President’s Cup pairings for the third day announced while the US Team extends lead
Much of the pairings for the second day Four-Ball session was the same as on the opening day, except Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker’s once invincible partnership was dismantled by Captain Fred Couples and Woods played alongside Dustin Johnson on the second
day. The new pairing had little effect on the struggling Woods who was able to manage just one birdie throughout the day.
Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson’s destructive combination triumphed again on the second day against a struggling Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa. The American Team won by a 3-1 against the International Team. Greg Norman, who wanted to dismantle the combination,
had to step back as Els demanded that he wanted to stay on course with Ishikawa for the third day’s proceedings. Reportedly, Ishikawa also wanted to stay with Els despite of their consecutive losses in the two rounds.
“He wanted to play with him again,” Norman said referring to Els’ demand to stay with Ishikawa. “We gave him other options. At the end of the day, he had no problem, he’s completely comfortable with him.”
Couples shared his concerns about Stricker’s current fitness status and although the veteran won his round on the second day, playing alongside compatriot Matt Kuchar, Couples insisted that he will not be using Stricker for all the five rounds.
“Steve Stricker can’t go five rounds,” Couples said. “I wouldn’t do that to him.”
Stricker suffered a terrible neck injury in the Tour Championship in September and had been recuperating since then. He has returned to mainstream golf after a lapse of two months.
The third round of the President’s Cup will have two sessions of play including Foursomes in the morning and a Four-Ball in the afternoon. The pairings for the Foursomes are as follows,
MATCH 13 – Robert Allenby-Geoff Ogilvy, International vs. Webb Simpson-Bubba Watson, U.S.
MATCH 14 – Bill Haas-Matt Kuchar, U.S. vs. Ernie Els-Ryo Ishikawa, International
MATCH 15 – Retief Goosen-Charl Schwartzel, International vs. Hunter Mahan-David Toms, U.S.
MATCH 16 – Tiger Woods-Dustin Johnson, U.S. vs. Adam Scott-K.J. Choi, International
MATCH 17 – Aaron Baddeley-Jason Day, International vs. Jim Furyk-Phil Mickelson, U.S.
Not playing – Steve Stricker (U.S.), Nick Watney (U.S.), K.T. Kim (International), Y.E. Yang (International)
Pairings for the Four-Ball session in the afternoon will be announced in the morning on Saturday, November 19.
Tags: