2015 Presidents Cup: United States Dominate Day 1

United States Dominate Day 1 of Presidents Cup

It was about what you might expect in South Korea as Team USA jumped all over the International Team from the start and never looked back.

Team USA came in as sizable favorites and they played like it on Thursday as they routed the Internationals 4-1 on day 1.

The United States team as a whole got off to a wicked quick start. Every pairing for the Americans were up at least by one after two holes.

J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson kicked things off and before you knew it they were up 3 after 5 holes. Holmes drained pretty much everything as Watson didn’t have to make a putt until the 10th hole.

However, Scott and Matsuyama fought and clawed their way back to get within one after 10 holes. Holmes and Watson left the door open on a couple of different occasions, but Matsuyama could not make a putt. When it was all said and done, Watson and Holmes won 3&2.

Holmes and Watson were first to tee off, but were not first to draw blood. That honor went to Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

For as poor as Matsuyama putted that’s how well Fowler putted. Fowler seemed to make every single putt no matter how short or long. Fowler’s hot putter led Team USA to a 5&4 victory over Thongchai Jaidee and Anirban Lahiri.

The Internationals got on the board when the South African duo of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace won 3&2 over Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed.

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Kuchar and Reed were up 1 after 2 holes, but they would only win one more hole after that. Oosthuizen/Grace won the 3rd hole to get it back even and they would proceed to win holes 9, 10, 11, and 12 to go up by 3.

Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson looked really strong early on winning the first two holes, they lost hole 9, but then proceeded to win holes 10 and 11 to go up by three. They would win the 13th and give it back on 14, but they won 15 and ended it on 16 winning 4&3.

As was the theme all day, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson finished up the first hole already up by a hole. Jason Day and Steven Bowditch tied things up on the 4th hole, but Mickelson/Johnson would win the 8th and never look back. It was a fun battle though as they traded holes from 10 to 14.

However, it looked as though the 18th hole would not be needed or used all day, but Jason Day had something to say about that.

Day, as you might expect, put the team on his back by making a number of putts including a birdie bomb on 17 from about 40 plus feet out.

That got them to within one, but after a fantastic drive by Mickelson and Johnson sticking it close to within ten feet it was all over. The hole would eventually be conceded and capped off an impressive 4-1 performance by the United States.

Looking ahead, it’s obvious that Team USA doesn’t have to make too many adjustments, while the Internationals will need to make a number of changes.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Americans just stick with the same teams. The only difference is swap out Kuchar and Reed for Chris Kirk and Bill Haas. All the other teams jived pretty well. Why mess with success?

For the Internationals, you have Oosthuizen/Grace going out and then figure out the rest.

I would expect Danny Lee to play with Sangmoon Bae as they are friends and have played together a number of times.

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Charl Schwartzel is going to have to play and I think teaming him up with Scott and having Matsuyama team up with Day gives the Internationals the best chance to win.

Heading into day 1 I wasn’t crazy about Matsuyama and Scott pairing up. They both are extremely poor putters and you just can’t count on them to make the clutch putts time and time again.

I say give them partners that can make some putts to take the pressure off them. Day is obviously a fantastic putter and is just making everything while Schwartzel is a solid enough putter himself that can sink a few.

That leaves one more pairing and I would go ahead and stick Steven Bowditch with Marc Leishman. There really is no rhyme or reason other than the fact that they are countrymen and that’s the way it shook out for the rest of the pairings.

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