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MONTREAL -- A capsule look at the foursomes matches Thursday in the Presidents Cup:
United States 5½, International ½
Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan (USA) def. Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy (INT), 3 and 2.
In the opening match of the Presidents Cup, the Americans never trailed. Mahan made an 18-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, and they stretched the lead to 3 up when Ogilvy and Scott each missed 5-foot par putts. The Australians twice cut the lead to one hole, and it looked as though they would square the match when Stricker hit into the water on the 15th. Ogilvy found trouble, too, and Stricker wound up winning the hole with a 7-foot bogey putt. Stricker made an 8-foot birdie to close out the match on the next hole.
Phil Mickelson and Woody Austin (USA) halved with Vijay Singh and Mike Weir (INT).
The most spirited match of the day with Weir before his home crowd turned into the tightest match. Mickelson and Austin won two of first three holes to seize control, but Weir and Singh rallied by winning five of seven holes to build a 3-up lead through No. 11. The Americans fired off three straight birdies to square the match, setting up a see-saw finish. Singh holed a bunker shot on 15th to go 1 up. Austin made a 7-foot par save on the 16th, and Mickelson made a 15-foot birdie on the 17th to square the match. Both sides missed the green on the 18th, and Austin again came through with a 12-foot par save. Singh had a 3 1/2-foot par to halve the match, but U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus told his team to concede the putt.
Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson (USA) def. Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman (INT), 1 up.
Cink and Johnson made their only bogey on the opening hole, and didn't take the lead until a birdie on the 12th to go 1-up. Sabbatini countered with a birdie on the 14th to square the match, and this was the only match that reached the 18th hole all square. But it was a mess of a finish. Sabbatini hooked his tee shot into the water, and Johnson protected against that by hitting well right into the trees. Cink hit into the bunker, and Johnson clinched the match by blasting out to about 2 feet for a conceded par.
David Toms and Jim Furyk (USA) def. Ernie Els and Angel Cabrera (INT), 1 up.
This was a match between the International power and the American accuracy, and accuracy won - despite an errant tee shot. Toms and Furyk shot a 31 on the front nine and went 3 up when Els and Cabrera took bogey on the 10th. The Americans were 3 up with five to play when Els and Cabrera won the next two holes, and Els kept them in the match with a 15-foot par save on the 16th. It looked like it would be a halve for the International team when Furyk hit into the water on the 18th, and the best the Americans could manage was a bogey. Els hit out of a fairway bunker to the front of the green, Cabrera lagged to 4 feet, and Els missed the putt to halve the hole with a bogey and lose the match.
Lucas Glover and Scott Verplank (USA) def. Stuart Appleby and Retief Goosen (INT), 2 up.
Only three holes on the front nine were halved in perhaps the steadiest match of the day. But it got hectic at the end. Glover, in his first team event as a pro, came up with big shots as the Americans won two straight holes with birdies. Goosen extended the match with a birdie from 12 feet on the 17th. But from the middle of the 18th fairway, Appleby badly pulled his tee shot over a fence and the trees, and his side had to take a penalty drop. They never reached the green before conceding a short par to the Americans.
Tiger Woods and Charles Howell III (USA) def. K.J. Choi and Nick O'Hern (INT), 3 and 1.
Howell was wild and shaky at the start, and he fanned an approach from the fourth fairway that gave Choi and O'Hern a lead. But it didn't last long. Woods made a 10-foot par save on the next hole to square the match, then hit a 3-wood out of the trees to the front of the par-5 sixth green that led to birdie. The biggest hole was No. 16. With the Americans 1 up, Choi hit his tee shot into the water, and Howell used fairway metal and still found the water. But Howell redeemed himself with a 15-foot par putt to win the hole, and Woods closed them out with a tee shot to 3 feet on the 17th.
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