The Americans have one hand on the 2011
Presidents Cup after a productive Saturday at a
sodden Royal Melbourne.
The titleholders claimed six points from a
possible 10 on offer to move to 13 overall and
within distance of the 17-and-a-half point
threshold they must reach to retain the Cup.
Sitting on nine points, the Internationals face an
enormous task to win nine of Sunday's 12
singles matches - which will go to extra holes if
they're all-square at 18 - to claim the Cup for
the first time since they broke through at this
same venue in 1998.
History says they will not do it, as no team in
the previous eight Cups has come from behind
on the last day to win, though it will be shared
if the teams finish on 17 points apiece.
The Americans made their move in the
morning's foursomes where they picked up
four points to the Internationals' one.
The Internationals fought back with three points
to the Americans' two from the afternoon's
four-ball matches, but it's not likely to be
enough.
Internationals captain Greg Norman is
nevertheless refusing to concede defeat.
"The guys really do feel good," said Norman.
"Even after this morning before they went out
this afternoon the guys felt absolutely fantastic,
they felt good about the pairings and they
knew they liked the golf course."
"Some of them felt they paid Royal Melbourne a
little bit too much respect this morning ... but
they stepped up to the plate in the afternoon."
The heavy showers that swept the course
throughout the morning's foursomes settled
into steady but light rainfall for much the
afternoon.
A huge bonus for the Internationals was the
point secured by K.T. Kim and Y.E. Yang - both
of whom were rested from the morning's
foursomes - for a surprise win over Tiger
Woods - who is one from four this week - and
Dustin Johnson.
Kim, who hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation, and
his compatriot edged ahead at the first and,
after twice being pegged back, regained the
lead at the 15th and maintained that fragile one-
hole buffer through to the finish.
Crushed five-and-four in the morning, Charl
Schwartzel and Retief Goosen rebounded
strongly to beat the previously undefeated
Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson two-and-
one.
Geoff Ogilvy and K.J. Choi provided the
Internationals' third and final point for the
afternoon with a one-up win over Steve
Stricker and Matt Kuchar.
For the U.S. Hunter Mahan and Bill Haas beat
Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day two-and-one,
while Jim Furyk - who's won four-from-four
this week - and Nick Watney held on to beat
Adam Scott and Ernie Els one-up.
