Americans in foreign territory, trailing at President’s Cup
MELBOURNE, Australia — Tiger Woods looked good as ever playing in the Presidents Cup.
As captain, he and his American team found itself trailing for the first time in 14 years.
An inspired International team shook off an opening fourballs loss to Woods and Justin Thomas by getting big shots and key putts from rookies and veterans alike. It won the other four matches Thursday, never trailing in three of them, and wound up with the start it needed in a bid to win for the first time since 1998.
The International team won the opening session 4-1, its best start ever and first time it led after any session since 2005.
“This is the start we needed,” Adam Scott said after he recovered from his own nerves in Australia. “We haven’t seen this for a while. We’ve got to try to keep this lead now as long as possible, and hopefully the week runs out.”
Woods showed off an exquisite short game, building a 2-up lead after two holes with pitch-and-run shots that set up easy birdies. He chipped in for birdie on the par-5 fifth, and closed out the match with an 8-foot birdie on the par-5 15th, his sixth birdie in the 15 holes he and Thomas needed to beat Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann.
Woods is the first playing captain since the first Presidents Cup in 1994, and it was his first time playing since 2013. It was his 25th victory in the Presidents Cup, one short of the record held by Phil Mickelson.
Asked what worked well in their first time playing together, Thomas replied, “Tiger was working well.“
Little else did for the Americans, but that was more a product of great play by the International team that Ernie Els assembled to try to win the Presidents Cup for the first time since 1998, its only victory. It has lost seven in a row since a tie in South Africa in 2003.
Even the normally stoic Hideki Matsuyama showed just how much this week means, fist-pumping his way to victory. Matsuyama holed a 25-foot birdie on the 17th for a 1-up lead with C.T. Pan, leading to the final victory of the session over Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson.
Abraham Ancer of Mexico, one of seven rookies on his team, and Louis Oosthuizen opened with five straight birdies and build a 4-up lead through five holes on their way to a win over the American power duo of Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland.
Also winning for the International team were Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im (over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay) and Byeong Hun An and Scott (over Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau).
“We’ll celebrate this little session victory, and then we’ve got a couple more to go,“Els said.
Next up is foursomes matches, a U.S. strength in the Presidents Cup.
“We have to earn the cup,” Woods said, perhaps a reminder that history only goes so far inside the ropes. “It’s a long week. We’re not out of it yet.”