Presidents Cup: Americans pull off stunning win but Internationals ' make great strides'
The Presidents Cup will stay with the United States. But the defending champions will know they have been in one hell of a fight after the Internationals hung in there as long as they could against the heavily-stacked odds at Royal Melbourne.
By most golfing measures the International team should never even have got as close as it did.
But the Sunday singles shellacking that delivered the star-studded US team an eighth straight Presidents Cup was still totally devastating for captain Ernie Els and his men given the belief they shared that history was theirs to make.
The “Big Easy” was happy to shoulder the blame too for the heartbreaking 16-14 loss, to cop any flak for his match-play picks and Saturday afternoon pairings which Els, flattened by the result, was left to lament.
His team lead after each of the first four sessions. But each day that lead dwindled as the US team, with all but one player inside the world’s top 20, got over their jet lag, got used to the course, and found their best stuff.
From a four-point lead after the best International team opener ever on Thursday, to 3.5 after Friday, then just two going in to Sunday. It was the 3-1 foursomes loss late on Saturday too where the US turned the screws and Els, exhausted and devastated in equal measure, knew it.
“I could have made different choices in the singles today. I can take it on my shoulders. It is what it is,” Els said, noncommittal about continuing on to 2021, despite changing the entire shape of the International team for the better.
“You know, if you compare our team on paper with other teams in other sport, you would have laughed us out of the building. They have an absolute stacked team.
“We gave it a hell of a go and we came mightily close to winning and upsetting one of the greatest golf teams of all time.”
“But great strides was made, especially in our team play. You know, I really felt that our team play was really the core of our team, and that never was.
“They tried so hard. They played so hard for each other and the team, and to buy into something new like I tried, I really have to take my hat off to every one of them.”While Els took his hat off to his players, his rival captain Tiger Woods took his clubs to them.
The greatest golfer of all time not only played the house down, but morphed in to an outstanding leader of men, which few people could have expected him to be.
There was little praise for Woods from the victorious internationals however, despite the US captain going undefeated and getting the first point in the record Sunday rout which ended with six American victories, four ties and just two International wins from the 12-matches.
Woods himself was beaming, for his “boys”, declaring his first venture in to team captaincy not only mission accomplished, but an experience he would cherish forever.
“We won and we did it together,” Woods said .
“I've been a part of teams before where we have won. Also been a part of, unfortunately, this Presidents Cup when we lost 21 years ago.
“And so to come here and to do it in this fashion, to do it with this team, in particular, it was an honour for me as a player and even more of an honour to be their captain.”
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SUNDAY SINGLES RESULTS
Abraham Ancer (INT) defeated by Tiger Woods (US) – 3&2
Hideki Matsuyama (INT) tied with Tony Finau (US)
C.T Pan (INT) defeated by Patrick Reed (US) – 4&2
Haotong Li (INT) defeated by Dustin Johnson (US) – 4&3
Adam Hadwin (INT) tied with Bryson DeChambeau (US)
Sungjae Im (INT) defeated Gary Woodland (US) – 4&3
Joaquin Niemann (INT) defeated by Patrick Cantlay (US) – 3&2
Adam Scott (INT) defeated by Xander Schauffele (US) – 2&1
Byeong Hun An (INT) defeated by Webb Simpson (US) - 2&1
Cameron Smith (INT) defeated Justin Thomas (US) – 2&1
Louis Oosthuizen (INT) tied with Matt Kuchar (US)
Marc Leishman (INT) tied with Rickie Fowler (US)
Final score: Internationals 14 v USA 16