Match recaps: Saturday's foursomes matches

text size

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Here's a look at each match in Saturday morning's foursomes session at The Presidents Cup. The U.S. team won four of the five matches to take a 11-6 lead going into the Saturday afternoon four-ball session (click here for latest scores/pairings).

MATCH 13: Bubba Watson-Webb Simpson, U.S. def. Robert Allenby-Geoff Ogilvy, International, 3 and 2

Match Flow: The match was closer than the score indicated. The Americans birdied the first two holes to take the early lead but gave one of those back with a bogey at No. 3. The Internationals then squared the match when Ogilvy holed a 6-footer for birdie at the fifth hole. The two teams traded bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes and the match was even again. The Americans took the lead they would not relinquish, though, at the 12th hole as Ogilvy hit his drive left into the trees and the Internationals made double bogey. Birdies at Nos. 14 and 16 then sealed the victory.
Tipping Point: That double bogey, which saw Allenby crouching in the brush to hit a nearly impossible second shot, really took the starch out of the Aussie veterans. Once Simpson and Watson started making birdies again, the victory was theirs.
Notes: Watson and Simpson have not trailed in a match since the 5th hole during the first day of competition. . . Neither team broke par in Foursomes. The U.S. was even after four birdies and four bogeys. The Internationals were 2 over. . . . Simpson and Watson were extremely steady, hitting 13 of 16 greens in regulation and 12 of 13 fairways. . . . Simpson and Watson have now earned 3 points for the U.S. team. If paired together again in the afternoon Four-Ball match, Simpson and Watson will have a chance to match the 2009 pairing of Steve Stricker/Tiger Woods as the only players to partner for four points in a single Presidents Cup year. . . . Robert Allenby now has lost seven times in the Foursomes format, second only to Retief Goosen (8) for the most losses in Foursomes of any Presidents Cup player. His 16 overall losses are the most matches lost by any player.
Quotes: "We are having fun out here and we know it's a blessing to be here." - Bubba Watson . . . "They are two quality players. Totally different in games. But they get along very, very well." - Fred Couples.
Click here for hole-by-hole details | Discuss the match

MATCH 14: Ryo Ishikawa-Ernie Els, International def. Matt Kuchar-Bill Haas, 1 up

Match Flow: The Americans got the upper hand early with a birdie and an eagle at the second hole where Haas staked his approach on the par 5 to 20 inches. But that advantage evaporated when the U.S. bogeyed No. 3 and the Internationals birdied the fifth. The Americans went 2 up again quickly, though, as Els and Ishikawa bogeyed Nos. 7 and 8. By the time the two teams reached No. 12, though, the match was square again as Els made a 22-footer for birdie at the 10th and the Americans bogeyed two holes later. And An International bogey at No. 14 and another from the U.S. at the 15th evened the match for the third and final time. When the Americans couldn't get up and down from the greenside bunker, the International Team took the lead for good.
Tipping point: Ishikawa came through in the clutch on the last two holes. First, he made a 14-footer for birdie at the 17th to preserve the lead while Haas was looking at a tap-in from 15 inches. Then he made the 5-footer for par at the 18th that gave the International Team the win.
Notes: The Americans, who were playing together for the first time, shot 1 under while Ishikawa and Els were 2 under in their third partnership. The International duo got it done despiute hitting just 11 greens in regulation.
Quotes: "Good putts for me, especially the putts on 16, 17 and 18." -- Ryo Ishikawa. ... "The man has got so much heart. ... II could see Ryo was finding his feet on the golf course. This is a golf course where you've really got to know where to hit it and he started striking it so well. Today he believed unbelievable. And his putting reminds me a little bit of myself back in the day." -- Ernie Els
Click here for hole-by-hole details | Discuss the match

MATCH 15: Hunter Mahan-David Toms, U.S. def. Retief Goosen-Charl Schwartzel 5 and 4

