This Presidents Cup was enjoyable to watch. The USA won the Cup, 19-15. Not surprising. They simply had more firepower than the International team.
The star of the week wasn’t Jim Furyk, who went 5-0. It wasn’t Tiger Woods either, who seemed to find it the last two days after going 0-3 the first two days. The star was the course. I’ve got Royal Melbourne on my golf bucket list now. I would love to putt those greens and try hitting shots out of those bunkers.
Sunday Matches
| USA WINS CUP 19-15 |
| Sunday Singles Matches |
| USA |
Result |
International |
| Webb Simpson |
LOSE 1 DOWN |
K.T. Kim |
| Dustin Johnson |
LOSE 2 & 1 |
Charl Schwartzel |
| Bubba Watson |
LOSE 3 & 2 |
Ryo Ishikawa |
| Bill Haas |
LOSE 2 DOWN |
Geoff Ogilvy |
| Hunter Mahan |
WIN 5 & 3 |
Jason Day |
| Nick Watney |
WIN 3 & 2 |
K.J. Choi |
| Phil Mickelson |
LOSE 2 & 1 |
Adam Scott |
| Matt Kuchar |
LOSE 1 DOWN |
Retief Goosen |
| Jim Furyk |
WIN 4 & 3 |
Ernie Els |
| David Toms |
WIN 7 & 5 |
Robert Allenby |
| Tiger Woods |
WIN 4 & 3 |
Aaron Baddeley |
| Steve Stricker |
WIN 2 & 1 |
Y.E. Yang |
| SINGLES: USA 6 – INTERNATIONAL 6 |
Quotes of the week
There were a couple of quotes which really made me laugh, probably because my mind is in the gutter. Greg Norman asks wives and girlfriends of the players to help them relax by “taking care of them.” Ahem.
Tiger was talking about a two foot putt which surprisingly wasn’t given to his partner Steve Stricker:
“I don’t think he’s missed one of those since coming out of the womb.”
During the NBC broadcast, Johnny Miller might have used a better choice of words when describing Tiger:
“Tiger’s been known to make his partners gag a little bit.”
Uh, no comment.
Critics are commenting about the pairings for Sunday’s Presidents Cup and I can hear what they’re saying. From a ratings standpoint, the big name players Like Woods may be completely irrelevant by their back nine as the Cup could be over by then. But that is assuming the early USA players win some matches. You never know. That’s why they play the game.
Presidents Cup Sunday Pairings
MATCH 23: K.T. Kim, International vs. Webb Simpson, USA
MATCH 24: Dustin Johnson, USA vs. Charl Schwartzel, International
MATCH 25: Ryo Ishikawa, International vs. Bubba Watson, USA
MATCH 26: Bill Haas, USA vs. Geoff Ogilvy, International
MATCH 27: Jason Day, International vs. Hunter Mahan, USA
MATCH 28: Nick Watney, USA vs. K.J. Choi, International
MATCH 29: Adam Scott, International vs. Phil Mickelson, USA
MATCH 30: Matt Kuchar, USA vs. Retief Goosen, International
MATCH 31: Ernie Els, International vs. Jim Furyk, USA
MATCH 32: David Toms, USA vs. Robert Allenby, International
MATCH 33: Aaron Baddeley, International vs. Tiger Woods, USA
MATCH 34: Steve Stricker, USA vs. Y,E. Yang, International
Presidents Cup Final Round TV Schedule
Saturday: 6:30PM-12:30AM ET Golf Channel
Sunday: 12PM-6PM ET (replay) NBC
After 36 holes of play on day three (Saturday in Australia, Friday afternoon/evening here in the USA), the USA team leads the International team 13-9. The International team still has a chance, but they need a big day for day four.
