PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Nick Taylor of Canada birdied four of his last five holes on Friday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to take his first 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour.

Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 66 and was at 14-under 129.

Jason Day was two shots back. He made two long birdie putts across the green, holed a 40-yard wedge for eagle on the dangerous par-5 14th, made a couple of big par saves and moved into contention with an 8-under 64.

“I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been out there and felt the way that I felt out there today and played well like that,” Day said.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson also got in the mix with aburst of four straight birdies after the turn at Monterey Peninsula. He made bogey on the long par-3 ninth to finish his round of 7-under. He was three shots behind.

Mickelson has not had a top 10 on the PGA Tour since winning at Pebble Beach last year, though he finished third last week at the Saudi International and carried a little momentum into the event he has won five times.

The man is dialed in ??@ntaylorgolf59 pic.twitter.com/GeDyCobkmr

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) February 7, 2020

Day knows the feeling. Since last year at Pebble, the former world No. 1 has recorded just three top 10s, none since last June. He has not seriously contended. His back troubles have been so frustrating that at times he wondered how much longer he wanted to play. He described those at “dark times.”

His outlook Friday was as bright as the sunshine over the Monterey Peninsula, at least until a light marine layer or parts of the courses lowered the temperature.

Day birdied the par 5s and made a 45-foot putt from the fringe on the par-3 fifth at Pebble. He holed a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th, another bonus. And then he surged into contention by holing out for his eagle on the 14th, and following that with a 15-foot birdie on the 15th.

There’s still one more round before this tournament played over three courses takes shape, and there’s no better place to be in relative calm than Pebble Beach.

“If you have really good weather, you can go low at Pebble,” Day said.

That’s what Taylor did, making birdie on all the par 5s for his 66. Ditto for Chris Baker, the 33-year-old PGA Tour rookie who played Pebble Beach for the first time in a practice round Wednesday, and really had a blast in his round of 64 on Friday that put him four shots behind, along with Charl Schwartzel (66 at Pebble).

Of the top five players, only Mickelson was not at Pebble Beach.

Monterey Peninsula played about two shots under par, while Pebble’s average was nearly 1 under. Spyglass Hill was nearly a stroke over par, so it was no surprise that only one player from the top 20 – Matt Every – was at Spyglass on Friday.

Dustin Johnson, a two-time Pebble Beach winner who finished runner-up to Ted Potter Jr. two years ago, appeared to be hitting his stride with great control of his irons and usual power off the tee. He lost a little ground on the final hole when he three-putted for bogey from about 25 feet on his final hole at Monterey Peninsula, missing a 3-footer.

That happens on poa greens with foursomes in each group, and Johnson shrugged it off. He’s used to odd things happening, even when it’s not all his doing.

Day was feeling particularly optimistic, especially after the year he had. His back gave him so much trouble that one of his routines is to blow into balloon for some 20 minutes to help get his rib cage aligned properly. He used to spend hours chipping and putting. He found it a small victory when he was able to putt for an entire hour.

“It’s hard because … you expect so much of yourself, and everyone does,” Day said. “But sometimes when you’re injured, like for the most part I was all last year, it gets frustrating. And not only do you get frustrated, you don’t get the results and you lose confidence and then you’re … just trying to find a solution into why I’m not playing well and why is this happening. And you feel like your world is kind of crumbling.

“It’s not a good feeling because there’s some dark moments in there that you got to kind of fight through.”

There were no dark moments Friday, not in weather like this. Day and Taylor now move over to Spyglass Hill on Saturday morning, while Mickelson, Johnson and the celebrities head to Pebble Beach.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Canadian Nick Taylor opened with an eagle, closed with two birdies and made a gorgeous day feel even better with an 8-under 63 at Monterey Peninsula that gave him the lead Thursday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Most of the interest over three courses in the rotation was at Spyglass Hill, which featured Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, along with five NFL quarterbacks that included Peyton Manning and his recently retired brother, Eli.

