PRESIDENTS CUP WILL BE DECIDED BY SUNDAY SINGLES
INCHEON, South Korea – The Presidents Cup is finally coming down to
the Sunday singles, with the U.S. holding a slim 9.5-8.5 lead, the
closest it's been prior to the final session since 2005 when the two
teams were tied at 11 points apiece.
Saturday afternoon's session finished at 2pt apiece.
That year the U.S. won 7.5 of the 12 singles points and took a cup they had won in 2000 and retained after a tie in 2003, but now the Internationals have a legitimate chance to win for the first time since 1998, a position captain Nick Price had hoped would materialize when he lobbied to reduce the amount of matches.
“I can't actually single out one particular thing,” Price said when asked if the closeness of the matches can be attributed to the changes in the matches or how his players have performed.
“But this is what we all came here for, for it to be exciting tomorrow. And obviously doing the singles, the setup for the singles is very difficult. But I'm going to go and ask my team to go and play golf tomorrow.
"Each and every one of them has to play golf tomorrow and play to the very best of their ability. That's all we can do.”
If Price had a dilemma on Saturday night, it was the fact that he had a very strong team in South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, the first International team to win all four of its team matches, but the rest of the International pairs have generally struggled.
With Oosthuizen going out first on Sunday morning against Patrick Reed, the International line-up loses steam right from its second spot.
Rickie Fowler plays Adam Scott in Match No. 2 with Scott having a lacklustre Presidents Cup at 0-2-2.
Then Dustin Johnson plays Danny Lee. Lee, a rookie, sat out all of Saturday and has a record of 1-1-0 in his first Presidents Cup.
Rounding out the first four pairings, J.B. Holmes will play Hideki Matsuyama
Matusyama has a record of 1-1-1.
That leaves Price not with a front loaded line-up, but a rickety trio in Scott, Lee and Matsuyama that have combined for a 2-4-3 record.
“I think it's an even spread, if you ask me, (top to) bottom," Price said. “You know what, you top load our top six or seven players on either team, (and they) are so evenly matched. It's a call. I mean, that's what you do.
"It's a call as a captain, and I think we all four of us went with our guts, gut feelings up there, as to how we do it. And I think we got some really good match-ups tomorrow."
Price is faced with the fact that none of his four Australians, Steven Bowditch, Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Scott, have won any of their matches – faltering to a combined record of 0-9-4 record.
The rookies, Sangmoon Bae, Steven Bowditch, Danny Lee, Thongchai Jaidee and Anirban Lahiri, have had some success going 4-6-1, but Price benched Bowditch, Lee and Jaidee on Saturday, not necessarily a confidence booster.
But maybe the move that may be questioned for a while, is putting South Korean Bae, with a record of 2-0-1 in the 12th spot against Bill Haas instead of in a place where he could not only get an early point, but stir the partisan crowd.
In the end, Price has been consistent that his team must play well on Sunday to win the cup, but clearly much will need to go right for that possibility to become reality.
“You get six of what you want and you get six of what you don't want when you do it this way,” Price said of the match-ups. "So it's a tough call. I mean, basically, you go to your team and say, guys, you've all got to go out and play golf tomorrow. I think they are all aware of it."
Saturday afternoon's session finished at 2pt apiece.
That year the U.S. won 7.5 of the 12 singles points and took a cup they had won in 2000 and retained after a tie in 2003, but now the Internationals have a legitimate chance to win for the first time since 1998, a position captain Nick Price had hoped would materialize when he lobbied to reduce the amount of matches.
“I can't actually single out one particular thing,” Price said when asked if the closeness of the matches can be attributed to the changes in the matches or how his players have performed.
“But this is what we all came here for, for it to be exciting tomorrow. And obviously doing the singles, the setup for the singles is very difficult. But I'm going to go and ask my team to go and play golf tomorrow.
"Each and every one of them has to play golf tomorrow and play to the very best of their ability. That's all we can do.”
If Price had a dilemma on Saturday night, it was the fact that he had a very strong team in South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, the first International team to win all four of its team matches, but the rest of the International pairs have generally struggled.
With Oosthuizen going out first on Sunday morning against Patrick Reed, the International line-up loses steam right from its second spot.
Rickie Fowler plays Adam Scott in Match No. 2 with Scott having a lacklustre Presidents Cup at 0-2-2.
Then Dustin Johnson plays Danny Lee. Lee, a rookie, sat out all of Saturday and has a record of 1-1-0 in his first Presidents Cup.
Rounding out the first four pairings, J.B. Holmes will play Hideki Matsuyama
Matusyama has a record of 1-1-1.
That leaves Price not with a front loaded line-up, but a rickety trio in Scott, Lee and Matsuyama that have combined for a 2-4-3 record.
