Presidents Cup pairings: Tiger Woods to take on Abraham Ancer on Day 4
The man they are calling “Aussie Abe” — Mexico’s Abraham Ancer — has the job of bringing down Tiger Woods as the Internationals eye a drought-breaking Presidents Cup triumph.
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Six singles victories are all that’s needed to end a 21-year Presidents Cup winning drought for a fired-up International outfit riding on the high of stunning Saturday recovery and an American team cowed by a raucous Royal Melbourne crowd.
The masses were brought to a frenzy late on day three after two stunning 18th hole efforts from the “home” team ended a red, white and blue surge.
It helped the Internationals steal back the momentum from an American outfit which has been behind from day one.
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International captain Ernie Els declared the late turnaround late was “unbelievable” and the perfect momentum builder to find the 5.5 points needed, from 12 singles matches, to win for the first time in 21 years.
“You talk about coming back from the dead; 5-down and 4-down, you know, through eight and nine holes, come back and get that result, I mean, that’s a turnaround. That gets momentum,” Els said.
“I mean, you know, we had a lead. It looked like it was going to be wiped away, and the guys absolutely played with their guts and I could not be more proud and more happy for those guys in that cabin tonight.
“They are as excited as you could ever see a team be.”
US captain Tiger Woods will be first on the tee on Sunday after picking out the man they are calling “Aussie Abe”, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, as his target for singles demolition.
Woods declared the stirred up locals had begun to have a huge impact on the event and even gone “over the top” in their quest to make the visitors uncomfortable.
But International skipper Ernie Els, basking in the support his team has encountered, suggested Woods and his men needed to toughen up.
“If you look back at New York (in 2017) and how these players were treated in New York, this crowd is pretty quiet,” Els said.
“We shut up and we get on with things. That’s what we did in New York. So it’s part of the game.”
After sitting out both Saturday sessions, Woods seized on the chance to choose his rookie opponent after the International team, holding a two-point lead, picked their player first for the opening singles match.
No player in Presidents Cup history has won singles matches than Woods and the 43-year-old, his team’s best player on Thursday and Friday, denied he was hurt despite being seen stretching his back while walking with his charges on Saturday.
“My obligation as a player was to play two matches,” Woods said.
“We’ve had I think a good formula for this event, and unfortunately we’re down 8-10, but we’re excited about tomorrow and getting after it.”
Ancer, who won the Australian Open last year and hasn’t lost a match at Royal Melbourne this week in his Presidents Cup debut, has embraced his status as an adopted Aussie and declared his intention to ride the momentum all the way to a team win.
“It’s really cool to play in front of all these people. They have been huge for the event, I believe, really pushing us in the right direction,” the Presidents Cup rookie said.
Ancer and playing partner Marc Leishman surged from five holes down in the final session on Saturday to half their match.
CUP TRIUMPH WITHIN SCOTT’S REACH
Russell Gould
Adam Scott has been doing everything he can for the Internationals to break a painful Presidents Cup drought this week, except drive the bus.
From his earliest rallying cry, which came two weeks ago when he implored fans at Royal Melbourne not to cheer Tiger Woods, the Aussie — a seven-time loser — has been as vigorous as Scott can be.
He’s made it his mission to inspire, but followed up his word with deeds.
Scott was undefeated going in to the double session on Saturday, walking the walk and doing so with his arms raised, calling on every packed grandstand to get behind his men.
He was out last in the morning four-ball, then first in the afternoon foursomes.
The Queenslander had 40 minutes to “grab some lunch” and reset for another 18 holes.
Despite the quick turnaround Scott, 39, continued to deliver. His laser-iron to the second hole set up an eagle putt for his partner Louis Oosthuizen, who duly delivered.
Scott said his 35-hole day was “a grind”, not helped by having to back up so quickly.
“Look, it’s a long day out there. I played 35 holes, and it was a grind because things weren’t going my way this afternoon,” Scott said.
“Things were feeling pretty good for about 27 of those holes, and it was a struggle the last nine. The putts started lipping out and Louis and I, unfortunately, went down. But tomorrow, I’ll be rested … I can come out and leave everything I’ve got out here tomorrow.”
Scott will be one of five International players to feature in all five sessions of play.
He didn’t declare it was part of his “all-in” plan and said he was just “doing what I’m told” by his captain Ernie Els.
But having given so much, Scott said being in a winning position was everything he could have hoped for.
“We’re in great shape,” Scott said.
“The scoreline is really good for us, considering what it was looking like with a couple hours to go. We’re in the middle of a fight and we’re all going to be up for it. If we … play the way we’ve been playing, we can do this.”