Canada’s Richard T. Lee earns spot in 2020 Open Championship
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.
Corey Conners’ favourite Avenger ??♂️
2019 marks a real celebration for Canadian golf
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.
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.”
Tiger Woods caps comeback year by leading emotional team win
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.”
Internationals lose Presidents Cup after American comeback
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.”
Reed’s caddie out of Presidents Cup after conflict with fan
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.
Internationals have best shot at rare win in Presidents Cup
MELBOURNE, Australia – The final round of the Presidents Cup began with words from the captains, not singles matches.
The International team took its first lead into Sunday singles since 2003, all because of two foursomes matches in which the players never led at any point until scratching out a half-point.
That gave the Internationals a 10-8 lead and needing six points from 12 singles matches to win the Presidents Cup for only the second time in the event’s 25-year history, and not since Royal Melbourne in 1998.
“For us to scratch and scramble for one point, the guys were very excited about that,” International captain Ernie Els said.
Marc Leishman and rookie Abraham Ancer were 5 down with eight holes to play. The rookie duo of Joaquin Niemann and Byeong Hun An were 2 down with five to play. Both rallied to halve their matches.
U.S. captain Tiger Woods – and that’s all he was on Saturday, a captain – saw it differently.
Woods looked back to Friday, when the International team won two matches for a 6-1 lead, and was ahead briefly in the other three foursomes matches. The Americans won two matches and halved another to limited the damage.
“At one point, it looked like we were going to be down 1-9,” Woods said. “And for the International team only to get one point from that point on, for us to fight back and get eight points was a huge, huge win for us today.”
Els couldn’t stifle a laugh when he heard that. His team was ahead on Friday, but it never had more than a five-point lead at the conclusion of any match.
“You’re the absolute optimist, aren’t you?” Els said to Woods without looking his way. “My God.”
That’s what both were filled with – optimism – after a long day filled with big wins, a stunning comeback that left Justin Thomas seething, and more drama involving Patrick Reed at Royal Melbourne.
Els has a record-tying seven rookies on his team from a record nine countries, and he has given them purpose with a new logo and a strong dose of analytics to find the right combinations. So far, it has worked.
Woods is the first playing captain in 25 years, and he was questioned for taking himself out of both sessions, even though he has performed as well as anyone at Royal Melbourne. He said he had faith in his players, and they delivered their first winning session Saturday afternoon in foursomes, nearly sweeping it until the great comebacks by Leishman and Ancer, An and Niemann.
Woods put himself in the leadoff position for singles. Els anticipated that’s where he would play so that Woods could quickly return to captain duties when his match was over. He sent out Ancer, the International star in these matches so far, unbeaten in all four matches.
Woods has lost only once to an International player in singles away from home – Mike Weir in Canada in 2007, when the Americans were well on their way to winning again.
Captains alternate turns filling out the lineup, and Woods offered up Reed in the third match to face C.T. Pan of Taiwan, who has wielded a hot putter this week. Along with getting Reed out early, placing him against Pan kept Reed from facing one of three Australians on the International team.
It’s already been a rough week for Reed because of his rules violation last week in the Bahamas, when he brushed back sand behind his ball – twice – playing from a waste area. He was penalized two shots.
The gallery has taunted him all week – Reed usually embraces that – by calling him “Patrick Cheat” or introducing him as “The Excavator.” But it was too much for his caddie, brother-in-law Kessler Karain. He confirmed in a statement to Barstool Sports podcast “Fore Play” that he shoved the spectator because he got too close as he cursed Reed.
Karain cannot caddie on Sunday, and Reed said he supports the PGA Tour’s decision.
“We all are focused on winning the Presidents Cup,” Reed said in a statement. He has declined interviews since Friday and is 0-3 in his matches this week with Webb Simpson.
Singles has long been considered a strength of the Americans, but they have not won the singles session since 2009. They haven’t really needed to because of their dominance in the Presidents Cup.
Now they do.
Leishman and Ancer showed plenty of grit. Ancer made a 20-foot birdie putt to halve the 15th hole and extend the match. Leishman made an 18-footer on the next hole, and Rickie Fowler missed a 6-footer that would have won the match. Thomas missed a 10-footer after Fowler’s long putt raced by the hole, and then Thomas hit a tee shot under a tree on the 18th that left Fowler having to squat just to punch out. Leishman stiffed his approach, and the birdie putt – and halve – eventually was conceded.