Match Flow: Believe it or not, the Internationals led early after the U.S. duo bogeyed the fourth hole, but that was the only highlight during the lopsided American win. Toms and Mahan roared back with a par and two birdies on the next three holes to claim a 2-up advantage and never looked back. Another par at the ninth hole sent the Americans to the homeward nine leading 3 up. The International team then sealed its own fate with bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes. The victory was the second in three matches for the Americans.
Tipping point: The U.S. duo seized complete control of their match when they responded to a 1-down deficit at No. 4 by winning four of their next five holes.
Notes: Both the American wins came in Foursomes where Toms and Mahan have extremely complementary games and demeanors. That is, unless they talk college football -- Toms is an ardent LSU fan while Mahan's Oklahoma State Cowboys are ranked No. 2 to the Tigers. . . . The Americans were steady again in Foursomes, hitting nine fairways and nine greens in regulation.
Quotes: "Foursomes is a good format for Hunter and I. We try to hit it on the greens, make a few putts, and limit the number of mistakes and you put the pressure on the other team. That's what we were able to do. They made a couple mistakes the last couple of holes and we were able to close it out early." -- David Toms. ... "We have the same temperament and on course demeanor. It's a tough golf course. Pars are great. The way it's playing everything and, it's not easy, so put the ball in play, you make a lot of pars out here, you're going to do well." -- Hunter Mahan
Click here for hole-by-hole details | Discuss the match

MATCH 16: Tiger Woods-Dustin Johnson, U.S. def. K.J Choi-Adam Scott, International, 3 and 2

Match Flow: The International Team led early after the U.S. team three-putted the third hole for bogey. But Choi and Scott struggled at the seventh and eighth holes, making a bogey and a double bogey, to put the Americans 1 up. Scott squared the match again at the 11th hole when he made a 6-footer for birdie but the Americans seized the lead for good when the Internationals had to concede the 13th hole after tangling with the rough and trees. A tap-in par at the par-3 14th put the Americans 2 up and then Woods canned a 17-footer for birdie at the 16th hole to seal the win. Choi had a 16-footer to extend the match but he was unable to convert.
Tipping point: Not that the Americans weren't a solid partnership but the International Team proved its own worst enemy. Of the five holes the Americans won, one was conceded while the Internationals gave three others away with two bogeys and a double bogey.
Notes: The victory was Woods' first in this Presidents Cup after the former world No. 1 went 5-0 two years ago at Harding Park. The win also let Woods get a measure of revenge after he and Steve Stricker were blitzed 7 and 6 by Choi and Scott in the opening Foursomes on Thursday. . . . Woods is now 10-3-1 in foursomes matches at The Presidents Cup, giving him more Foursomes victories than any other player in event history.
Quotes: "It was a day of patience. The weather was kind of iffy and the greens are another different speed to them. ... They gave us some pretty tricky pins out there, and just had to be patient." -- Tiger Woods. ... "It's tough to get these speeds down when you play three days and three different speeds. But we are both playing really well so we are looking forward to this afternoon." Dustin Johnson
Click here for hole-by-hole details | Discuss the match

MATCH 17: Phil Mickelson-Jim Furyk, U.S. def. Aaron Baddeley-Jason Day, International, 2 and 1

Match flow: The International Team jumped out to a quick start by winning the first hole but gave away the advantage with a bogey at the third. The Aussies then won the next two holes. The U.S. won the eighth hole with a par to close the deficit, but bogeyed the next hole, with the Internationals regaining a 2-up advantage. But on the 11th hole, the Americans took over, winning three straigt holes with birdies to go 1 up. Another birdie at the par-5 15th put the U.S. 2 up, and the Americans closed out the match two holes later.
Tipping Point: At the short 11th hole, the Americans were on the green in two while the Australians were in all sorts of trouble. Furyk's chip shot put the U.S. 13 feet away from a birdie, while Day was taking an awkward stance on a shot that wound up in the bunker. The whole match seemed to shift from there, as the Australians lost three consecutive holes.
Notes: In their last seven holes, the Americans recorded five 3s to the International's two . . . Mickelson stretched his undefeated streak in Presidents Cup matches to 11 straight . . . Mickelson and Furyk chatted after Furyk's approach shot found the bunker. Mickelson said later that he just reminded his partner to play their game and not worry about how the International team was playing.
Quotes: "We turned it around. We got off to a poor start on the greens and we just turned it around. We fought hard and stayed in the match and we ended up having a nice run on the back nine." - Phil Mickelson.
Click here for hole-by-hole details | Discuss the match