Sunday's
Presidents Cup capsules
Courtesy of PGATour.com
| Match 1 |
Justin Leonard def. Tim Clark, 4
and 3 |
|
| Leonard, one of the two U.S. Captain's Picks, rewarded
Jack Nicklaus' faith in him when he polished off a standout Presidents
Cup with a 4-and-3 victory over Clark. The two have similar styles
and demeanors, and "it was like a couple of bulldogs going at it,"
Leonard said. The Texan, who had never won a singles match in three
previous Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups, did not trail in the
match with South African. Leonard, who compiled a 3-1-1 record this
week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, used a pair of eagles on the
back nine to pull away. The point gave the U.S. Team its first lead
of the competition. |
| Match 2 |
David Toms def. Trevor Immelman,
2 and 1 |
|
| Down by two after two holes, Toms bounced back to
win three straight to go 2 up. Immelman, a rookie, didn't back down,
though. Instead, he evened it up, winning the eighth and ninth holes.
They matched birdies at the 10th, eagles at the 12th, then birdied
the 13th to go 1-up. He added another at No. 15, then closed it
out with a pair of pars at Nos. 16 and 17. "I had to find something,
dig deep,'' said Toms, who was diagonosed with a heart problem after
being carried off the course at the 84 LUMBER Classic and also had
to deal with Hurricane Rita, which blew through his hometown of
Shreveport. "There were a lot of ups and downs. I was looking forward
to getting inside the ropes and competing.'' He promised his team
a point and he delivered to make it 13-11 in favor of the U.S. |
| Match 3 |
Retief Goosen def. Tiger Woods,
2 and 1 |
|
| Goosen gave the Internationals some hope when he
beat the game's No. 1 player to pick up their first point of the
day. The quiet South African was a putting machine Sunday, which
enabled him to more than overcome an erratic driver. Woods held
the edge early after a trio of birdies that began at the second
hole. But Goosen took a 1-up lead with consecutive birdies on the
ninth and 10th holes and never trailed again, although Woods evened
the match three more times. As Woods tangled with a walnut in the
rough on the 16th hole, though, Goosen hit his approach to 23 feet
and made the putt to go 1 up. Woods had even more difficulty on
the 17th hole, sending his drive into the bushes and having to kneel
down to hit it back out into the rough. Woods wrenched his upper
back on his third shot and was unable to convert the resulting 19-footer
for par to give Goosen the victory. Only Shigeki Maruyama, who went
5-0 in 1998, has won more points for the Internationals. "It was
a great match," said Goosen, who is 4-0-1 this week. "Between the
two of us, we didn't strike the ball all that well. I just putted
better than him." |
| Match 4 |
Kenny Perry def. Mark Hensby, 4
and 3 |
|
| Winless throughout the first three days and using
a new driver, Kenny Perry put on a brilliant display of shot-making,
registering eight birdies in 15 holes and punctuating his victory
with a wedge to within inches of the hole at the 15th to close out
Australia's Mark Hensby. "I've been beat on so bad this week. I
came out today and was ready to play. I finally got to where I could
breathe," said Perry, who shot a 5-under-par 31 on the front to
streak out to a 5-up advantage. His first three birdies on Nos.
3-5 were from no longer than 9 feet. Hensby managed to win two holes
at Nos. 10 and 13, but Perry answered with consecutive birdies,
including that brilliant wedge at the 15th, to close things out.
|
| Match 5 |
Fred Couples def. Vijay Singh,
1 up |
|
| A familiar opponent produced a familiar result for
Fred Couples. Trading jabs with Vijay Singh, the No. 2 player in
the world, Couples drained a 21-foot birdie putt on the home hole
to win his first match of the week and keep Singh winless in 2005.
Nine years ago, Couples sank a long putt for birdie on the 17th
hole to lock up a 2-and-1 win over Singh that gave the U.S. the
Presidents Cup. The two also squared off in 1998 and halved their
match. Singh, 0-2-3 this week and now 1-3-2 in singles, struggled
for much of the match, making only one birdie and an eagle. Couples,
who won despite making four bogeys, led 2 up through 11 holes when
he birdied the eighth and 10th with a pair of 3-foot putts. Singh's
tap-in eagle at No. 12 and conceded birdie at the 16th evened things
until the last, where Singh, after a wayward drive, hit his approach
through the green and chipped to 5 feet. Couples, putting on a similar
line, then drained the winner, raising both arms skyward as the
putt dove in. "It was huge," an elated Couples said. "To hole that
putt -- I did it at the old 17 how many years ago against him. Eight
out of 10 times he probably wins. It was a great match. This is
certainly exciting for me." |
| Match 6 |
Mike Weir def. Scott Verplank,
3 and 2 |
|
| It was a tough week for Mike Weir. Until Sunday,
that is. All those putts and shots that weren't there earlier showed
up in singles as Weir upset Verplank in the sixth match of the day.