The iconic scenery is at Pebble Beach, especially when the surf turns a turquoise hue under so much sunshine.

Taylor, from Abbotsford, B.C., went about his business quietly, and most effectively.

Starting on the back nine at Monterey Peninsula, with a chilly breeze at his back, he hit 4-iron to a back pin that settled 4 feet away for an eagle, ht 3-iron out of the rough for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th and knew he was playing well when he hit 4-iron to 10 feet on the first hole, a 495-yard par 4 that feels even longer when the air is cold at sea level.

Better still was the finish – a 5-iron back toward the ocean to 5 feet, and then a wind-aided 3-iron from 240 yards on a back tee he had never seen to 20 feet.

“A nice start,” Taylor said, referring to his 4-iron that set up eagle and the 63 that matched his low round on the tour. “The weather helps out. If it’s raining, it’s windy, five-and-a-half hours is a long round. But we were very relaxed today, joked all day, and I felt like the mood was great.”

He led by two shots to par over Patrick Cantlay (Spyglass) and Chase Seiffert (Pebble Beach), who each had a 6-under 66.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson, whose third-place finish in Saudi Arabia last week was his best result in a year, was slightly disappointed with his 68 at Spyglass because of how well he felt he hit it off the tee.

“I drove it like a stallion,” said Mickelson, a phrase he once used in describing his play at the $9 million pay-per-view match he won against Tiger Woods in Las Vegas.

Cantlay made nine birdies at Spyglass and wasn’t even the best putter in his group. Some of his best views of this stunning day along the rugged coastline was watching champion surfer Kelly Slater on the greens, not in the pipe.

“He looked like the best putter on tour today,” Cantlay said of his amateur partner.

Cantlay, who tried surfing one time as a teenager and wisely gave it up, showed why golf has worked out OK for him. Despite two soft bogeys early in his round and a bogey on the par-5 14th from mud on his ball, he was among the leaders and feeling comfortable with all aspects of his game.

The two bogeys early came from a chip just behind the green at No. 2 that rolled out some 6 feet by the pin, and a birdie chance that turned into bogey with a three-putt from 18 feet on the skinny green at the picturesque fourth.

The rest of it was solid, and the number of birdies was encouraging.

Cantlay loves the Monterey Peninsula so much he could retire here, and he had even more reason to love it Thursday. His group was first off in the morning, giving them an entire front nine of fresh greens.

“Course was probably the best shape I’ve ever seen it and we’re getting perfect weather,” he said. “So yeah, it’s great.”

Dustin Johnson had a 69 at Spyglass, while Jordan Spieth checked in at 70. They typically play in the same group that does not lack in entertainment with their amateurs, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and country singer Jake Owen.

Gretzky hit into a bunker off the tee at No. 6, found the first of two bunkers in front of the green and went into the other bunker from there. Spieth delivered the good news: “There’s no bunkers left,” he said.

Such is the nature of this week, a blend of incomparable scenery and amateurs that include entertainers and athletes, and corporate titans who learn that a net worth topping $1 billion won’t calm nerves over a putt.

Among those at 5-under par were Charley Hoffman, who holed out from the fairway for eagle on No. 4 at Spyglass for the loudest cheer of the day, and Harry Higgs, the PGA Tour rookie who drew Commissioner Jay Monahan as his partner.

Mickelson ultimately was happy to be in range after his 68, though it wasn’t looking all that great when he failed to birdie any of the par 5s at Spyglass and had gone 10 holes without a birdie until birdies on his last three holes.

“I let a lot of opportunities slide,” he said. “But I shot a 4-under par round and it’s not going to hurt me.”

The hurt belonged to David Duval, whose scorecard contained a 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. He made one birdie in his round of 84.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Webb Simpson was in big trouble when he drove into the right-side water on the par-5 15th.

“I didn’t think it was over,” Simpson said. “But I thought, ‘I’m going to really have to do something special to get back in it.”’

