The Internationals’ stunning Presidents Cup blitz continues with Ernie Els’ underdogs extending their lead to four points at Royal Melbourne.
Undefeated American Justin Thomas briefly reduced the deficit to two points when he teamed with Rickie Fowler up for a three-and-two victory over Marc Leishman and Haotong Li in Saturday’s opening fourball match.
But a three-and-two win for Abraham Ancer and Sungjae Im over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, and a five-and-three mauling of Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson by Hideki Matsuyama and CT Pan put the Internationals ahead 8.5 to 4.5.
The heavily favoured US team avoided going even further behind when Matt Kuchar and Tony Finau snatched half a point in the final match of the morning.
A Finau birdie at the last squared Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An after Scott was unable to convert his attempt from three metres.
The Els-captained underdogs led 6.5 to 3.5 after Friday’s foursomes, ensuring the Internationals a lead entering the weekend for the first time since 2005.
The final Four-Ball match is a Tie, bringing the team score to:#IntlTeam – 9#USTeam – 5
The first Foursomes match tees off at 1:56 p.m. pic.twitter.com/zgZ3A5OhLh
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) December 14, 2019
Now 9-5 in front, the Internationals would have to lose all four of Saturday afternoon’s foursomes to be denied the lead entering Sunday’s 12 singles matches for the first time since last winning the Presidents Cup in 1998 at Royal Melbourne.
The US will need to fight back without Tiger Woods after their inspirational captain surprisingly opted out of the second round of foursomes.
CHILLS. 😵@JustinThomas34 and @TigerWoods win their second point of the @PresidentsCup. 🇺🇸#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/bS5WvOeNm8
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 13, 2019
“You have to do what’s best for the team, and I’m getting ready for the singles tomorrow,” said Woods, who’d won both his matches on Thursday and Friday with Justin Thomas before also sitting out on Saturday morning.
While Thomas has been a shining light for the struggling US, Reed and Simpson have been a massive letdown for Woods, losing three times together.
With this win, the #IntlTeam is more than half way to the 15.5 points they need to win the Cup for the first time since 1998. https://t.co/YNMx8tOXEI
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) December 14, 2019
The US-born Ancer, meanwhile, continues to be the major star for the Internationals.
The Mexican is unbeaten in three matches, living up to Scott’s prediction that the 2018 Australian Open champion would be a “big points winner” for the Internationals this week.
Im and Scott have also yet to lose, each winning two matches and halving a third.
-AAP
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