When was the last time golf in December received this much attention? The USA Team’s 16-14 Presidents Cup win had everything. It had star power, controversy, new faces, old faces, and on-course drama.
All in all, the Presidents Cup got the shot in the arm it needed.
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The International Team could almost taste the champagne. Despite giving back half their lead going into Sunday Singles, they were still sitting with a 10-8 lead. But Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith were the only two players on the team to get a full point.
Captain Ernie Els got big time performances from Sungjae Im and Abraham Ancer (more on him later). Both players went 3-1-1.
But as good as Im and Ancer were, the International Team needed Haotong Li and Joaquin Niemann to get more than a combined half point. Had Li and Niemann contributed a little more, Els could’ve been the one holding the trophy.
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The Presidents Cup needed a compelling event and they got it. The favorite fell down early and fought back. With the Sunday Singles playing a huge role in who won, the event strayed away from it’s traditional blowout results.
It also didn’t hurt that both teams had star power at the captain position. Woods and Els presence cannot be understated. Add the fact that Woods was a playing captain and the Presidents Cup became must see TV despite the fact that it was a December event.
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Tiger Woods the player and the captain.
Woods the player was 3-0-0 as he responded well to Woods the captain benching him on Saturday. After being an unbeatable force with Justin Thomas, he beat the International Team’s hottest player in Abraham Ancer. The same Abraham Ancer who had said he wanted to face Woods. Well he did and, as Tiger said, “Abe wanted it, he got it.”
The 3&2 victory got the US team off to the start they needed to complete their comeback.
Woods the captain avoided a couple of potential bumps in the road. Sitting himself when the team was down 6.5-3.5 could’ve come back to bite him. At that point, we knew Woods was the strongest player on the team but he stuck by his guns. He kept Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler together for rounds 3 and 4 and they rewarded him with 1.5 out of a possible two points.
The second bump was Patrick Reed. Woods selected Reed with one of his captain’s picks despite all of the controversy surrounding him in the previous Ryder Cup. The word “distraction” is used way too much but it was appropriate this time around. If the Ryder Cup controversy wasn’t enough, there was the uproar over Reed’s penalty in the Hero World Challenge.
Then came the confrontation between Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain and a drunk fan. That led to Karain being asked not to come back for Sunday’s single matches.
.@SteveSandsGC reports of an altercation between Patrick Reed’s caddie and a spectator after the four-ball match on Day 3. pic.twitter.com/OwzBNXxixB
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) December 14, 2019
Reed’s swing coach Kevin Kirk took over the bag.