Weir, who was down by 2 after three holes and all square at the
eighth, took the lead at the 10th, then reeled off three consecutive
birdies, including a 6-footer at the 16th, to close out Verplank
3 and 2. Verplank had a chance to extend the match at the 16th,
but he missed the green and his chip came up short. "I had to battle
all day,'' he said. |
| Match 7 |
Jim Furyk def. Adam Scott, 3 and
2 |
|
| Hurting but determined, Jim Furyk remained unbeaten
in singles play at his fourth Presidents Cup with a steady 3-and-2
victory over Adam Scott. Furyk, who made six birdies, including
four in the first six holes, went 3-0-2 in this year's Presidents
Cup. "It's not about individuals, it's about our team," Furyk said.
The American never trailed against the Aussie, who suffered his
first loss this week. Furyk birdied Nos. 2-4, the first two with
6-foot putts, and his lead never dropped below two. |
| Match 8 |
Peter Lonard def. Stewart Cink,
3 and 2 |
|
| It wasn't close. Really. Lonard jumped out to a 1-up
start on the first hole and Cink squared it at the third. Lonard
took the lead back at the fourth hole, though, and hung on. Cink
kept chipping away, including a brilliant eagle at the 10th, but
Lonard kept answering everything thrown at him. He birdied the 14th
to go 2 up, then birdied the 16th to get the 3-and-2 win. Cink finishes
1-3-1; Lonard 2-2-0. |
| Match 9 |
Michael Campbell def. Fred Funk,
3 and 2 |
|
| Campbell, who won the HSBC World Match Play Championship
last weekend, was in control of this match from the outset as he
made birdie on the first hole. Funk won the par-5 third but the
Kiwi answered with birdies on two of the next three holes to get
a cushion he wouldn't relinquish. The American chipped away at Campbell's
advantage but he could never square the match again. The victory
was the third for the U.S. Open champion, whose Presidents Cup record
is now 4-2-2 overall. |
| Match 10 |
Davis Love III def. Nick O'Hern,
4 and 3 |
|
| The clincher. When O'Hern missed a long birdie attempt
at the 15th, it was all over. For him and, virtually, for the Internationals.
Love birdied the first hole and never looked back as he earned the
U.S. its 17th point, thus ensuring the Internationals could not
win the Cup outright. Love went 2 up at the fifth hole and was 4
up by the seventh. Although O'Hern did make a few putts down the
stretch -- he won the eighth and ninth holes -- Love went back up
by three at No. 11 when O'Hern bogeyed. Love missed a 27-footer
for birdie at the 15th, but O'Hern conceded the 11-inch par putt
for Love's 4-and-3 win. |
| Match 11 |
Phil Mickelson and Angel Cabrera,
Halved |
/
|
| They played the only match that went past the 18
th hole and the only one that ended up all square. Phil Mickelson
and Angel Cabrera of Argentina waged a fierce struggle with the
last five holes of regulation won outright by one or the other with
birdies. Mickelson held control of the match for much of the day,
leading by as much as 2 up through the ninth, but a bogey by Lefty
at No. 10 got Cabrera back into the picture. Cabrera drew all square
when his approach from 184 yards stopped less than 2 feet away for
birdie at the 14th. Mickelson countered with a shot to within a
foot at No. 15 only to watch Cabrera drain consecutive birdies at
the 16th and 17th from 8 and 10 feet, consecutively, to grab his
only lead of the match. Mickelson wasn't done, however, hitting
a wedge to 4 feet and converting to tie it and send it on to extra
holes. Both players were just off the green in two shots on the
first extra hole when Chris DiMarco sank a 15-footer to beat Stuart
Appleby 1 up and give the U.S. Team 18 points and the overall victory
in The Presidents Cup. That relegated the Mickelson-Cabrera match
to a halve. |
| Match 12 |
Chris DiMarco def. Stuart Appleby,
1 up |
|
| At the start of day DiMarco figured his match wouldn't
count; that the Americans would have the Presidents Cup locked before
match 12. He was wrong. The closest match of the day was also the
clincher. The match went back and forth with DiMarco taking the
lead three times and Appleby squaring it back. Appleby took the
lead for the first time all day at the 16th when DiMarco drove into
the bunker and eventually conceded the hole to Appleby. But he tied
it back up to set the stage for the thrilling 18th. Appleby put
it 21 feet and DiMarco, who had 146 to the pin, put it 15. Appleby
actually birdied four of the previous five holes, but missed one
last birdie. DiMarco rolled his in to give the U.S. the overall
victory. |
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