Presidents Cup: Mickelson’s putting helps U.S. take record lead

JERSEY CITY, N.J.— Phil Mickelson rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to cap off another big day for the Americans and 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.

Mickelson and Kevin Kisner never led against Jason Day and Marc Leishman until the par-3 18th hole Friday at Liberty National. 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 last 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.

Even that felt like a small victory for the International team because Spieth had birdie putts on the final two holes that narrowly missed the mark.

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.

With an 8-2 lead, the Americans have a mathematical chance to clinch on Saturday, which features four matches of foursomes in the morning and four matches of fourballs in the afternoon.