Since its inaugural tournament in 1994, the Presidents Cup has been dominated by Team USA. The Americans have a record of 11-1-1 in the biennial tournament, with a tie in 2003 and a loss at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1998. This year, the Presidents Cup returned to Australia as Royal Melbourne played host to the tournament for the third time.
Given Team USA’s dominance, no one really gave Team International a chance but with the team being led by Ernie Els, the international players fought hard and gave the American players, led by playing captain Tiger Woods, all they could handle. As a result, it provided golf fans around the world with one of the most entertaining and fun Presidents Cup to date!
Day One of the 2019 Presidents Cup consisted of five Four-Ball matches. Playing captain Tiger Woods teamed up with Justin Thomas in the first match as they looked to set the tone against Joaquin Niemann and Marc Leishman. They did exactly just that as they dominated the match, winning 4&3. Unfortunately for Team USA, the first day of the Presidents Cup didn’t go as well for them and it ends with the International team leading the matches 4-1.
On Day Two, the format of the five matches switched to Foursomes, or alternate shot. The Americans had hoped to make up some ground after a poor start on the first day of the tournament. But victories from the duels of Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer and Marc Leishman over Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson respectively, provided huge points for Team International as they maintained their three point lead at the conclusion of the second day.
The third day of the Presidents Cup is a busy one. With four Four-Ball matches in the morning and four Foursome matches in the afternoon, it could prove to be a turning point in the tournament and that’s exactly how it played out. The morning sessions actually saw the International team extend their lead by one point as they led 9-5 at the end of the morning sessions. But in the afternoon Foursome matches, Team USA was able to win two matches outright while halving the other two matches. These points cut into the lead considerably and with the score 10-8 for the International team, it set up a huge day of Single matches on the final day to decide the winner of the Presidents Cup!
Twelve Singles matches were on the schedule on the final day at Royal Melbourne. As with the first day, playing captain Tiger Woods sent himself out first to try to lead by example and set the tone for the day. Again, he successfully achieves his goal, easily beating Abraham Ancer 3&2. In total, the Americans would win six of the single matches outright and halving four other matches to win eight points, helping them retain the Presidents Cup with a final score of 16-14.
The International players had their chances but in the end, they just didn’t have enough to win crucial points to win the Presidents Cup. Hideki Matsuyama was 4UP on Tony Finau after 10 holes but Finau fought back hard to square the match for a halve point. Louis Oosthuizen was also 3UP on Matt Kuchar after 9 holes but like Finau, Kuchar fought to tie the match up and ended up sinking the putt to retain the Presidents Cup for the Americans.
Although it was a disappointing result for the International team, this was one of the most competitive Presidents Cup in recent memory. Golf fans around the world can agree that the tournament was entertaining and super fun to watch. Royal Melbourne was also a perfect venue for match play golf and chatter on social media would indicate that golf fans would love to see an annual tournament hosted by the golf club to test the world’s best players.
As a side note, Tiger’s game seems to be in a great place and it was on full display this week at Royal Melbourne. Not only did Tiger fulfill his duty as Captain of the American team, he also led by example by playing and winning all of his matches this week! After winning the 2019 Masters and completing one of the greatest comeback in sports, Tiger had a mediocre season but it was later revealed that a knee injury had hampered his game quite a bit. After winning the Zozo Championship in Japan for victory number 82 and seeing his success this week in Australia, everything seems aligned for a strong 2020 season for Tiger. With the Masters a few months away, we can’t wait to see what unfolds as the quest to break Jack Nicklaus’ major championship record continues!
Source: Presidents Cup and PGA Tour
