Internationals’ dogged fightback offers hope
Tom Kim celebrates his winning putt on the 18th. photo Getty Images
Saturday 24th of September 2022 may yet prove to be one of the more significant moments in the history of the Presidents Cup as the heavily outgunned International team fought their way back from a 8 to 2 deficit to win Saturday’s encounters 5 to 3 and as the event heads into the Singles matches tomorrow there is still life left in an event which threatened to be over before it was over.
Not that an 11-7 deficit is probable, perhaps even possible, for the Internationals to overcome against the powerful American side, but the manner in which they fought back today against all odds keeps this week’s event, and perhaps even the Presidents Cup in general, relevant and provides hope for this week’s contest to retain interest until late on day four.
The comeback began with the sharing of points in the Saturday morning foursomes, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama defeating Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young and K.H. Lee and Tom Kim overcoming the world number one, Scottie Scheffler, and Sam Burns to build a little momentum into the afternoon.
But it would be the afternoon fourball matches that would genuinely turn the tide of the overall encounter.
Adam Scott and Cam Davis were never ahead in their match against Billy Horschel and Sam Burns until the 17th when Davis, after eagleing the 16th to square the match, then birdied the 17th to move ahead and added another birdie at the last to match that of Burns and the point went to the Australian duo.
“Great day for us, and a great afternoon to win that session,” said Scott. “And then for myself and Cam to win that match down the stretch, you know, it’s those moments why you work hard and see what you’ve got, and I was so impressed with Cam playing those last three holes like that. I’m happy he could carry me in.
“Today was a great day. We were in a deep hole coming here on the bus this morning, and all of the boys dug really deep.
You know, we halved the morning session, and we won in afternoon session, and the momentum, you know, I think over the course of my career in this, there hasn’t been many times I’ve felt momentum going our way. And today, we had the momentum. We certainly have it finishing this evening, and it will be great if we could keep it rolling tomorrow.
Davis was of course delighted to have been part of such an amazing experience with one of his boyhood heroes.
“This is a dream come true to be in this scenario for me,” said the Sydney golfer. “I don’t want Adam to feel old or anything, but he’s been a childhood hero of mine really right from when I started to taking golf seriously.
“To play with him is a dream come true. To play great golf alongside him is even better. I just, you know, can’t imagine — well, it was hard to imagine myself being in these shoes right now, and I’m loving every minute of it, because it’s been absolutely awesome.”
For Scott it was his 48th match in Presidents Cup contests second only to Phil Mickelson in that regard and his experience and mentoring has no doubt played a great part in getting the Internationals back into the contest.
Earlier, Tom Kim, one of the game’s most exciting prospects, had birdied his final hole from 10 feet to win the match-up between he and partner Si Woo Kim and their opponents, the high flying pair of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
Sebastion Munoz and Sungjae Im would also claim a point from the America duo of Kevin Kisner and Tony Finau and so what appeared as if Sunday’s singles would be fait accompli in a near whitewash win to the US side, is now a lot less so.
Tomorrow’s singles begin with Si Woo Kim up against Justin Thomas and Cam Davis taking on Jordan Spieth, daunting tasks at any time, admittedly, but momentum plays a big role in contests such as these and there is little doubt which of the two teams now have that on their side, despite a four-point margin.
If Kim and Davis can build further on the Saturday momentum early on day four then who knows quite where things might end up.
In order for the Internationals to win an improbable victory, they will need 8½ of the 12 remaining points available on Sunday.
Whether they can indeed mount such a challenge remains to be seen but that the Internationals have provided at least a glimmer of hope and interest for Sunday speaks volumes for what has been a dogged fightback against all odds and predictions.
International Captain Trevor Immelman summed up the day but made special mention of the heroics and brilliance on Tom Kim, the third youngest player to have played the Presidents Cup.
“Look, today was a great day for our team. We were in a deep hole. We’ve been fighting our guts out all week, and we’ve just been trying to stay patient to wait for some putts to go in. And, finally, this afternoon, some putts started to fall for us.
“So, you know, I’m really proud of the guys for staying patient, as tough as what it was when you’re playing a team that’s that good and you continuously feel like you’re getting a punch in the guts.
“But when it comes to Tom Kim, you know, this young kid has burst onto the scene in the last six months, and it has been such a tremendous — he’s been such a tremendous gift to our sport.
He has an ability to be a global superstar, this kid. I know he has the game. We’ve seen he has the game. But what I’ve learned about personality and his heart and what he stands for this week, man, I am a huge fan.
“I thought something that was so cool on the final hole today, he’s about 240 yards out. He’s probably 60 yards behind his opponents. He’s over the ball. I look back, I see the who’s who of American golf in golf carts behind him.
“I see Thomas, I see Spieth, I see Finau, I see Homa, I see Morikawa, all of them sitting on carts 15 yards from him. And this kid pures a 2 iron to 10 feet and makes the putt. To me, that’s impressive stuff.
“No matter who you’re rooting for, that made my heart warm right there. So extremely proud of him today. He went out. He did his job. He earned two points. And that is fantastic.”
All matches are worth one point, for a total of 30 points. There are no playoffs, with each side receiving a half point if a match is tied after 18 holes. In a change inspired by the events of the 2003 Presidents Cup, if the match is deadlocked at the end of Singles play, the competition will be deemed a tie and the teams will share the Presidents Cup.