Tiger Woods finally recorded his first win in the 2011 Presidents Cup, then lost in the afternoon. So Woods is 1-3. Good decision for Fred Couples to pick him over Keegan Bradley? Comment in below if you wish.
| Saturday Four-Ball |
| USA |
Result |
International |
| Simpson/Watson |
LOSE 2 & 1 |
Goosen/Schwartzel |
| Woods/Johnson |
LOSE 1 DOWN |
Kim/Yang |
| Stricker/Kuchar |
LOSE 1 DOWN |
Ogilvy/Choi |
| Mahan/Haas |
WIN 2 & 1 |
Baddeley/Day |
| Furyk/Watney |
WIN 1 UP |
Scott/Els |
| Saturday Foursomes |
| USA |
Result |
International |
| Simpson/Watson |
WIN 3 & 2 |
Allenby/Ogilvy |
| Haas/Kuchar |
LOSE 1 DOWN |
Els/Ishikawa |
| Mahan/Toms |
WIN 5 & 4 |
Goosen/Schwartzel |
| Woods/Johnson |
WIN 3 & 2 |
Scott/Choi |
| Mickelson/Furyk |
WIN 2 & 1 |
Baddeley/Day |
Set your DVR or stay up late. The Presidents Cup is on TONIGHT starting on Golf Channel at 9PM ET. Tiger Woods and Adam Scott are paired up so the play should be that much more entertaining. Odds are high that Steve Williams, Tiger’s former caddie and now Scott’s current, will say something politically incorrect.
Thursday Matches
MATCH 1 – Ernie Els-Ryo Ishikawa, International vs. Bubba Watson-Webb Simpson, U.S.
MATCH 2 – Bill Haas-Nick Watney, U.S. vs. Geoff Ogilvy-Charl Schwartzel, International
MATCH 3 – Aaron Baddeley-Jason Day, International vs. Dustin Johnson-Matt Kuchar, U.S.
MATCH 4 – Phil Mickelson-Jim Furyk, U.S. vs. Retief Goosen-Robert Allenby, International
MATCH 5 – K.T. Kim-Y.E. Yang, International vs. Hunter Mahan-David Toms, U.S.
MATCH 6 – Tiger Woods-Steve Stricker, U.S. vs. Adam Scott-K.J. Choi, International
Presidents Cup Television Schedule
| Day |
Time |
Network |
| Wednesday |
9PM-2AM ET |
Golf Channel |
| Thursday |
7:30PM-2AM ET |
Golf Channel |
| Friday |
3PM-2AM ET |
Golf Channel |
| Saturday |
8AM-4PM ET |
NBC |
|
6:30PM-12:30AM ET |
Golf Channel |
| Sunday |
12PM-6PM ET |
NBC |
Friday was a much better day scoring wise for Tiger Woods. With a -3 round of 68 he made the cut and jumped up 46 positions to tie for 40th. He still isn’t hitting fairways and ended up ditching the driver for many driving holes and electing to hit 3-wood. Oddly, most media say he putted better Friday, yet had two more total putts. How can that be? Greens in regulation.
Driving
Tiger’s driving distance increased to 270 from 257, despite going to 3-wood on many of his shots. He only hit 43% of his fairways Friday versus 50% on Thursday. But he was at least able to get himself into position to better hit greens.
Putting
Tiger’s total putts increased from 27 to 29 on Friday. But the crucial stat is the putts per green in regulation, which was greatly improved at 1.643. Add that to the fact that Tiger hit more greens in regulation and that is how he scored so much better.
Greens In Regulation
The most improved stat, and biggest reason for the lower score, is Tiger’s greens in regulation. He jumped from 50% to 78%. Hitting more greens and making less putts per green is the difference and why he made the cut.
Grade
I’m calling yesterday’s round a C-. Not enough to knock him out of the possibility of making the cut. Based on that, I’m calling Friday’s a B+ because it was good enough to make the cut.
Weekend
So Tiger has made the cut and will be around for the weekend. It will be interesting to see if he can climb up the leaderboard or not. After two days he’s a full seven shots behind tournament leader Paul Casey.
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