Presidents Cup: Disaster Avoided as Team USA splits Day Two Points

With clutch late play, the U.S. turns a potential disaster into an even split in Friday’s second Presidents Cup round.

Nearly a day behind schedule, the United States team’s Golf Cavalry finally rode in to save what was left of the day Friday at the Presidents Cup in Melbourne.

Midway through the final 9 holes of the five alternate-shot matches in the Presidents Cup, the American team trailed 5-0. Atop Thursday’s stunning 4-1 setback in the best ball matches, the Tiger Woods-led heavy favorites appeared on the verge of being run out of town by the lightly regarded Internationals.

The pivot that transpired across the final four or five holes wasn’t exactly the stuff of epic poetry, but it was enough, if just barely, to allow the Americans to rest Friday night in the knowledge that they’re not defeated yet.

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In those final few holes, the U.S. team turned that looming 5-0 defeat into a 2.5-2.5 split. The U.S. still enters Saturday’s matches in a deficit, but it’s only 6.5 – 3.5, not 9-1 or 8-2, as had been possible.

The heroes were Patrick Cantlay, partnered with Xander Schauffele, and Justin Thomas, who was teamed with Captain Tiger Woods. Both converted tricky 18th hole putts into birdies to seal 1-up victories.

The final half-point, perhaps even less likely, came from the tandem of Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland, who made up a virtual day-long two-hole deficit on the final three holes to tie Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith.

For the entire day, the U.S. team made 23 birdies, offset by 14 bogeys. The Internationals made 22 birdies and nine bogeys. The striking difference, however, lay in the distribution. Through the first 11 holes, the Internationals made 18 birdies, the Americans just 13. From the 13th hole in, the U.S. team converted 10 birdie opportunities, the Internationals just four.

Although they went off last and managed only a draw, Woodland and Fowler somehow encapsulated the day. Falling behind to birdies by Im and Smith on the opening two holes, they birdied the 135-yard par 3 fifth thanks to Fowler’s iron within two feet.

Then they proceeded to give that gain back on the sixth when they took four to get down from 75 yards out in the middle of the fairway.

They won the 12th thanks to Smith’s poor approach but gave that gain back on the 13th when Fowler cracked his 20-foot birdie putt five feet long and Woodland failed to cover his partner’s carelessness.

Still two down standing on the par-5 15th tee, Fowler and Woodland suddenly found their form. Their birdie there was only good for a halve, but they won 16 when Fowler put his approach eight feet from the cup and Woodland curled the putt home. At 17, Woodland’s 162-yead approach stopped just four feet from the cup and Fowler holed out the birdie to square the match with one hole to play.

It ended that way with matched pars. That was OK, Cantlay and Thomas had already sated spectators at the 18th with sufficient drama to fill the day.

Cantlay and Schauffele had waged a tooth-and-nail battle with Adam Hadwin and Joaquin Niemann in which neither team ever led by more than 1-up. They squared it with a birdie at the par-5 15th and came to 18 still dead even.

After Schauffele drilled his 146-yard approach 13 feet past the hole, Cantlay lined up the downhiller and trickled it into the heart of the cup for the winning birdie.

A few minutes later, Thomas did the same thing from a few feet further back. Woods had set him up with a 146 yard iron within 17 feet.

Two days from now, it may turn out to be an over-estimated rally. The U.S., after all, failed for the second consecutive day to actually win the round, and the Americans will still show up Saturday morning three points down in the overall competition. Dustin Johnson played as listlessly as he did Thursday, and Patrick Reed contributed far more to the Internationals’ emotional energy than he did to the U.S. team’s score. Their teams both went down meekly on the 16th green.

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But if the favored Americans do mount a successful weekend cavalry charge, golf fans here will certainly look back on those final few holes, and on those two and one-half points, the Americans clawed out of desperation late Friday as the turning point.

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