He did – at friend Tony Finau’s expense Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open on a TPC Scottsdale course that played tougher with firm greens and a touch of wind.

Simpson birdied the final two holes of regulation to force a playoff with Finau, then won with a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole.

Two strokes ahead with two holes left, Finau missed an 18-foot birdie try in the playoff on the par-4 18th after driving left into the church pew bunkers.

Simpson two-putted from the fringe on the short par-4 17th and made a 17-footer from the edge of the green on the 18th. Finau, after hitting a 366-yard drive and an approach to 8 feet, missed a chance to win when his birdie try slid right.

Simpson closed with a 2-under 69 to match Finau at 17-under 267, setting up the fourth playoff in five years in the desert..

“Today was a lot different. Today played tougher,” Simpson said. “I thought the pins were very tough, by far the toughest day of pins, course was longer, we had wind. We hadn’t had wind all week, so everything today was harder.”

Finau shot 70.

“I hit good putts,” Finau said. “The first one I hit really good, I thought I made it. … Second one, similar line, a little bit farther, decided to play a little bit more break and it didn’t break.”

Simpson won his sixth PGA Tour title and first since the 2018 Players Championship. The 2012 U.S. Open champion improved to 2-5 in playoffs, three years after falling to Hideki Matsuyama in extra holes at TPC Scottsdale. Simpson also lost a playoff in November in the RSM Classic.

“I think getting frustrated after RSM led to being better prepared for today,” Simpson said.

Simpson visited instructor Butch Harmon on Monday in Las Vegas.

“I started the week off right, just getting a checkup from him,” Simpson said. “And two weeks of rest, I came in feeling ready to go.”

Finau missed a chance for his second PGA Tour victory. He also lost a playoff to Xander Schauffele in November 2018 in China in the WGC-HSBC Champions.

“I definitely didn’t give him the tournament,” Finau said. “Unfortunately, it’s how the cookie crumbles. … I love Webb. I think the camaraderie that I have with him as being one of my best friends out here, it would have been hard for either one of us to take this victory from each other. He got the upper hand this time, but I love that guy.”

Simpson felt for Finau.

“It’s hard. He is a great friend,” Simpson said. “Our wives are friends and he’s one of the best guys on tour. So it is a bit tough.”

A stroke ahead of Simpson after a third-round 62, Finau parred the first seven holes, limiting his birdie chances with sluggish iron and wedge play. He bogeyed the par-4 eighth to end a 57-hole bogey-free streak, leaving an 8-iron from the fairway 65 feet short.

Simpson took the lead with a 5-footer for birdie on the par-4 10th after Finau’s putter came to life on an unlikely 25-footer for par.

Finau pulled even with an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th, a day after Simpson aced the hole in a 64. Finau made a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th to take the lead, then only doubled the advantage with a par on the 15th after Simpson drove into the water.

They each parred the the par-3 stadium 16th, with Finau wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey on the rowdy hole. The PGA Tour cut the pin position in a tribute to Bryant, using his two Lakers uniform numbers. The pin was placed 24 yards from the front edge and 8 yards from the left edge, putting it in the back left corner. The flag had an 8 one side and a 24 on the other, and the numbers also were painted into the grass in front of the green.

Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) led the way for the Canadians finishing at 6 under in a tie for 40th. Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) closed one stroke back at 5 under while Nick Taylor (Abbotsford, B.C.) finished at 3 under.

Fourth-ranked Justin Thomas tied for third at 14 under after a 65, birdieing the 16th in a jersey from Bryant’s days at Lower Merion High School.

“It’s always a fun week here in Phoenix,” Thomas said. “Somehow it gets crazier every year.”

Bubba Watson and Nate Lashley also finished at 14 under. Watson closed with a 66, and Lashley shot 68.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Andrew Landry was reeling after blowing a six-stroke lead on the back nine Sunday in The American Express.

“I don’t want to be a part of something like that ever again,” the 32-year-old Texan said.

