ball format until Haas chipped in at the 14th. That's hard to do in best-ball but every player has to play two matches before Sunday singles so we'll see them again, maybe not together, on Saturday. Schwartzel poured in a lengthy putt on the 17th to finish it off and momentarily pull the matches all square at 4-4.
Match 1: Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace vs. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson
International wins, 4&3 -- American captain Jay Haas made it clear he was going for the jugular in this second session when he put the power pairing of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson in the leadoff match. International captain Nick Price, however, had his strongest and most cohesive two-man unit going, in South African duo Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace. They were the only International pair to win a point on Thursday, so this was supposed to be a strength vs. strength match that would go the distance.
But Spieth and DJ looked shaky from start to finish, missing putts and hitting a variety of loose irons and wild drives. Grace and Oosthuizen, meanwhile, kept their form running throughout the match.
Match 2: Danny Lee and Sangmoon Bae vs. Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker
International wins, 1-up -- Fowler and Walker looked like the USA's most reliable pair through the first 27 holes of their two matches. Rickie did most of the work with his putter, draining everything on Thursday. But that streak ran out on the back nine on Friday, and the Korean-born duo delivered an enormous point for the International side on the very last stroke of the match. The two never lead, but Bae, the only Korean national on the International team, stood over a putt to steal a last-second one-up victory.
Match 3: Jason Day and Adam Scott vs. Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson
Halved match -- This was, by a good margin, the most action-packed and dramatic match of the session. It involved rules drama and an unprecedented penalty, a wild hole out from a fairway bunker, bombed putts and a full 18 holes to resolve it.
First, the sideshow: Phil Mickelson, playing in his 21st team match play competition for the US, made a horrible rules gaffe and rookie mistake. He changed the model of his golf ball on the 7th tee, which violates the one-ball rule. The penalty for this violation, however, was completely botched by the rules committee. Phil was told he was DQ'd from the 7th hole so he picked up his ball. Then on the next tee, there was a "match adjustment" assigned for the violation. Zach Johnson, who played by himself against Jason Day and Adam Scott, lost the hole. This "adjustment" added another hole deficit, so the USA team essentially lost it twice. The match came to the 7th green all square, and then the USA left it 2-down. The blow-by-blow of the sequence is here but it threw the match and session into confusing chaos.
Match 4: Steven Bowditch and Marc Leishman vs. Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes
USA wins, 2-up -- Holmes and Bubba, the country-ass bombers, were the only American team to go back-to-back and get two full points out of the first two days. Holmes is looking like a great captain's pick and fill-in for the injured Jim Furyk. Bubba specifically requested Holmes as a partner when he was added to the roster late last week, and the pair has worked out perfectly. They never trailed against their Aussie opponents and clinched the final point of the day to put the USA in front 5.5 to 4.5 heading to the weekend.
Match 5: Charl Schwartzel and Thongchai Jaidee vs. Chris Kirk and Bill Haas
International wins, 2&1 -- On paper, this was the least exciting match with some of the lesser-known and lower ranked players on each side. The fireworks up ahead largely obscured the anchor match, but the Internationals put their third point of the session on the board thanks to the Schwartzel-Jaidee team.
Haas and Kirk were the two American players to sit on Thursday and they did not exactly come to the course on Friday and light it up. Neither made a birdie in this best-ball format until Haas chipped in at the 14th. That's hard to do in best-ball but every player has to play two matches before Sunday singles so we'll see them again, maybe not together, on Saturday. Schwartzel poured in a lengthy putt on the 17th to finish it off and momentarily pull the matches all square at 4-4.