Tiger Woods and his power-house USA golf team eventually pulled it off – but with a huge sigh of relief.
Before the match they were the overwhelming favorites to win the 13th Presidents Cup. Most New Jersey sportsbooks had them listed at odds of around -280 as against The Internationals +280.
And why not? USA had lost only one of the 12 Presidents Cup matches played since the first in 1994. And perhaps more important, they were fielding a team that completely out-ranked the Internationals. Matt Kuchar was the only US player not ranked higher than Adam Scott (18), the Internationals No 1.
Surprise, surprise. The American walkover didn’t happen. Ernie Els and his mixed band of mainly rookie internationals stunned the US in the fourballs and foresome matches.
They easily beat Woods and his men on day one. They did it almost as easily on day two. The USA hit back some on Day three but Els’ men still lead 10-8 with the 12 Sunday’s singles to come.
USA only loss came in Melbourne
The Internationals lone previous Presidents Cup victory had come against the Americans at Royal Melbourne. A belief had started growing that they might just pull it off again on the same famed Aussie course.
The US big guns were now only marginal favorites heading into Sunday’s singles. They needed 7½ matches as against the Internationals 5½ to triumph
The bookmakers still favored the USA – but only just. Play MGM odds gave the USA eight wins out of 12 – and they were pretty close to the mark.
Here were their pre-singles odds for each match (US names first)
Tiger Woods (-150) vs. Abraham Ancer ) (+185)
Tony Finau (+120) vs. Hideki Matsuyama (+110)
Patrick Reed (-125) vs. C.T. Pan (+163)
Dustin Johnson (-176) vs. Haotong Li (+225)
Bryson DeChambeau (+110) vs. Adam Hadwin (+120)
Gary Woodland (+110) vs. Sungjae Im (+120)
Patrick Cantlay (-143) vs. Joaquin Niemann (+188)
Xander Schauffele (+120) vs. Adam Scott (+110)
Webb Simpson (+120) vs. Byeong-Hun An (+110)
Justin Thomas (-176) vs. Cameron Smith (+225)
Matt Kuchar (+163) vs. Louis Oosthuizen (-125)
Rickie Fowler (-106) vs. Marc Leishman (+138)
Sadly for Els and his brave band of underdogs, Tiger Woods, winner of 15 majors and 82 PGA Tour titles, stood in their way.
Tiger went off first
He sent himself of first in Sunday’s 12 singles matches and did what he’s always been so good at doing.
He won under pressure, beating Abraham Ancer 3 and 2 and setting his team-mates alight. Now they trailed by just one match. The light was getting bright at the end of the tunnel. And they kept on making it brighter.
The Americans needed 7½ points to win and went about getting them by winning 6, losing two and halving 2 after 10 holes.
That gave them 7 points with two games to play. Kuchar, ironically their lowest ranked player at No 23, then stepped up to finally close out the Internationals. He edged out 20th ranked Louis Oosthuizen 1-up at the 18th.
And just as well. In the final game, local favorite Cameron Smith surprisingly won 2 and 1 against Justin Thomas, one of the US’s few stars during those first three trying days.
All of Sunday’s singles results
Here are all the results of the singles matches (US names first)
Tiger Woods beat Abraham Ancer 3 and 2
Tony Finau halved with Hideki Matsuyama
Patrick Reed beat C.T. Pan 4 and 2
Dustin Johnson beat Haotong Li,4 and 3
Bryson DeChambeau halved with Adam Hadwin
Gary Woodland lost to Sungjae Im 4 and 3
Patrick Cantlay beat Joaquin Niemann, 3 and 2
Xander Schauffele beat Adam Scott 2 and 1
Webb Simpson beat. Byeong-Hun An 2 and 1
Matt Kuchar beat Louis Oosthuizen 1-up
Justin Thomas lost to Cameron Smith 2 and 1
Rickie Fowler halved with Mark Leishman