“I think it's an even spread, if you ask me, (top to) bottom," Price said. “You know what, you top load our top six or seven players on either team, (and they) are so evenly matched. It's a call. I mean, that's what you do.
"It's a call as a captain, and I think we all four of us went with our guts, gut feelings up there, as to how we do it. And I think we got some really good match-ups tomorrow."
Price is faced with the fact that none of his four Australians, Steven Bowditch, Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Scott, have won any of their matches – faltering to a combined record of 0-9-4 record.
The rookies, Sangmoon Bae, Steven Bowditch, Danny Lee, Thongchai Jaidee and Anirban Lahiri, have had some success going 4-6-1, but Price benched Bowditch, Lee and Jaidee on Saturday, not necessarily a confidence booster.
But maybe the move that may be questioned for a while, is putting South Korean Bae, with a record of 2-0-1 in the 12th spot against Bill Haas instead of in a place where he could not only get an early point, but stir the partisan crowd.
In the end, Price has been consistent that his team must play well on Sunday to win the cup, but clearly much will need to go right for that possibility to become reality.
“You get six of what you want and you get six of what you don't want when you do it this way,” Price said of the match-ups. "So it's a tough call. I mean, basically, you go to your team and say, guys, you've all got to go out and play golf tomorrow. I think they are all aware of it."
Sangmoon Bae continues to win in front of South Korean countrymen
Sangmoon Bae boasts a 2-0-1 record at the 2015 Presidents Cup in his home country of South Korea.
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Getty Images
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Saturday, October 10, 2015
“I guess I should’ve put out Jesus Christ and his dad against these guys, huh?” Haas said.
Kirk and Walker ran into a buzzsaw by the names of Sangmoon Bae and Hideki Matsuyama, who combined to birdie nine of the first 11 holes in their four-ball match on Saturday afternoon.
How demoralising was this thorough beat-down? Well, the Americans assumed they already had lost the match on the 12th green.
“You know you’re getting whooped when that happens,” NBC’s Johnny Miller said. “I’ve never seen that before.”
Bae and Matsuyama took the Americans out of their misery one hole later in a 6-and-5 victory that is the largest margin of the competition.
The 23-year-old Matsuyama’s putter came to life in the afternoon session. He birdied four of the first six holes to spark the rout. The biggest of them had to be the putt at the sixth. After Kirk made birdie, Matsuyama poured in a 14-footer on top of him to prevent the U.S. from drawing even in the match. Up until that point, Bae, 29, had failed to contribute a birdie and was riding his partner’s coattails.
“We were joking that Sangmoon needed to join the party. So he did,” said Bae’s caddie, Matt Minister.
Bae rolled in birdie putts on the next three holes totaling a sum of 50 feet and the Internationals never looked back. The South Korean even hammed it up for the home crowd. At eight, Bae put his right hand to his ear as if to say, “I can’t hear you,” and then pumped his fist.
One hole later, he kicked up his left leg, hopped and raised his putter in his left hand in jubilation. The rout was on as the Bae/Matsuyama pair won five holes in a row.
“I would say it was one of the best matches that I've ever played,” Bae said.
The pairing of Bae and Matsuyama made sense in that Bae is the only other player on the International team that speaks Japanese. He learned the language while playing the Japan Golf Tour.
“We were able to communicate in Japanese and that really helped our chemistry,” Matsuyama said.
Bae was a captain’s pick and has rewarded Nick Price’s faith in him with a 2-0-1 record after being held out of the opening session. It’s all the more remarkable because Bae soon will begin his mandatory two-year military service in Korea. At the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, he attracted the largest crowds and received a hero’s welcome at every tee and green. Minister said the ovations gave him the chills. On Sunday, Bae likely will be playing his final competitive round for the foreseeable future. Price sent him out in the anchor singles match against Bill Haas. By then, the contest already could be decided or the entire outcome of the Presidents Cup could hang in the balance with the South Korean playing in front of his countrymen. It’s a scenario that Hollywood would reject, but Bae embraced the possibilities.
“This has been a very great week, and my only focus for tomorrow will be to play well, go out there and have fun,” he said. “I want to be totally relaxed and just focus on contributing to the victory of the International team possibly.”
SATURDAY AFTERNOON RESULTS
Sangmoon Bae-Hideki Matsuyama (Int) def. Jimmy Walker-Chris Kirk (U.S.), 6 and 5
Phil Mickelson-Zach Johnson (U.S.) def. Adam Scott-Anirban Lahiri (Int.), 3 and 2uld be even
Louis Oosthuizen-Branden Grace (Int.) def. Bubba Watson-J.B. Holmes (U.S.), 1 hole.
Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed (U.S.) def. Jason Day-Charl Schwartzel (Int.), 3 and 2
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, October 10, 2015
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