Internationals have to wonder what went wrong on Day 1

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Aaron Baddeley reacts to missed putt on the 17th hole. He and Jason Day halved their match with Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Imagine that you're U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples. Your highest-profile duo, Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker -- undefeated in this event two years ago -- not only lost, but were soundly and shockingly thumped. Specifically, 7 and 6 by Adam Scott and K.J. Choi.

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"We were just slightly off," Woods said.

Uh, yeah, that would be one way to describe it.

But back to Freddie. What must he have felt like to have the Woods-Stricker combo beaten yet still have a commanding 4-2 lead over the International team after Thursday's first-day foursomes at Royal Melbourne?

Gotta be a good feeling, especially since 90 minutes before the end of the session, his team looked to be at best headed for a 3-3 tie. But thanks to late rallies by Nick Watney-Bill Haas and Dustin Johnson-Matt Kuchar that resulted in half-points, Couples must have felt like the burglar who just ran off with the Mona Lisa.

"I'll take that any day," Couples said. He meant the 4-2 lead, not the Mona Lisa.

On the flip side, International Captain Greg Norman did well to mask the disappointment of the two halved matches. In Match 2, Geoff Ogilvy and Charl Schwartzel never trailed and led for 13 of the 18 holes. In Match 3, Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley, fueled by the Aussie crowd, never trailed and led for 16 of the 18 holes.

Yet, the most the Internationals could muster out of those two matches were a single combined point, same as the Americans. The difference is that those two matches felt like defeats for the home team and victories for the U.S.

"My guys felt like they let a few matches slip away, no question about it," Norman said.

"But they all understand. It's the game of golf. It does happen. Their heads are really held high. They are not worried about the next three days going forward."

The three U.S. match wins on a beautiful Australian day were not even close.

Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson produced the best performance of the day, overcoming an early deficit to beat Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa 4 and 2; Watson and Simpson combined for a bogey-free 7 under on the day.

Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk also rallied on the front nine to beat Retief Goosen and Robert Allenby, 4 and 3. And David Toms and Hunter Mahan started fast with three birdies, then watched the Korean duo of K.T. Kim and Y.E. Yang struggle with their course management in a 6 and 4 romp.

"A good, solid day," Toms said.

The Americans are used to dominating in foursomes in this event, although the last time they were at Royal Melbourne in 1998, they were outpointed 8-2 in foursomes en route to their only Presidents Cup loss.

Despite the great start, though, the Americans were careful not to sound too euphoric.

"It's only day one," Furyk said. "A lot of points out there. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

The Internationals are hoping that home-course advantage kicks in during Friday's four-ball session. Norman has paired his troops so that players unfamiliar with the course will be partnered by guys who know Royal Melbourne. That was the reason he split up the Scott-Choi duo, despite their success against Woods-Stricker.

Scott will now partner Kim, while Ogilvy will be with Choi. Yang will be with Australian veteran Robert Allenby. And despite their loss in the opening match, Els and Ishikawa will stay together. Els knows how to succeed on this course as well as any International player, and that twosome actually played well on Thursday.

Norman explained that the incoming weather will change the conditions at Royal Melbourne. He said the north/northwest winds forecast for Friday will require delicate navigation around the course. The winds from that direction are the hardest to figure out at Royal Melbourne.

"It's a completely different golf course than what we have had today," Norman said.

As for Couples, his only change for Friday was splitting up the Woods-Stricker pairing. But it wasn't because of their struggles on Thursday. He had always planned to put Woods with Johnson in four-balls. Stricker will go with Kuchar. The other four teams stay intact.

No need to mess with success. Winning half-points on the 18th hole will make the captain sleep easier.

"Miraculous," Couples called it.

The Internationals don't need a miracle on Friday. But they do need to play better.

With the changing weather conditions, the adjustments in his pairings and the Aussie crowd hungry for a bounce-back, Norman hasn't lost faith.

In fact, he sounds confident.

"It's unfortunate for us we are behind," Norman said. "But we believe we can no doubt catch up -- and probably catch up tomorrow."