He regrouped – telling caddie Terry Walker, “Let’s go get this job done, like, quit messing around” – to win his second PGA Tour title with a shot to spare.

Landry broke a tie with Abraham Ancer with a 7-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, the jagged rock-ringed, island-green par 3 called Alcatraz.

“That was probably the shot of the tournament for me,” Landry said. “Just to be able to go over there and, to that right hole location, and just hold one up and hit a good distance and have a 7-, 8-footer to look at. … Thankfully, it went in and kind of made 18 a little bit easier.”

He closed with a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke victory, winning two years after losing a playoff to Jon Rahm at PGA West.

“This is a golf course that has suited me very well in the past,” Landry said. “And just to look back on some of the things that happened a couple years ago and then now, just to be able to finally get it done. I didn’t want to have to go back into a playoff again.”

The former University of Arkansas player won after missing seven of eight cuts to start the season.

“That’s why you just got to keep grinding it out,” said Landry, also the 2018 Texas Open winner. “We all search for these weeks, and the majority of players out here are going to have them, four, five, six times a year and top-10 players are going to have them a little bit more often.”

Michael Gligic (69) of Burlington, Ont., tied for 21st at 15 under par to record his best career finish on the PGA TOUR in a span of 13 events dating back to 2012. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., tied for 37th at 13 under.

Trying to become the third Mexican winner in PGA Tour history and first since 1978, Ancer matched the Stadium Course record with a 63.

“All week, really, I hit the ball great off the tee and iron shots, and in the first three rounds, I feel like I didn’t score as low as I should have for how good I hit the ball,” Ancer said. “But stayed patient and today the putts started to fall in.”

Playing two groups ahead of Landry, Ancer birdied No. 16 and 17 and parred the 18th, missing from 35 feet and saving par with a 4 1/2-footer.

He realized he was tied for lead just before teeing off on 17.

“I wasn’t paying much attention to the leaderboard,” Ancer said. “And then that’s when I noticed and I was like, `All right, well, we got to make two other birdies.’ I made the putt there on 17, which was big, and then just couldn’t make it happen on 18. But I played good, man. I’m proud of how I played.”

Landry appeared to be cruising to victory when he birdied the first three holes on the back nine to open the six-shot lead. He bogeyed the next three holes, made a par on the par-5 16th that felt like another bogey, and was tied when Ancer ran in a 25-footer on 17.

“Just kind of calmed myself down and said, `Hey, look, these are two holes that we can go out and get, they suit my game very well, especially 18,”’ Landry said.

Landry finished at 26-under 262. He opened with a 66 on the Stadium Course, shot 64 in the second round at La Quinta Country Club and had a 65 on Saturday on PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course for a share of the third-round lead with Scottie Scheffler – four strokes ahead of third-place Rickie Fowler.

The anticipated duel between Landry and Scheffler fizzled early.

Scheffler bogeyed the par-4 first after his drive went left and rolled back down a hill into a large divot. He also dropped strokes on the par-5 fifth and long par-3 sixth to fall four shots behind Landry. On the water-guarded fifth, his aggressive play with a fairway wood from a downhill lie near a right-side bunker went well left and, after a long chip, he missed a 3-footer for par.

Scheffler shot 70, briefly giving Landry a scare with an eagle on 16, to finish third at 23 under.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Scheffler said. “Swing felt pretty loose again and got the best of me early and just put myself too far behind.”

Fowler had a 71 in the final group with Landry and Scheffler to tie for 10th at 18 under.

SINGAPORE — Canada’s Richard T. Lee is the latest Canadian to qualify for this year’s Open Championship.

Lee qualified after shooting a 1-over 71 on Sunday to finish in fifth place at the SMBC Singapore Open. The 29-year old finished at 12-under 272 at Serapong Golf Course. He was tied for second place after two rounds of the tournament and sat three shots back of the lead heading into the final round.

