Team USA has the lead at the Presidents Cup
After one day at the Presidents Cup, Team USA carries a 3.5-2.5 lead over the Internationals as we head to Friday. Full results are below along with a few thoughts, GIFs and videos.
Day One Results
- Graham DeLaet & Jason Day def. Hunter Mahan & Brandt Snedeker (1 up)
- Adam Scott & Hideki Matsuyama halved vs. Bill Haas & Webb Simpson
- Louis Oosthuizen & Charl Schwartzel def. Phil Mickelson & Keegan Bradley (2 and 1)
- Steve Stricker & Jordan Spieth def. Ernie Els & Brendon de Jonge (1 up)
- Matt Kuchar & Tiger Woods def. Marc Leishman & Angel Cabrera (5 and 4)
- Jason Dufner & Zach Johnson def. Richard Sterne & Branden Grace (5 and 3)
The Internationals start slow
At the beginning of the day, it certainly looked likely that the Americans would take the first day in an outright romp, potentially to the tune of 5-1 or 6-0, but after the weather delayed action for over an hour, the International side came out and fought back. I don’t believe in the narrative about teams needing a break to refocus, but for whatever reason, it seemed completely different when the players came out of that break. Even though they’re down, the International team has to be happy with their current standing considering where the day began.
Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar
There’s almost no way it seems that golfers can ever look cool, but they certainly give it their best effort, as you can see above with Tiger and Kuchar attempting to re-enact some Fresh Prince handshake/celebration/whatever. Apparently it was Kuchar’s idea, which makes sense since there’s no way Tiger would have thought up something like this, but I’m not surprised that he went along with it. Despite his reputation, he’s probably way more open than he’s given credit for. As I said to a colleague at work today though, the arrogant Tiger is still a much better look:
One thing I didn’t expect though was the slap on the ass he gave to Kuchar:
The Squirrel
Apparently U.S. assistant captain Davis Love III befriended a squirrel during the delay after he fed the furry rodent. After the delay though, the squirrel stuck around, at points being out in the open and at others, he was in Love’s pocket. Yes, I’m serious.
With everyone watching the final match, Lindsey Vonn decided to take the squirrel and put it on Tiger’s shoulder when he wasn’t looking. He wasn’t exactly impressed.
Other Notes
- Best match of the day probably goes to Scott/Matsuyama vs. Haas/Simpson, which the U.S. led for most of the way, but never pulled away. Matsuyama’s shot into 18 to force the halve was incredible.
- Tough loss for Mahan and Snedeker, who were three up on Day and DeLaet before blowing it over the last six holes.
- Phil and Keegan never really seemed to get it going today, and we really saw the worst of Phil, who couldn’t seem to find anything but trouble all day. Oosthuizen and Schwartzel won exactly how you’d expect them too, grinding it out with nothing overly spectacular.
- Ernie Els was brutal all day and his birdie on the 17th to get his side within one hole of a tie was his first of the day. Brendon de Jonge carried the group all day, and probably deserved a little better for his efforts, but that happens in match play.
- Not a whole lot to say about the last match, as Sterne and Grace were never in it at all. Johnson and Dufner thoroughly dominated.
- Tomorrow’s pairings have been announced, and I’ll take a look at those in a separate post.
AdamSarson.com 