“It’s unacceptable for us to get a half a point,” Thomas said. “They made a couple long putts there on 15 and 16 to keep it going. We had our chances, and I mean, flat honest, just didn’t execute. … Our team is playing well today, and we’ve got to put it behind us and go get a point tomorrow.”
After three days of team matches, that’s all that matters now.
Internationals hold lead after day 2 at Presidents Cup
MELBOURNE, Australia – The fist pumps, the screaming and shouting, it all belonged to the Americans in the final hour of the Presidents Cup.
They just didn’t have the lead.
That’s the beauty of these team events in golf. Momentum can change with one putt that leads to one point. Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas provided those moments Friday in foursomes at Royal Melbourne, and the U.S. team walked off the course believing the Presidents Cup was about to turn in their favour.
Marc Leishman wasn’t buying it.
“What are we, 6 1/2-3 1/2 up? It’s very early,” Leishman said. “They made a couple good putts on 18, definitely give them that, but I don’t think you get momentum with two putts. We played pretty well the first two sessions. Yes, today probably didn’t finish off the way we wanted to, but we still halved the session.
“They made a couple putts at an important time, but if they feel that, that’s great,” he said. “We probably don’t feel that way, so, yeah.”
The Americans had a right to celebrate, for no other reason than it could have been worse.
A lot worse.
“We dug ourselves out of what could have been a big hole,” Thomas said.
Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott won big, rallying from 2 down to 3 up in a span of seven holes over Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar. Leishman and Abraham Ancer had control the entire way against Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed, who heard it from the gallery over his rules violation last week in the Bahamas. One fan called out to him, “Patrick Cheat.”
Just like that, it was 6-1.
The board was filled with black-and-gold, and captain Ernie Els had reason to think it could have been a clean sweep.
And then it changed.
Cantlay was so excited with his 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to win the match that he pumped his fist. That’s a lot of emotion for Cantlay, and it was meaningful to flip the match with Xander Schauffele and beat Adam Hadwin and Joaquin Niemann.
Thomas is more excitable, and this started on the bus ride to Royal Melbourne. Thomas loves looking at video, and one of his favourites was Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens screaming about his greatness. If the moment presented him, Thomas was ready to go all T.O.
That moment came on the 18th, when he and playing captain Tiger Woods were caught in a battle with Hideki Matsuyama and Byeong Hun An, who won three straight holes in the middle of the match and were tied going to the final hole.
Woods hit a great approach to 18 feet beyond the hole. Thomas made the putt.
Both dropped their putters and Thomas screamed, “I love me some ME!” as Woods rushed toward him with arms outstretched for a fierce hug.
“I showed it to the guys this morning,” Thomas said of the video. “It’s a really funny video. I said, ‘If I make a big putt today, I’m yelling it.’ Today, that was a pretty big putt, so I thought it was the appropriate time to yell it.”
Gary Woodland and Rickie Fowler delivered a halve that felt like a win, going from 2 down with three holes to play with two straight birdies to end with the only draw of the week.
On paper, the International team has a three-point lead, its largest going into the weekend of the Presidents Cup since 1998 at Royal Melbourne, the only time they won. It also had a three-point lead going into Sunday singles in South Africa in 2003, the famous tie.
Emotionally, the Americans felt they had all the momentum.
“Making those putts on 18 were so big for the momentum shift,” Cantlay said. “I felt like all day out there, it was another beating and we were getting beat up. I looked up on the board and we were down in almost all the matches, all day. We’re going to go to bed tonight feeling great and we’re going to have the momentum going into tomorrow. We are still down, but there are a lot of points up on the board for tomorrow.
“I really thought this afternoon was huge, and I think it’s going to be a big paradigm shift going forward.”
Els and his International team were able to see a bigger picture. It had a three-point lead, and even with the late American rally, the foursomes sessions was a draw. The Americans had a 30-point advantage in the alternate-shot format in Presidents Cup history.
“It’s perspective, isn’t it?” Els said. “I’ve got to look at where we are. It’s easy to just look at where we could have been, because it was looking really unbelievable. We tie this afternoon. We’re in a very good position.”