By virtue of finishing fifth, the Toronto native punched his ticket into the the 149th playing of The Open Championship being held July 12-19, 2020 at Royal St. Georges in England.

The SMBC Singapore Open – a US$1-million tournament that is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Tour –  is included as part of the Open Qualifying Series. The series allows for the leading four players who finish in the top 12 and ties at the SMBC Singapore Open and who are not already exempt to earn a place at The Open.

This will be Lee’s second major golf championship having previously played the U.S. Open in 2007.

American Matt Kuchar won the Singapore Open at 18 under, while Justin Rose was second at 15 under. Both had already qualified for the British Open.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., previously qualified for The Open as a top 30 qualifier (T26) for the PGA TOUR’s 2019 TOUR Championship.

American and Team RBC member Matt Kuchar won with an 18 under score, while Justin Rose was second at 15 under.

 

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Canadian golfer Richard T. Lee shot 1-over par 72 on Sunday to finish in fifth place at the SMBC Singapore Open and earn an exemption into @theopen for 2020.

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It’s not accurate to say Corey Conners’ dreams came true in 2019.

“I don’t think my dreams were quite that high,” the Canadian golfer said.

After starting the year without full status on the PGA Tour, Conners played a piecemeal schedule before Monday qualifying for the Valero Texas Open in April. The native of Listowel, Ont., would go on to win that event and earn the final spot in the Masters the next week.

Conners earned more than US$2.9 million this season, one of the highlights of an impressive year in Canadian golf.

Among the top moments for men: Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., winning on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a PGA Tour card for the first time; Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., winning twice on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada to earn a promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour, Richard Jung of Toronto and Justin Shin of Maple Ridge, B.C. winning on PGA Tour China; and Drew Nesbitt of Toronto winning on PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., also represented the International team at the Presidents Cup earlier this month in Australia. At 49th in the world, Hadwin ended the year as Canada’s top-ranked male golfer and will earn a spot in the Masters in 2020.

 

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#Canada’s @ahadwingolf finished the season ranked 50th, securing a spot to play in the 2020 @themasters ?? – #masters #golf #golfcanada #golfstagram

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On the amateur circuit, full-time NHL referee Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont., won the 117th playing of the Western Amateur, while Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., won a collegiate event and participated in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., had the best season of any Canadian. She notched two wins this year and had 13 top-10 finishes, the most on the LPGA Tour.

Henderson’s second win came in June when she was just 21. It was the ninth of her LPGA Tour career, making her the winningest Canadian of all time on the PGA or LPGA Tour.

“To become the all-time winningest Canadian golfer on both the LPGA and PGA Tour is amazing,” said Henderson. “This was a great year for many Canadian golfers. It’s fun to be part of this trend and I’m excited to see it continue and get better in 2020.”

Laurence Applebaum, the CEO of Golf Canada, declared 2019 as a year of “real celebration.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of 2019 as we look back and say it was a year we were celebrating golf and we were championing some of the best players in the world,” said Applebaum.

Applebaum points to the success of the RBC Canadian Open in Hamilton and CP Women’s Open in Aurora, Ont.

The two national championships had more than 175,000 people in attendance combined, a record for the organization.

Both events were also finalists for ‘Tournament of the Year’ by their respective tours at their year-end award ceremonies.

“We played at two epic tracks in 2019 and had world-class champions,” said Applebaum.

Both the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour’s 2019 players of the year – Rory McIlroy and Jin-Young Ko, respectively – won in Canada.

“In 2020 we’re going from strength to strength in St. George’s (in Toronto for the men) and Shaughnessy (in Vancouver for the women), two of the greatest golf courses and clubs in our country,” Applebaum said.

While the individual successes of Canadians were undeniable in 2019, the pipelines will be a little emptier in 2020.

Henderson and Alena Sharp of Hamilton will be the only full-time Canadians playing on the LPGA Tour next year after the retirement of Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and the long-term injury to Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City. Jaclyn Lee of Calgary will have partial status, playing under a medical exemption due to a severe wrist injury sustained in the summer.

