Sports

Final-hole dramatics give US new life at Presidents Cup

MELBOURNE, Australia — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan turned to a Post reporter at the 10th green at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club on Friday and said, “Now this is where things can start to flip.”

It seemed like wishful thinking at the time. The U.S. stood 4-down with one match tied as all five matches headed to the back nine. It looked even more dire when the Internationals posted the first two points to take a commanding 6-1 lead overall.

But the Americans would steal the momentum by sending the next three matches to the 18th hole, where they won two and halved the other to breathe life into their chances of keeping the Presidents Cup. Dramatic birdies on the final green by Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas gave the U.S. two much-needed points and Rickie Fowler made a knee-knocking par for a half point cutting the Internationals’ advantage from 6 ¹/₂ to 3 ¹/₂.

“We’re still three down, but if we don’t make those putts this is a pretty deep deficit,” Thomas said. “All of us fought hard to have a chance on 18 and put ourselves in that position. It was a big momentum shift and hopefully it will continue into tomorrow.”

Eight more points will be at stake Saturday, where there will be a double session of Four-Ball and Foursomes. There will be 12 singles matches on Sunday. With 22 points still available, the Internationals’ lead isn’t as insurmountable as it once looked.

A tone of early frustration was set in the opening match Friday when Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, playing in the alternate-shot format, blew a 2-up lead after seven holes and wound up being trounced 3&2 by Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott. The Internationals upped their lead to 6-1 when Marc Leishman and Abraham Ancer did away with Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed, 3&2.

The U.S. needed to collect any kind of point out of the final three matches to stop the bleeding. Xander Schauffele and Cantlay went to the 18th tied with Adam Hadwin and Joaquin Niemann. Schauffele’s approach left Cantlay with a 15-footer for birdie, while Hadwin left Niemann a 30-footer that he missed right.
Cantlay needed to make his putt to win the point. He drained it for the much-needed 1-up victory to cut the Internationals lead to 6-2.

Meanwhile, playing-captain Tiger Woods and Thomas were also tied after 17 holes with Byeong Hun An and Hideki Matsuyama. Thomas put Woods in the rough with his tee shot, while Matsuyama drilled his to the middle of the fairway.

Woods was able to land his approach about 15 feet above the hole, while Hun An left a distant birdie opportunity for Matsuyama from about 25 feet. Matsuyama missed his putt to the right, leaving Thomas with a putt to win the match.

With Woods watching, Thomas hit a slow, curling putt that dropped in to claim another valuable point. Woods and Thomas went into a hug fest, rejuvenating the U.S. team.

Presidents Cup
Patrick CantlayGetty Images

“I love me some me,” Thomas yelled at Woods, stealing a line from former NFL star Terrell Owens. “I said if I made a big putt today I was going to yell it and that was about the biggest putt I could make.”

Suddenly, the International lead was down to 6-3 with Gary Woodland and Rickie Fowler heading to the 18th with their match tied with Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith. Woodland and Fowler had been 2-down at the 16th tee, but Woodland made birdie at 16 and Fowler made a 2-footer for birdie at 17 to square the match.

Fowler’s approach to the 18th green wasn’t his best effort. Woodland had a 35-foot putt for birdie with the Internationals about 15 feet from the hole. Woodland missed to the right, running the putt 3 feet past the cup. The U.S. first had to hope Smith would miss his putt, which he did, leaving Fowler to make the short par for the half point.

The once desperate Americans can now enter Saturday feeling much better about their chances.