The Presidents Cup reached an epic finale yesterday in Korea with the inevitable American victory. But there was something far less inevitable in this years Presidents Cup as the International contingent fought gamely and bravely to leave this as the tightest Presidents Cup since the tie in South Africa. As we did back in 2003, we thought we would rate the 12 International players on their performance at the Biennial event.
- Branden Grace (5 pts out of a possible 5)
It’s funny how things change. 2 Years ago on his debut at the Presidents Cup Branden Grace was unable to win any points from his four matches. 2 Years later and he joins an elite group of Mark O’Meara, Shigeki Maruyama, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk as players to have completed the perfect Presidents Cup. He is unfortunately the first ever player to do it in a losing cause. There is so much good about Branden’s golf and he is someone to be truly excited by.
- Louis Oosthuizen (4.5 out of 5)
Shrek capped if a fine individual year with another fine showing. In my opinion, he is South Africa’s best golfer on tour currently and has a ridiculously calm outlook to golf. Was a bit disappointed to not make it 5 out of 5 and unfortunately like his Major performances in 2015, great but short of the win. - Thongchai Jaidee (1.5 out of 3)
The almost forgotten man of the Internationals squad. the 45-year-old rookie was sneaky good, particularly on Sunday when he rallied from 3 down with eight to play to halve his singles match against Bubba Watson. And you will know that anyone that beats Bubba is a friend of ours!
- Hideki Matsuyama (2.5 out of 4)
He found a willing partner in Sangmoon Bae and for me eclipses him based on his Sunday play. Joining the Adam Scott he lost on Thursday (like most of the International team) but then regained credibility with Sangmoon on Saturday. First they halved in the morning against Haas / Kuchar, before blitzing Walker and Kirk in sensational fashion on Saturday afternoon. He capped off a fine personal week with victory over Holmes.
- Sangmoon Bae (2.5 out of 4)
Considering the moment, with the South Korean playing in his final professional event before he reports for two years of mandatory military service, Bae’s week was impressive, but most will remember his misplayed chip shot at the last to drop the deciding match
- Marc Leishman (1.5 out of 4)
When you think there are four Australians in this squad, you would not consider Marc Leishman to be the top performer of the lot, but after a poor week from the Aussies, he was one that emerged with some small piece of credibility. That credibility was however only saved for Sunday when he surprisingly defeated world number one Jordan Spieth.
- Adam Scott (2 out of 5)
The likeable Aussie (I know), had a week to forget, before salvaging some pride on Sunday. He is unable to settle on a successful partnership and has now played alongside 11 different players in 7 Cups. He did however spank Rickie Fowler like a ginger step child on Sunday to give the early impetus to the Internationals. He seems to have lost some of what made him World Number 1 a year ago.
- Steven Bowditch (1 out of 3)
He didn’t play well with Day, he didn’t play well with Leishman, and he didn’t play at all on Saturday. Still, he rallied on Sunday against Jimmy Walker for a 2-up victory to tie the matches at 12 ½ points apiece.
- Danny Lee (1 out of 3)
The South Korean New Zealander was expected to take advantage of playing in the country of his birth. Instead the Americans took advantage of him. The only highlight was the win with Bae on Friday before being benched on Saturday for both rounds. Also on the losing end to Dustin Johnson on Sunday. Not a great debut.
- Charl Schwartzel (1 out of 4)
There is something wrong with Charl Schwartzel’s golf right now. The former Masters Champion is able to produces sublime with horror show in equal effects. He seems to be on the verge of breakdown every time he plays a poor shot, yet he is able to play shots that are frankly ridiculously good at times. Everyone in South Africa will want to see him get his “A game” back, but it just doesn’t seem apparent how that is going to happen.
- Anirban Lahiri (0 out of 3)
His putt on the 18th to share his match was from three-foot and straight. He missed it and missed the half a point that would have tied the Cup. Instead India’s first ever Presidents Cup player goes home with only the memories and zero points. But he was still not the worst player for the Internationals, no, that honour is reserved for…
- Jason Day (0.5 out of 5)
Merely a month after topping the World Golf Rankings and having broken his major duck, much was expected from the World Number 2. Nothing was delivered though. You would not have thought he would be the worst of the four Aussies this week, but the facts don’t lie. He halved with Scott on Friday, but he lost with Bowditch on Thursday, lost with Schwartzel (to Spieth) on Saturday, lost with Schwartzel (to Spieth) on Saturday again and also lost to Zach Johnson in the battle of the 2015 Major Champions. His third Presidents Cup appearance, by some distance his worst.
Who were your stars and disasters from the 2015 Presidents Cup? Let us know in the comments below.