Pendrith, meanwhile, is the only Canadian who earned promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. did not regain PGA Tour status for this season so they will start have to start the season on Korn Ferry Tour. Svensson has a full card, while Silverman has conditional status.

Pendrith and Conners – who live together in Florida – are convinced 2019 will not be a one-off.

A year ago they both were wondering what the next 12 months would look like, without any real answers.

“I was just trying to figure out what mini-tour event I was going to play next,” said Pendrith. “Now, it’s exciting. Every week on whatever tour, there’s going to be a Canadian in the mix.”

Conners is in the upper tier of the PGA Tour after finishing in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings in 2019, but he still gets as much joy as anyone in following what his countrymen and women are doing.

“It’s really fun to watch Brooke (Henderson) and be part of the group, but it’s also really motivating to continue to rack up wins,” said Conners. “It’s an exciting future for Canadian golf. There’s going to be more and more memorable moments.”

MELBOURNE, Australia – The emotions poured out of Tiger Woods, just like they did at Augusta National in the spring, except this felt different.

The Masters was for him.

This was for 11 players – at times his teammates, always under his captaincy – who delivered another American victory in the Presidents Cup and a moment that nearly brought Woods to tears. And when the decisive point was on the board Sunday at Royal Melbourne, Woods celebrated with everyone he could find by hugging them hard enough to take the breath out of them.

“Any time you have moments where you’re able to do something that is bigger than us as an individual, it’s so much more meaningful and so much more special,” he said.

The Americans felt the same way.

Trailing for the first time in 16 years, they followed his lead. Woods, the first playing captain in 25 years, went out in the first of 12 singles matches and outlasted Abraham Ancer to set the Presidents Cup record by winning his 27th match.

It also set the tone for his team.

Patrick Reed, winless in three matches and heckled so badly for his rules violation last week in the Bahamas that his caddie shoved a spectator and was kept from working the final day, was 6 up through seven holes. Dustin Johnson, playing for the first time since the Tour Championship because of knee surgery, was 4 up through seven holes.

Perhaps most inspiring was Tony Finau in the second match. He was 4 down to Hideki Matsuyama through 10 holes when Finau won the next four and earned a half-point that put even more pressure on the International team.

Matt Kuchar delivered the winning point without even winning his match. His 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole assured the Americans the half-point they needed to win for the eighth straight time.

The last two matches ended in halves for a 16-14 score. The Americans tied a Presidents Cup record with an 8-4 margin in singles, the largest since the first event in 1994.

“It was really cool being part of this team and having Tiger as captain,” Kuchar said. “We had a roomful of some of the greatest golfers in the world, and when he speaks, we listen. I think all of us will look back and have these pictures hanging on our walls and say, `We played for and alongside Tiger Woods, the greatest player ever.’ It was awesome.”

It was crushing for the Internationals, hoping to end two decades without a victory.

Ernie Els, who has finished second to Woods more times than anyone in golf, assembled the youngest International team ever and inspired them with equal doses of purpose and analytics. It had the lead going into Sunday for the first time since 2003, the tie in South Africa.

It just didn’t have enough to cross the line.

“I followed a plan, and it didn’t quite work out, but we came damn close,” Els said. “If you compare our team on paper with other teams in other sport, you would have laughed us out of the building. But we gave it a hell of a go and we came mightily close to winning and upsetting one of the greatest golf teams of all time.”

That team included the greatest player of his generation. Woods was appointed captain in March 2018 and suggested he might be a playing captain, which he later said was a joke.

And then he won the Masters, his 15th major and first in 11 years, to cap off a comeback from injury made even more meaningful by the hugs he shared with family and those who never left his side.

Two weeks before he filled out his team with four captain’s picks, Woods won in Japan for his 82nd career victory, leaving him no choice but to be the first captain to pick himself.

