The Ernie Els-led Internationals will take a 4-1 lead into the second day of the Presidents Cup after ambushing the United States in the opening day fourball matches.
It is the best first session for an International team in the 25-year history of the Cup.
With five rookies in action, the Internationals stood tall and adapted their games to the firm, fast-running playing surfaces and the cool, gusting wind better than the Americans.
As for his team-mates, some of them looked flat, perhaps a by-product of the 30-hour flight from the Bahamas to Melbourne they endured at the start of the week. Back in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, when the Internationals claimed their only Cup victory, the US on that occasion also looked lethargic early in the campaign.
“I didn’t envision 4-1,” he smiled. “It’s a nice start.
“You know, we haven’t had a start like this for many, many years. So, its really nice to have some points on the board.”
Els admitted to being nervous throughout the day’s play and wondered how Tiger was able to cope as a playing captain.
“As the captain of the team, it’s a very different position to be in,” he said.
“I can only imagine what Tiger is doing, captaining and playing. As a captain, not playing, it’s nerve-wracking. I can see what my wife’s gone through for many years (laughing).”
Sitting just a few feet away, a stony-faced and, obviously disappointed, Woods said his team had to stay the course and stick to the game plan.
“Well, this is a long four days. I mean we have to go earnt his Cup,” Woods said.
“Just because we lost the session doesn’t mean the Cup’s over. There’s a long way to go. A lot of points available. The guys will regroup and we’ll come out tomorrow ready to go.”
The star pairing for the Internationals was South African Louis Oosthuizen and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, who rolled big-hitting duo Gary Woodland and Dustin Johnson 4 & 3 in the last match out on the course.
Oosthuizen and Ancer immediately clicked as a pair. When Oosthuizen wasn’t rolling in birdies, Ancer was making clutch par-saves to maintain their lead over the Americans.
Oosthuizen paid tribute to his new team-mate after the round.
“My man just made everything. He hit it good,” he said. “He hit fairways, greens and it’ all on him today. It was unreal.”
Ancer admitted he was nervous on the 1st tee but Oosthuizen settled him into the task at hand.
“I thought I was going to feel more nervous that I actually felt on the 1st tee,” Ancer said. “I felt like we were prepared which helped a lot, but it was a lot of fun. We had fun and we focused and we executed well.”
HOW THE MATCHES PLAYED OUT
MATCH 1
Marc Leishman & Joaquin Niemann (Internationals)
v Tiger Woods & Justin Thomas (US)
The only shining light for the Americans ln day one was the form of Playing Captain Tiger Woods, who headed out in the first match with Justin Thomas and grabbed the first point of the Cup, 4 & 3 over Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann.
Woods was brilliant carding five birdies in 15 holes before jumping in a cart to take on Captain’s duties across the playing groups behind him.
Woods and Thomas raced to 3 up through the first five holes, but were pegged back by Chilean rookie Niemann, who birdied the 6th and 7th holes to narrow the US advantage to 1 up and that was as close at Leishman and Niemann got.
Thomas chipped in with a birdie at the par-4 9th to return the Americans to 2 up. When Woods birdied the 14th and 15th holes the match was done. As a pair, the American’s fourball score was an impressive eight under through 15 holes.
MATCH 2
Adam Hadwin & Sungjae Im (Internationals) v
Xander Schauffele & Patrick Cantlay (US)
Presidents Cup rookie Sungjae Im introduced himself to his American counterparts early by chipping in for eagle at the par-4 1st hole to grab a 1up lead.
Cantlay struck back at the short par-4 6th when he took an aggressive line over the trees on the dogleg left. His ball finished clear in the rough and he took full advantage with a brilliant recovery shot to six feet, which he made for a hole winning birdie to square the match.
A par four at the next from partner Schauffele saw the Americans go ahead 1 up in the match but they surrendered that lead at the long par-4 9th hole when Im rattled in a par-saving putt from 29 feet to win the hole.
Nothing could separate the pairs for the seven holes as all four players struggled to break the deadlock with a birdie. Even when the Internationals got their noses in front at the par-4 16th, it was with a par. Cantlay and Schauffele both missed the fairway, with Cantlay needing to take a penalty drop from an unplayable lie. Hadwin, the only player to find the fairway, hit the green and two-putted from 70 feet to make par.
Im and Hadwin closed out the match with two more pars, which was enough to grab the third point of the day for the Internationals.
MATCH 3
Adam Scott & Byeong Hun An (Internationals) v
Bryson Dechambaeu & Tony Finau (US)
Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An never trailed in their 2 & 1 victory over Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau.
Although Scott landed some of the bigger punches throughout the round, rookie An – who was the last-minute replacement for an injured Jason Day – made multiple clutch putts to deflect the visitor’s best efforts.
RIGHT: Adam Scott salutes the crowd after securing another point for the International team. PHOTO: Getty Images.
“Playing alongside with Adam was a big help, playing as a rookie and I was very nervous,” An said.
“We both had breakfast together today and played together yesterday and he kind of calmed me down. I wasn't really that nervous on the first tee. Adam helped me a lot with that.”
Scott, making his ninth Presidents Cup appearance this week, opened with consecutive bogies before making back-to-back birdies at the 3rd and 4th holes, thanks to some terrific iron play.
“Ben had me covered early while I was shaky. After a couple holes, I settled down and hit some shots. It was good fun,” Scott said
The World No.18 also added: “I put a lot of focus into this first round. I'll have to reset and move on, but this is the start we needed. We haven't seen this for a while. We've got to try to keep this lead now as long as possible and hopefully the week runs out.”
MATCH 4
Hideki Matsuyama & C.T. Pan (Internationals) v
Webb Simpson & Patrick Reed (US)
The Internationals grabbed the final point of the fourball matches on the back of Hideki Matsuyama’s hot putter.
The match was all-square through the first two holes before the Japanese gun rolled in birdies at the par-3 3rd (15 feet) and the difficult par-4 4th (six feet) to move quickly to 2 up.
Matsuyama and Pan never surrendered their lead until the 16th hole when Patrick Reed squared the match with a successful 12-foot birdie putt.
Matsuyama snatched the lead back for the Internationals at the next with 27-foot birdie putt that never looked like missing. With the Americans needing to win the 18th hole, Matsuyama and Pan parred out to hold on for an historic fourth point from the opening session for the Internationals.
MATCH 5
Abraham Ancer & Louis Oosthuizen (Internationals) v
Dustin Johnson & Gary Woodland (US)
Ernie Els’ pairing of Louis Oosthuizen and Presidents Cup rookie Abraham Ancer was a revelation. Not only did they gain the second point of the day for the Internationals, but there routing of the strong Dustin Johnson-Gary Woodland pairing blew a lot of wind into the Internationals’ sails.
Johnson looked aggressive and ominous early, driving the green at the short par-4 1st hole. When he two-putted from nearly 80-feet for birdie, it was left to Ancer to square with a five-footer for birdie, which never looked like missing.
Oosthuizen then grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck, making birdies at three of the next four holes. His lone par in that run was also good enough to win the hole. Standing on the 6th tee, Johnson and Woodland looked shell-shocked.
The Americans only won one hole in the match when Johnson rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 8th. Ancer holed the longest putt of the day, a 68-footer, across the 13th green to take the difference back to four holes and they looked unbeatable from that stage of the match.
“Starting well around this golf course is key,” Oosthuizen said. “Gary and DJ didn’t start well. When we got 4 up through five, it was always going to be tough for them to get it back, and whenever we were in trouble, we found a way to make pars.”
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