MELBOURNE |
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - South Korea's Kim Kyung-tae drained a clutch putt on the 18th hole to beat Tiger Woods in their four-ball match and give the Internationals a glimmer of hope with the Americans closing in on a seventh Presidents Cup victory on Saturday.
Partnered with YE Yang, Kim's six-foot knee-trembler in front of a massive gallery at Royal Melbourne sealed a 1-up victory over Woods and Dustin Johnson as the Internationals edged the United States 3-2 in the four-ball matches.
Having dominated the morning foursomes 4-1 on a wet and windy day, the U.S. carry a 13-9 point lead into Sunday and need only five wins from the 12 singles matches to clinch their fourth straight trophy at the venue of their sole loss in 1998.
"We will get the old guys, as we did get a couple of guys on the team bus to tell them, this isn't far from over, and you need to go out and everyone needs to win a point," U.S. captain Fred Couples told reporters.
"That's kind of the game plan ... Once they tee off on number one, they are pretty much on their own."
Kim and Yang's personal triumph marked a banner day for South Korea as KJ Choi partnered with Australia's Geoff Ogilvy to defeat Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar 1-up.
But the Internationals' traditional weakness in the alternate shot format may ultimately prove decisive as the disparate band of nations once again failed to gel.
Having lost 4-2 in Thursday's foursomes, they finished 8-3 for the tournament in the format, which the U.S. play on alternate years in the Ryder Cup.
"It's a hell of a tough task. I've seen so many captains come and go, and you know, we still haven't got the formula right," said South Africa's Ernie Els.
"But it's a difficult thing to get going. But once that clicks, you know, this could be a lot different. But we've got to find that formula."
Retief Goosen and fellow South African Charl Schwartzel ended the dream run of Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson in the first four-ball match but the Americans hit back through Billy Haas and Hunter Mahan.
Mahan rolled in a 22-foot putt on the par-four 17th to seal a 2&1 win over Australians Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day and celebrated a win in an atmosphere he likened to the Ryder Cup.
"I thought we were going to have a pretty good afternoon and just turned windy and cold and rainy and felt like we were back in England," he said.
"And (the spectators) were singing -- they were very boisterous today, playing with Aaron and Jason."
Adam Scott, who partnered Els, had a chance to steal a late half-point against Jim Furyk and Nick Watney on the 18th, but his long putt slid right of the hole as the Americans won the final match-up 1-up to snatch back the momentum at the close.
The U.S. were earlier sparked by a third lead-off win by Cup debutants Watson and Simpson, who marched to a 3&2 win over Australians Robert Allenby and Ogilvy, their third straight victory.
Mahan and David Toms had teamed up to thrash Goosen and Schwartzel 5&4 while Woods broke his points drought by teaming up with Johnson to down Adam Scott and Choi 3&2.
Phil Mickelson and Furyk closed out their third successive win with a 2&1 victory over Baddeley and Day.
Japan's Ryo Ishikawa provided a rare bright patch on a gloomy morning for the Internationals with some brilliant clutch putting late in his match-up with Els to win a point against Haas and Kuchar.
He finished off nervelessly sinking a five-footer to seal the win and give the pair a breakthrough victory after two straight losses to Watson and Simpson in their opening matches.
Staring at his second straight Cup defeat as captain against Couples, this time on home soil, Greg Norman tried to keep positive in the face of the mammoth task to upend the Americans on Sunday.
"Right now, we have got our backs against the wall, no question about it, and you've got to believe that you can come back," he said. "I believe the guys can."
(Editing by Alastair Himmer)
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