After a history of one-sided results in favour of America, the Presidents Cup finally managed to produce a close contest, yet despite a valiant final-day fight back by the International team, the result went the way of past renewals, with a win for Team USA, albeit by a narrow 15½-14½ margin at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Korea.
Bill Haas, son of US captain Jay Haas, secured the final point the Americans needed to win the trophy for the ninth time in 11 matches. Haas, playing in the anchor match, was conceded his birdie putt on the final hole by Korean’s Sangmoon Bae for a 2-up victory to cap off a stirring 15½-14½ triumph.
“That was the hardest position I’ve felt on the golf course in my career, so it feels good to hang on and hit some good shots down the stretch,” said Haas, who realised the cup’s outcome was down to him as early as the 13th tee. “It was a goal of mine all year was to make this team. I shouldn’t even be getting emotional, it’s just golf. I’m lucky to be a part of this team and to get picked, and I’m just happy I could help the team out with one point there. It feels great.”
Haas’ match was the seventh to reach the final hole during the singles matches. Bae, needing to win the hole to halve the match, and thus make it a 15-15 tie, chunked his third shot from just short of the green, and then pitched far past the hole with his fourth shot. When Haas hit his bunker shot to five feet, Bae took his hat off and shook Haas’ hand to end the closest match since the teams tied 17-17 in 2003.
“They played phenomenal golf and made us play phenomenal golf,” Jay Haas said. “It was pretty uncomfortable at times today, but the guys stepped up and played amazing golf when they had to.”
Earlier in the day, the Internationals’ Louis Oosthuizen’s eagled the last to earn a half-point against Patrick Reed, while Hideki Matsuyama made a birdie on the hole to earn a whole point against J.B. Holmes. Bubba Watson missed a 4-footer for par and went from earning a full point for the US to winning a half-point against Thongchai Jaidee. And world No. 1 Jordan Spieth won the first two holes against Marc Leishman and then fell into a tense match that turned in the Australian’s favour when he won the 14th and 15th holes. Leishman pulled off the 1-up win when he holed a 7-footer for birdie on the final hole.
The biggest turnaround on the 18th came in the Chris Kirk/Anirban Lahiri match. Kirk earned a full point for the US by making a 15-footer for birdie and then watched as Lahiri missed his birdie from four feet.
It was a slightly less tense match for Phil Mickelson, who beat Charl Schwartzel 5&4 during a week in which he won three matches and drew one.
“It was an emotional week for me, because I haven’t played my best the past couple years,” said the left hander. “Jay wanted me on the team and he gave me the freedom to just be me. Sometimes I say and do some dumb stuff, and sometimes I can help some guys lighten the tension, because we all feel pressure. Even though we have done very well in this event for a number of years, we still feel pressure. We’re representing our country and we’re representing our teammates and we feel responsible when we don’t play our best, we feel accountable to others, not just ourselves.”
The next Presidents Cup is to be held in 2017 at Liberty National Golf Course in New York, where USA will be bidding for a seventh consecutive victory.
Pics from Getty Images
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