Spieth gives Americans a boost
U.S. has slight edge heading into Sunday at Presidents Cup
INCHEON CITY, SOUTH KOREA Jordan Spieth started doing Jordan Spieth things again Saturday in the Presidents Cup— even in the dark.
Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson kept doing their thing, too.
And the Americans were again in a familiar spot — leading this biennial match-play tussle, 9½-8½, heading into Sunday’s singles.
“The entire Presidents Cup is going to come down to singles,” Mickelson said after the two teams each earned four points on a wet, cool, windy and wild day that was full of birdies at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
The day started with a one-hour delay because of storms and ended with Spieth making par 20 minutes after sunset on the 16th hole to close a U.S. win.
“It was extremely dark,” Spieth said. “I would call it unplayable. I don’t think it was necessarily a good idea for either one of our teams to tee off on 15, but when you wake up at 5:10 a.m. and you’re there at 7 and you don’t want to get back up at 5 a.m. the next day. If it was a tied match, we would not have played the 16th hole. It was too dark.”
Spieth, the two-time major winner and world No. 1, canned putts on the final two holes for wins as he and Dustin Johnson defeated world No. 2 Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel, 1 up, in the anchor match of the morning Foursomes to keep the U.S. up by one point.
Then the Texas wonder, reunited with Patrick Reed in the anchor match of the afternoon Fourballs, made eight birdies in a 3-and-2 win against Day and Schwartzel.
Spieth and Reed remain undefeated as a duo — they went 2-0-1 in the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Among Spieth’s birdies were an assortment of mid-range putts and a hole-out from a green side bunker.
“I had been told earlier on that I was going to team up with my ex-girlfriend here, Patrick, who I had split up with for a little bit,” Spieth said to laughter. “I knew that maybe we could get things back on track, and the first couple holes, we couldn’t get it to go. And boy, we rattled off a lot of putts. I think we were 9or 10-under as a group; in this best-ball format, with no bogeys, whenever I made a mistake, he was there; and when he did, I was there.
“That earlier match this morning was unlike any one that I’ve ever been a part of, where you’re down that late and to be able to come back. And then this afternoon was just a lot of fun.”
The Americans also got amuch-needed point from Johnson and Mickelson, the controversial captain’s pick. The two improved to 2-0-1 as they defeated Adam Scott and Anirban Lahiri, 3 and 2. The Americans won the first hole and never trailed.
“We’ve accepted from the beginning we’re going to hit some bad shots but we both feel good about our game and we can accept the bad shots and move on,” Johnson said. “If I hit a bad shot, I feel like my next thought is I’m going to laugh because he either makes fun of me or says something sarcastic and gets me back to where I need to be. Quite frankly, it may sound a little idiotic but it’s simple and great in a team tandem. I’ve enjoyed the last three days.”
The Internationals remained close because of Korean hero Sangmoon Bae and partner Hideki Matsuyama and the team of Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen. Bae, the only Korean-born player in the event, and Matsuyama won the first hole and then really took off against Chris Kirk and Jimmy Walker.
With 50 feet worth of putts, Bae went back-to-back-to-back for birdies starting on the seventh to increase the lead to 4 up at the turn. The two combined for nine birdies in the first 11 holes to overwhelm Kirk and Walker, 6 and 5.
“Even though I’m not Korean, being out there today with Sangmoon Bae and the great enthusiasm and cheering from all of the crowd, really lifted my spirits and made me feel right at home,” Japan’s Matsuyama said.
Added Bae: “This ismy personal honor, and also, I want to thank Captain Price for giving me this opportunity to be part of this year’s International team. And I also thank all the fans in Korea and around the world for supporting me. This has been a very great week, and my only focus for tomorrow will be to play well, go out there and have fun.”
Oosthuizen and Grace became only the second team to go 4-0 in the Presidents Cup when they completed a 1-up victory against Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes. Coupled with their 3-and-2 win against Rickie Fowler and Reed in the morning foursomes, Oosthuizen and Grace didn’t trail once in the 34 holes they played.
Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods, in 2009, is the only other team to go 4-0.
“I think the team is real excited for tomorrow. It was a great day and we are in a great position,” Grace said. “Obviously we would have liked to be square going into tomorrow, but there’s a lot of golf still to be played.
“But today was just unbelievable. I think we had a great few days, a great four wins, and we really played some great golf the last couple of days. … Louis stepped in there plenty of times when he had to, and in the afternoon, you know, there’s no “I’’ in a team. We played some great golf. When one was in trouble, the other kicked in. Just a remarkable round of golf.”