Americans take record lead at Presidents Cup
Phil Mickelson rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Friday to cap off another big day for the Americans, who set a record for the largest lead after two sessions in Presidents Cup history.
Another day like this and that’s what the International team will be — history — as the U.S. has built an 8-2 lead.
Mickelson and Kevin Kisner never led against Jason Day and Marc Leishman until the par-3 18th hole at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J. Mickelson poured in his birdie putt, and Leishman missed his from about the same range.
About the only thing that went wrong was the celebration. Mickelson, who on Thursday cropped himself out of a selfie with the previous three U.S. presidents, missed a move in the “Three Amigos” dance with Kisner.
“I’m clearly the worst selfie taker. I’m the worst ‘Three Amigos’ dancer. But I can putt,” Mickelson said.
Mickelson, who has played in all 12 Presidents Cups, has 24 match victories to tie the record set by Tiger Woods in eight appearances. Woods was looking on in his role as an assistant to U.S. captain Steve Stricker.
And that’s about all the International team could do.
Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Hadwin were 2 up with four holes to play against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed and had to settle for a halve.
Justin Thomas, already with a big year behind him as a major champion and the FedEx Cup champion, teamed with Rickie Fowler for another easy victory. They have trailed only one hole in their two matches, and they became the first partnership to beat Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace.
The shortest match of the day belonged to American rookies Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman, who sat out the foursomes matches in the opening session. They were 3 up after four holes against Charl Schwartzel and Anirban Lahiri and never let up in a 6-and-5 victory.
Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, close friends and the past two U.S. Open champions, took their first lead on the par-3 10th with Koepka’s birdie, and Johnson showed rare emotion on his final two birdies in a 3-and-2 victory over Adam Scott and Jhonattan Vegas.
The Americans have a chance to clinch Saturday, which features four matches of foursomes in the morning and four matches of fourballs in the afternoon. Web.com Tour: Sam Saunders followed his opening 12-under-par 59 with a 66 to take a twostroke lead into the weekend in the Web.com Tour Championship at Atlantic Beach, Fla. Argentina’s Julian Etulain was second at 15 under after a 63.
Saunders is trying to regain his PGA Tour card in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals after finishing 129th in the FedEx Cup standings. He entered the week 24th in the race for 25 PGA Tour cards with $27,900 — the winner Sunday will get $180,000 — in the first three events.
Hunter Mahan missed the cut by a stroke with rounds of 70 and 68, costing the six-time PGA Tour winner a chance to regain his card in the series. European Tour: Tyrrell Hatton shot a 5-under 65 in miserable conditions in his second round to lead by three strokes at the British Masters in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where the leaderboard was dominated by English players.
Lee Westwood, who is hosting the tournament, and Ian Poulter also shot 65 and were two of four Englishmen in a five-way tie for second behind their compatriot.
Rory McIlroy responded to two bogeys in his first five holes that left him hovering around the projected cut, making birdie on Nos. 6, 11 and 17 for a 69, leaving him on 4 under overall.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia missed the cut, which was at 2 under, after rounds of 70 and 69.
New Zealand Women’s Open: Spain’s Belen Mozo will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the LPGA Tour event in Auckland after a 1under 71 Saturday helped her hold off challenges from Brooke Henderson of Canada and American Brittany Lincicome.