It would have assured the worldwide team a tie, and perhaps inspire Bae Sang-moon in the final match to level his match with Bill Haas for the victory.
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The global team appeared to be in position to win during the 12 singles matches that wrapped up the four-day event at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
No team trailing prior to the singles has come back to win the Presidents Cup.
Branden Grace joined Shigeki Maruyama (1998) as the only worldwide player to go 5-0 by easily beating Matt Kuchar.
Granted, a narrow American win does not signal the change that an worldwide victory, or even a tie, might have created. J.B. Holmes went 2-2-1 playing well as Jim Furyk’s injury replacement. Matsuyama then took a 1-up lead with a birdie on the 16th. The competition will resume in the United States in 2017.
Earlier fourth-ranked double Masters champion Bubba Watson had missed a three-footer on 18 to hand a half point to Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee, ranked 31. The way the singles matches played out, it was an excellent decision that made for a drama-filled event.
For the Internationals, Steven Bowditch hung on to beat Jimmy Walker 2-up, tying the score at 12 1/2 apiece.
The Presidents Cup was tied, and with the status of other matches on the course, a point from Lahiri looked as though it would be the victor for the global team.
Grace became just the fifth golfer ever to go 5-0-0 in a single week at this tournament.
After Spieth was stunned by Australian and Day lost to Zach Johnson, the Cup boiled down to the final match between two captain’s picks – Haas and.
“It’s OK, it’s OK”, the crowd chanted to him as he finished the final hole. Bae got into the bunker off the tee at the par-3 17th but punched out to a foot of the hole and extended the match to the finishing hole.
Bae did everything he could to give the worldwide team a chance by holing a 10-foot putt on the 16th to stay 1 down and almost holing a bunker shot on the 17th for par to extend the match. Haas striped his drive into the fairway on the par-5 18th, and then hit a long iron just over the green in two.
Wednesday-Thursday Session 1 – Five Foursomes Matches – US wins session, leads Cup 4-1 10:05 p.m. ET Weds – Matsuyama/Scott vs. Holmes/Watson – U.S. wins, 3&2 10:18 p.m. ET Weds – Oosthuizen/Grace vs. Kuchar/Reed – Intl wins, 3&2 10:31 p.m. ET Weds – Jaidee/Lahiri vs. Fowler/Walker – United States of America wins, 5&4 10:44 p.m. ET Weds – Day/Bowditch vs. Mickleson/Z.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get through this”, Jay Haas, 61, said, holding back tears as he began talking with NBC’s Roger Maltbie.
“One thing I’ve learned is to never wish bad on anyone else”, Lahiri said. “Your mom deserves this”.
“I couldn’t even have dreamt this”.
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The son of the USA captain against the only player carrying the South Korean flag for the global team. “People say I drove it; maybe I spearheaded it, but the support that these guys, and what they all felt about this competition, this has certainly been a huge step in the right direction”. “I was obviously very nervous, but I feel like I had a very clear mind and was able to just step up and hit the putt like I normally would, and I’m very thankful I managed to sneak it in there”. “I can’t tell you what it’s like to bring eight countries together, eight individuals, speak six different languages, different cultures, and we all came here for the good of the game to play golf”.
