Presidents Cup: Dustin Johnson proving to be liability for team USA as Aussies turn up heat
He came in underdone for the Presidents Cup and Dustin Johnson is looking shaky for Tiger Wood’s team. Will he continue his wretched run? Meanwhile, an Aussie ace has turned up the heat.
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Aussie ace Adam Scott has turned up the heat on underdone American bomber Dustin Johnson.
Johnson, who hasn’t played since the Tour Championship in August because of knee surgery, is 0-2 for the week and shaping as a liability for Tiger Woods’ team.
The recuperating world No.5 was benched for this morning’s round of four-ball matches.
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Paired with South African Louis Oosthuizen, Scott’s match against Johnson and Matt Kuchar turned on its head when the US pair three-putted at 8 and Johnson ploughed a three-wood deep into the tee-tree at 9.
“We got lucky there on 8 … and from there on in, Louis and I just kind of applied the pressure,” Scott said of his second-straight win.
“We hit fairways and greens and never let up. They made a couple of mistakes, we made a couple of good putts for birdie and managed to walk them in with a couple to go, so it was a really top match from us today.
“It’s a great start to the week but there’s a lot of golf to be played.”
Johnson, returning after arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in September, said there were positives to take from yesterday’s 3&2 loss.
“I felt like we played well,” Johnson said.
“We had two three-putts there, not hitting bad putts. We lipped-out quite a few putts. I felt like we played well, played solid. Obviously they played very well, too.
“It was a tough match and we hung in there. We did get off to a nice start but this golf course is difficult, and especially it's really difficult in alternate-shot.”
Johnson declared before the tournament began, that: “I wouldn't be here if I wasn't ready to play”.
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Kuchar nailed clutch putts at 5 and 10 but was also ragged in his first outing.
He pairs with Tony Finau against Scott and South Korean Byeong Hun An this morning.
“We are digging ourselves a bit of a hole,” Kuchar said.
“We need to regroup but thankfully, there's still a whole lot of golf left. There's so many veterans on the team, a handful of rookies; listen, we've been behind before … and made big comebacks. This is still only halfway through, not even halfway through.
“There's still so many points to play for.”