He was the only player to go undefeated at Royal Melbourne, winning twice with Justin Thomas and on his own ball against Ancer, one of seven rookies for the Internationals.

“We were very inspired to play for Tiger – with Tiger – and it’s so satisfying to win this cup because of that,” Finau said.

Emotions were raw on the golf course as the Americans celebrated their first comeback since the four-point deficit at Brookline in the 1999 Ryder Cup.

In his TV interview, Woods was fighting back tears, yet another indication to his players how much it meant.

“I love seeing other people cry, especially Tiger Woods,” said Steve Stricker, one of three vice captains who allowed Woods to hold dual roles at Royal Melbourne. And then Stricker had to hold back tears of his own.

The International team at least kept it close, unlike two years ago at Liberty National when it was one putt away from being eliminated on Saturday.

Even with so much American red on the scoreboards, the Internationals still had a chance in the final hour. Matsuyama lost a 1-up lead with a three-putt from 25 feet that led to the halve with Finau. Adam Hadwin had a 15-foot birdie putt to beat Bryson DeChambeau on the 18th hole, but had to settle for a halve when he missed on the high side.

Louis Oosthuizen lost a 3-up lead at the turn against Kuchar, who caught up on the 15th hole and set off the celebration two holes later. Their matched ended in a halve.

At the closing ceremony, the Internationals stood with their arms crossed. The frustration was evident, even among the seven rookies.

The Americans now lead the series 11-1-1, the only International victory coming at Royal Melbourne in 1998.

“I’m disappointed. That’s all I can say,” said Adam Scott, who has played nine straight Presidents Cups without winning. “But I like what’s happening in the future. I can’t wait for another crack at it.”

The Internationals likely will want Els to return as captain. As for Woods?

“We are going to have those conversations in the future, but not right now,” Woods said. “We are going to enjoy this one.”

MELBOURNE, Australia – The end for the Internationals came about halfway through a mostly cloudy Sunday afternoon at Royal Melbourne. They kept it close, but ultimately the result was the same: another loss for the International side against the United States at the Presidents Cup – the eighth in a row and 11th in 13 tries at the biennial exhibition.

“We were right there at the end. I thought we could do it again, just a couple of matches didn’t work our way,” International team captain Ernie Els said after the Americans completed a 16-14 win.

The Internationals led 10-8 going into Sunday’s 12 singles matches, and now have the distinction of being the only team to lead going into the final day and lose. Matt Kuchar’s 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole guaranteed at least a half-point with Louis Oosthuizen and gave the U.S. the required 15 1/2 points to clinch the trophy it first won in 1994.

The only time the Internationals have won was at Royal Melbourne in 1998, although the teams tied in South Africa in 2003 and shared the trophy.

There were only two International victories on Sunday – 21-year-old Sungjae Im’s 4-and-3 win over Gary Woodland and Cameron Smith’s 2-and-1 victory over Justin Thomas.

Their other two points came from halves: Hideki Matsuyama against Tony Finau, with Finau coming back from 4 down after 10 holes; Adam Hadwin against Bryson Dechambeau; Marc Leishman’s tie with Rickie Fowler; and Oosthuizen’s all-square with Kuchar.

The Internationals hadn’t lost a singles session since 2009, but were defeated 8-4 on Sunday.

Hadwin missed a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 18th at a pivotal time. He was the fifth group off and after the Americans led many of their matches early, including during captain Tiger Woods’ eventual 3-and-2 win over Abraham Ancer, the first match of the day.

Hadwin had never led in the match, and his miss was deflating for both him and the team.

“It’s a little disappointing,” the Canadian said. “That’s kind of what you work for, right, to have a putt on 18, to do that.”

Els said some late victories by the Americans in the second session on Friday made the difference. The Internationals still won the fourballs that day, 2 1/2 to 1 1/2, but for a while it seemed possible the Internationals would sweep the session and take a 9-1 lead after two days. Instead, the score after was 6 1/2 to 3 1/2.