Next up was a double session Saturday – four matches of each format in the morning and afternoon.
Woods sat himself out for Saturday morning for the first time this week, sending Thomas out with Fowler. Only after Saturday will anyone have a clear idea of who has the momentum and the advantage for the final day.
It can change at any minute.
Captain Els enjoying early lead in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia – Ernie Els wanted to inspire his International team at the Presidents Cup, and he found the one video that might do the trick.
Then again, there wasn’t a lot to choose from.
Els is the lone person on this team, including his four assistants, who was at Royal Melbourne in 1998 for the only International victory. They took the lead after the opening session and never were challenged the rest of the way. At the time, it was the biggest loss an American team had ever endured.
“I watched a couple times because I love it,” said C.T. Pan, one of seven rookies on the International team who certainly didn’t play like one Thursday. “It’s been 21 long years. I know it’s day one, we still have a lot of work to do. That video definitely pumped and excited everyone on the International team.”
It sure looked that way.
Tiger Woods did his part, at least as a player. The first playing captain in 25 years, he opened with two birdies for a 2-up lead and finished with two more birdies as he and Justin Thomas won the opening fourballs match at Royal Melbourne.
And then he resumed his role as captain and watched the International team post one victory after another, hitting all the right shots in the two matches that went to the 18th hole.
When it was over, the International team had a 4-1 lead, its first time in front since 2005.
“I didn’t envision 4-1, no,” Els said. “So it’s a nice start. We haven’t had a a start like this for many, many years.”
That was the extent of his optimism, as much as Els would allow himself. He already was looking ahead to the five matches of foursomes on Friday, an American strength while winning the last seven times. During that stretch, the Americans have outscored the International team 50.5 to 22.5 in foursomes.
At Royal Melbourne in 1998, the International had an 8-2 advantage in the alternate-shot format.
More memories. More hope.
On the first tee for the start Thursday was Craig Parry and Carlos Francos, two players from the 1998 team. All were invited to take part in these matches, a reminder of what can happen. Half of the team was able to make the long trip.
“It was great to see the guys in ’98 giving us a bit of advice and how it felt for them starting the week back then, and what it feels like winning a Cup,” Louis Oosthuizen said. “We have a few boys of ’98 in the team room, as well, and I think we are in a really good place. But we are set on what we want to do. We have a massive goal.”
And the International team still has a long way to go.
Els stuck to his plan, which is geared around analytics. Even a resounding start was not enough to tempt the International captain to keep partnerships that were so successful in the opening session. He broke them all up, just like he planned.
Abraham Ancer and Oosthuizen birdied the opening five holes for a 4-up lead that Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland could not overcome in a 4-and-3 victory. Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An _ the replacement for Jason Day _ never trailed in beating Tony Finau and Bryson DeChambeau. Hideki Matsuyama delivered the clutch putt from 25 feet on the 17th hole as he and C.T. Pan beat Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson, 1 up.
Scott will have Oosthuizen for foursomes. Ancer will play with Marc Leishman. Matsuyama plays with An.
“We’ve gone this route, and we keep going.” Els said. “The guys played well today in their respective pairings, and tomorrow we’ve got whatever pairings we have. We’ll feel comfortable with them.”
There is a quiet confidence, much like International captain Peter Thomson had in 1998.
Woods appeared to make one change. He is playing again with Thomas, and he might have been subject to criticism if he didn’t. He was the best American at Royal Melbourne. Woods was asked if his performance dictated his Friday lineup, if he would have stuck to being the captain if the team had fared better.
“We had a couple of different options rolling into this entire Cup,” Woods said. “The guys have known the game plan, different possible options. And this is one of the scenarios.”
Woods kept together two other teams, even in defeat _ Reed and Simpson, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Some of his players were not even in high school the last time the Americans trailed, and Woods was not about to worry about one day.
“Just because we lost the session doesn’t mean the Cup’s over,” Woods said. “There’s a long way to go. A lot of points available. The guys will regroup and we’ll come out tomorrow ready to go.”
Els gave his team the same message.
“Keep the jets down,” Els said. “There’s a long way to go. Don’t get too excited. This is a strong team, and they’re going to come back strong.”
