Internationals stun US to lead Presidents Cup 4-1

MELBOURNE, December 12

A Presidents Cup rivalry all but buried by decades of American dominance flickered back to life at Royal Melbourne today, as the unfancied Internationals stormed to a 4-1 lead by routing Tiger Woods’ United States in the four-ball matches.

Ernie Els’ rookie-laden outfit played fearlessly on a gusty day at the sandbelt course as the Internationals secured a day one lead for the first time at the biennial tournament since 2003.

Woods, only the second playing captain in the 25-year history of the tournament, upheld his end of the bargain, as he anchored a comprehensive 4 and 3 win with Justin Thomas over Australian Marc Leishman and Chilean debutant Joaquin Niemann. But that was as good as it got for the star-studded United States, who were consistently bamboozled by Royal Melbourne’s fast and rippled greens and outplayed by a team featuring only Adam Scott in the top-20.

Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland had been branded a dream team by American media after the long hitters were named in a pair on the tournament eve. But they walked off 4&3 losers after a thrashing by South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Mexican Abraham Ancer.

Ancer had a fairytale first day off the tee and on the greens. He rolled in a monster 68-foot putt for birdie on the par-four 12th to restore a 4-up lead and all but seal the match.

Home hero Adam Scott and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun made it 2-1 for the hosts when Scott rolled in a six-foot putt for par on the 17th, clinching a 2 and 1 win over Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau. Canada’s Adam Hadwin and South Korean Im Sung-jae stretched the lead further with a hard-fought 1-up win against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

A banner day for the Internationals was complete on the 18th, when Patrick Reed missed a long putt to halve the hole and concede a second 1-up win to the duo of Hideki Matsuyama and CT Pan. Reed was under the microscope after a controversial bunker penalty in the Bahamas last week and was duly heckled by the crowd from the first tee.

He said the United States needed a “lot of attitude” to pull themselves back into the contest in the foursomes on Friday. — Reuters