“I think it was two, 2 1/2 points that didn’t go our way in that second session, and that was the difference,” Els said.

Asked what captaining the Internationals, who had seven rookies on the team, meant to him, Els replied: “You’re going to make me cry now.”

“We have spent the whole year together,” Els said. “It was a just a collective effort of these great people. We had a lot of young players in the team, a lot of first-timers, nine regions around the world represented. It’s our diversity that got us together, and I’m really proud of them.”

The South African wouldn’t rule out returning as International captain for the 2021 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“We’ll have to discuss this. … I love these guys,” Els said. “We’ll see, we’ll talk about it.”

In 2015, the Internationals lost 15 1/2 to 14 1/2 in South Korea, but the Americans dominated at Liberty National in New Jersey in 2017, winning 19-11 despite losing the singles to the Internationals 7 1/2 to 4 1/2.

“We feel we came a long way this week,” Els said. “We’ve never done well in the team events, and we got 10 points from them. We’re not quite there, but we’re getting there. Nobody died out there, and it was a sport, and we gave it our all. So, so be it.”

MELBOURNE, Australia – The caddie for Patrick Reed will not be on the bag for the final session of the Presidents Cup after shoving a spectator who he felt was encroaching too close to Reed while cursing him.

The tour announced the decision after Saturday’s dual session, which ended with the International team holding a 10-8 lead. Reed said in a statement he respected the decision and that everyone was focused on winning.

Kessler Karain, the brother-in-law of Reed, says he heard heckling for three days at Royal Melbourne, some had taken it too far and he’d had enough.

Reed was a singular target of the American team this year because of a rules violation last week in the Bahamas. He twice removed a clump of sand from behind his ball in a waste area at the Hero World Challenge. When he was shown the incident on video, Reed accepted the two-shot penalty.

Reed failed to make a birdie in fourballs Saturday morning as he and Webb Simpson lost for the third straight time.

“Riding on the cart, guy was about 3 feet from Patrick and said, `You (expletive) suck.’ I got off the cart and shoved him, said a couple things, probably a few expletives,” Karrain said in a statement to “Fore Play,” a podcast operated by Barstool Sports.

Karrain said security arrived and he left in the cart.

“I don’t think there’s one caddie I know that could blame me,” Karrain said. “Unless his bones break like Mr. Glass, the most harm done was a little spilled beer, which I’m more than happy to reimburse him for.”

Among the possibilities to replace him as Reed’s caddie is Kevin Kirk, his swing coach.

U.S. captain Tiger Woods said the situation involving Reed, one of his four picks, was not a distraction.

“We came here as a team. We rallied around our teammate and we’re excited about tomorrow,” Woods said.

He placed Reed in the No. 3 spot in the lineup, after Els had gone first and put C.T. Pan in that spot. That avoided the chance of Reed facing one of the three Australians on the team.

Fans this week have called the former Masters champion such things as “Patrick Cheat” and poked fun at him, with one fan introducing him as “The Excavator” when he teed off for a practice round Tuesday.

Reed didn’t help his cause Friday when he made a birdie putt, cupped his ear and then pretended to use his putter as a shovel. He enjoys mixing it up with the gallery in these team competitions, but the rules violation in the Bahamas was blatant on the video and sensitive to players who hold the rules in high regard. Reed claimed his club was some 8 inches behind the ball. Video did not indicate that.

Els said he felt bad for the caddie and the fan, and he made a point of saying the gallery was not nearly as bad as what the International team faced two years ago in New Jersey.

“The caddie must have been very hot, obviously fed up with what he heard, probably,” Els said. “I feel for the fan. He came to watch golf, and that’s probably the last thing he thought was going to happen. So I feel for both of them.”

Reed created the wrong kind of memories at the Ryder Cup last year when he did an interview with The New York Times right after the U.S. loss, criticizing Jim Furyk for sitting him out two matches and Jordan Spieth ending their partnership.