Some turnaround!
MELBOURNE, December 15
United States captain Tiger Woods led from the front as the Americans dominated today’s singles to overhaul the Internationals at the Royal Melbourne 16-14 and claim an eighth successive Presidents Cup.
Woods clinched a record 27th win in the event with a 3&2 victory over Abraham Ancer to fire up his team and then beamed from the sidelines as they landed crushing early blows before sealing the Cup with a match to spare.
“We did it together. We came here as a team. My teammates and my boys all played well, the captains did an amazing job,” a thrilled Woods said after the Americans sewed up their 11th win in the 13th Cup. “It’s been one of the more amazing challenges but … all the guys, they believed in one another and relied on one another.” Matt Kuchar rolled in the winning putt from just over five feet on the 17th as he halved his match with Louis Oosthuizen. Rickie Fowler halved the final match with Marc Leishman in front of a deflated gallery as the United States won eight of the 12 points on offer in a stinging Sunday reverse for the Internationals, who had led 10-8 overnight.
No team had won after trailing into the final day but the class and depth of the Americans prevailed when it mattered most.
“We were right there to the end … Just a couple of matches didn’t quite go our way,” rued Internationals captain Ernie Els. “We’re getting closer. We’ve just got to keep it up.” It has now been 21 years since the Internationals claimed their sole win, that victory coming at Royal Melbourne in 1998. — Reuters
11TH win for US in the 13 stagings of the tournament, having lost one and drawing the other in the biennial event
21 Years since the Internationals claimed their sole win — that victory came at the Royal Melbourne in 1998
43 At 43 Tiger Woods is the youngest captain in the event’s 25-year history
27 Victories for Tiger Woods in the event took him past compatriot Phil Mickelson’s 26 wins
We were right there to the end … Just a couple of matches didn’t quite go our way. We’re getting closer. We’ve just got to keep it up Ernie Els
We did it together. We came here as a team. My teammates and my boys played well, the captains did an amazing job Tiger Woods