Hadwin helps International team rally around only Presidents Cup win
MELBOURNE, Australia – Tiger Woods lightly pumped his fist with another birdie. He raised his hands over his head in applause to salute a brilliant play by Justin Thomas that led to another hole won. He thoroughly enjoyed his return to competition in the Presidents Cup.
His match won, Woods took the radio and inserted the ear piece as he resumed his role as U.S. captain.
And there was little else to cheer.
Ernie Els and his inspired International team won the day, and won it big.
Els got solid performances from Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen and remarkable play from his rookies that led to a 4-1 lead after the opening session of fourballs Thursday.
“I didn’t envision 4-1, no,” Els said.
It was the first time the International team won the opening session since 2005, which also was the last time it led after any session in an event the Americans have won 10 out of 12 times, including the last seven in a row.
Woods assembled the strongest U.S. team ever for the Presidents based on the world ranking. The first playing captain in 25 years, he inserted himself in the first match and made six birdies, the most of anyone at Royal Melbourne.
When it was over, the U.S. team found itself in foreign territory – trailing for the first time in 14 years.
“We have to earn this cup,” Woods said, perhaps a reminder that history means little inside the ropes. “Just because we lost the session doesn’t mean the Cup’s over. There’s a long way to go, a lot of points available. The guys will regroup, and we’ll come out tomorrow ready to go.”
That was a message Els preached to his team after a dynamic performance.
Scott overcame a snap hook on the opening hole to make five birdies as he and Byeong Hun An – the replacement for Jason Day – won in 17 holes. Hideki Matsuyama holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that carried the Japanese star and C.T. Pan to a 1-up victory over Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson.
Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer, the Mexican rookie who has received praise all week for his fire and confidence, opened with five straight birdies in a crushing defeat over the American power duo of Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland.
But it was just a start.
“Keep the jets down,” Els said. “There’s a long way to go. Don’t get too excited. This is a strong team, and they’re going to come back strong.”
Woods was so strong that he decided to play again in Friday foursomes, again paired with Thomas. Woods kept two other teams together – Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, and Reed and Simpson – even though both lost.
Els is sending out five new partnerships, sticking to a plan that so far is working quite well.
“He had a system going in. We are his soldiers, so we follow his instruction, and that’s what we did today,” C.T. Pan said. “And it works great.”
Woods showed off an exquisite short game, building a 2-up lead after two holes with pitch-and-run shots that set up easy birdies. He chipped in for birdie on the par-5 fifth, and closed out the match with an 8-foot birdie on the par-3 14th and a 5-footer on the next hole, his sixth birdie in the 15 holes he and Thomas needed to beat Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann.
Asked what worked well in their first time playing together, Thomas replied, “Tiger was working well.”
Little else did for the Americans, but that was more a product of great play by the International team that Els assembled to try to win the Presidents Cup for the first time since 1998, its only victory.
The International team walked off the course with arms around shoulders, a most happy occasion after having lost seven in a row since the tie in South Africa in 2003.
The middle three matches is where the International team seized control in the opening session. Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im won the 16th hole with a par, and Schauffele and Cantlay didn’t have good birdie looks over the final two holes to lose.
“We have a good team. We know we have a good team,” said Hadwin. “It’s about us going out and executing golf shots, and our goal was to get them down early, get the crowd into it and on our side and hopefully carry some momentum these next three days.”
The biggest of Scott’s five birdies was a 12-footer to halve the 14th and protect a 2-up lead that led to victory on the 17th hole over Tony Finau and Bryson DeChambeau, now winless in first four matches in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
The last chance for the Americans to at least get a half-point came in the last match on the course. Reed, who heard his share of needling from the crowd over his rules violation in the sand last week in the Bahamas, made a 12-foot birdie putt to square the match on the 16th, only for Matsuyama to deliver his big putt on the next hole.
Reed’s 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th to halve the match stayed above the hole.
Perhaps typical of the Americans’ day was when Johnson, playing for the first time since Aug. 25 because of knee surgery, smashed driver on the 330-yard 11th hole to just inside 4 feet. He missed the eagle putt, Ancer made a 12-foot birdie to keep the 3-up lead and the American team never got any closer.
It was only the fourth time the International team has led after the opening session, and it was their largest margin after one day.
“This is the start we needed,” Scott said. “We’ve got to try to keep this lead now as long as possible, and hopefully the week runs out.”