U.S. TEAM WINS PRESIDENTS CUP, AGAIN

By mustang6560 on 10/7/13

The only real unknown Sunday at the Muirfield Village was the forecast -- was it going to rain again or not? As far as the golf was concerned, the U.S. Team was setup to win its eighth Presidents Cup -- and seventh in a row.

The Americas rallied to win the rain-delayed Saturday foursomes Sunday morning 3.5-1.5 to extend its lead 14-8 heading into the singles matches. Despite dominating the singles matches -- winning 7.5 out of the 12 points, the International Team couldn't overcome the deficit.

Tiger Woods, who was battling back spasms down the stretch yesterday, clinched the winning point for the third straight Presidents Cup, besting Richard Sterne 1-up.

"I must have asked 500 times, 'How are we getting this fourth point? Where is the fourth point coming from?'" said Couples, a three-time winner as U.S. captain. "You're nervous. Not for the players -- the players know what they're doing. But we knew we needed 18 points, and we got them. It was a very, very good match today. And the matches were all close. At no given time was I a nervous wreck. But it was nice when Tiger two-putted that last green to get the 18th point."

The victory makes U.S. Team captain Fred Couples the winningest skipper in Presidents Cup history at 3-0. And as expected, Freddie said he plans to retire on top.

"A three-peat's good enough for me," a beaming Couples said minutes after Tiger Woods made the clinching putt for the Americans at Muirfield Village on Sunday.

It will be interesting to see what changes the PGA Tour makes to the Presidents Cup, especially after Adam Scott, the star of the International side, said it was a must-win for his squad. Regardless of the changes Tim Finchem enacts in an effort to save the biennial event, the reality is the teams aren't comparable. The average world ranking for the Americans was 14, whereas it was 34 for the Internationals. As Stuart Appleby points out, that advantage takes it's toll over four days of competition.


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