Internationals fight back to leave Presidents Cup up for grabs
CHARLOTTE (North Carolina): The underdog Internationals bared their teeth on Saturday, outplaying the United States in a marathon day of golf to leave American fans stunned and the Presidents Cup suddenly up for grabs.
The heavily favoured US had started the day with a commanding 8-2 advantage and in position to register a Presidents Cup first — securing the golden trophy on Saturday.
But the Americans took their foot of the gas, opening the door for the scrappy Internationals, who split the morning foursomes 2-2 and then took three of four points in the afternoon fourballs as Australia’s Cam Davis and South Korean Kim Joo-hyung won matches with sensational late birdies to chop the US advantage to 11-7.
“They [the US players] were pretty mad,” said US captain Davis Love III. “We wanted to win every session, and we tied one and lost one today. So that wasn’t part of our plan.”
While it was an inspiring performance by the Internationals they will head into the decisive singles on the final day still facing a daunting challenge of overhauling a US team that needs just 4-1/2 points from the 12 matches to get to the 15 1/2 needed to secure victory.
The Internationals, with a record eight Presidents Cup debutants in their 12-man team, were given little chance against a U.S. powerhouse featuring nine of the top 15 players in the world and had looked ready to be steamrollered after being routed in the opening two sessions.
A long day at the Quail Hollow Club began in the dawn chill but the early start did not stop fans from packing into the first tee stands, the pro-American crowd sending off Love’s men to what they hoped would be another day of domination.
But the raucous cheers fell silent in the Charlotte twilight when the Australian duo of Scott and Cam Davis rallied from 1-down to Sam Burns and Billy Horschel with three to play to register a 1-up win.
After splitting the foursome the Americans had looked to get back on track in the fourball when the US power pairing of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas picked up their fourth win in four matches subduing Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and Canadian Taylor Pendrith 4&3.
But that would be the only US point of the afternoon as the Internationals continued to build on their morning momentum.
South Korea’s Im Sung-jae and Colombian Sebastian Munoz started the rally with a 3&2 win over Tony Finau an Kevin Kisner. Im’s two-putt birdie from 70 feet won the 11th for a 2-up lead and the Americans never came closer.
But the spark the Internationals had been seeking came from fearless 20-year-old Kim Joo-hyung, his big putts and even bigger celebrations providing his team with an emotional jolt.
Kim (also known as Tom Kim) partnered with Kim Si-woo to take down the unbeaten US pair of world numbers four and five Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 1-up when the 20-year-old rookie dropped a nerve jangling 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th for the win.
“I wanted that putt more than anything in the world,” Kim Joo-hyung said. “I’m really happy.”
Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2022
