The Presidents Cup has come and gone, disappointingly back to America. The Americans started the tournament with a blitz in the opening foursomes leading 4-2 with victories for Watson/Simpson, Mickelson/Furyk and Mahan/Toms. The only glimmer of hope for the Internationals was the thumping victory of Scott over Woods in their teams.
The Internationals had never fared well in the foursomes, but would look towards the four-balls on the Friday to close the gap. They won matches through Choi/Ogilvy, Goosen/Schwartzel and Baddeley/Day, but they lost matches to Watson/Simpson, Mickelson/Furyk and Kuchar/Stricker. The Americans held a 7-5 lead and if we could get the right result then Sundays singles would have been fantastic.
But on Saturday morning, the inability of the Internationals to play in the foursomes hurt them badly. They lost four of the 5 matches with only Els/Ishikawa winning (Their first in 3 matches), while the Americans had wins through Watson/Simpson, Mickelson/Furyk, Mahan/Toms and at last Woods/Johnson. After the morning round, America led 11-6 a near insurmountable lead of 5 points. The telling tale of this Presidents Cup would be the foursomes and America won the Foursomes battle by a score of 8-3, a margin greater than their overall winning gap.
The Internationals tried their best to get us a game going again with a great performance in the afternoon, but will look back at missed opportunities as they tried to get back level with America. With Furyk/Watney and Mahan/Haas winning 2 points for America, the Internationals had to settle for 3 from Ogilvy/Choi, Kim/Yang and Goosen/Schwartzel. 13-9 going into the final day was always going to prove to be too much for the Internationals.
And that’s what it was. The singles were exciting, but ultimately shared 6-6 as Tiger Woods won the point that won the Presidents Cup with some sensational golf on the Sunday. International won through Kim, Schwartzel, Ishikawa, Ogilvy, Scott and Goosen. The Americans won through Mahan, Watney, Furyk, Toms, Woods and Stricker.
Final Score: America 19-15 Internationals
ATJ Presidents Cup Awards:
American Player of the Tournament: Jim Furyk – He became only the 4th player in the history of the presidents cup to complete a perfect week. The veteran was simply outstanding and his partnership with Mickelson was incredible!
Internationals Player of the Tournament: Geoff Ogilvy – The fan favourite and home hero stood far ahead of his Australian counterparts and did his bit in winning 3.5 points. All while sporting the Mo of all Mo’s.
Americans best Rookie: Webb Simpson – His partnership with Bubba Watson was brilliant, they won 3 out of 3 in the opening 3 rounds. He lost his way a little bit at the end, but 3 out of 5 points is more than doing your share!
Internationals best Rookie: Charl Schwartzel – It’s unbelievable to think of the quality that South Africa is producing. In his partnership they highlighted the changing of the guard for South African golf. He will produce a lot of brilliance for
South Africa in the coming years and seems a more likely bet than Oosthuizen and co.
American disappointment of the Tournament: Bill Haas – He had just come off of a FedEx Cup win and was chosen ahead of form man Keegan Bradley. Had the Americans lost, his pick would have been heavily criticized as he collect only 1.5 points.
Internationals disappointment of the Tournament: Ernie Els – For years he has been the flag bearer of the International team. This year he wasn’t. He has dropped outside the top 50 in the World and his golf is slowly starting to fade. I hope I am wrong, but I think that may have been the Big Easy’s last Presidents Cup.
So now we wait again. The next addition will be in America in 2013 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio before travelling east to South Korea for the 2015 edition. Hopefully the Internationals organise some sort of tournament before then to practise foursomes!