Tiger Woods leads Americans to 8-4 victory over International Team in singles and 16-14 win overall
Sunday 15 December 2019 11:03, UK
The United States have won the Presidents Cup after dominating the singles matches at Royal Melbourne.
Matt Kuchar rolled in the winning putt on the 17th hole in his match against Louis Oosthuizen as Tiger Woods' team claimed their 11th win over the International Team in the biennial event and eighth in succession.
The Americans had trailed the Internationals 10-8 overnight but Woods led his side from the front as they triumphed 8-4 in the singles to make the winning score 16-14 overall.
Woods opted to put himself out first and did the business against the previously-unbeaten Abraham Ancer as he secured a 3&2 victory, his seventh in the singles which is the most in Presidents Cup history.
The 43-year-old took command with back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th and held firm to make it three wins from three matches this week.
Dustin Johnson grabbed the Americans' second point shortly after Woods' win as he hammered Haotong Li 4&3 after pulling clear by winning the third, fourth and fifth, two of them with pars.
Patrick Reed, under pressure after losing all three of his previous matches and with his swing coach Kevin Kirk carrying his bag after his brother-in-law caddie was ejected from the event for clashing with a spectator on Saturday, nudged the United States into the lead with a 4&2 win over CT Pan.
Reed, who has been heckled throughout the week, charged out of the blocks with six birdies in the opening seven holes before repelling a comeback from Pan as he birdied the 15th and 16th to seal the match.
Tony Finau then grabbed a half-point for the Americans, having clawed back from four holes down after the ninth against Hideki Matsuyama.
Sungjae Im earned a point for the Internationals with a 4&3 win over Gary Woodland after winning four out of five holes from the 11th.
That levelled the scores and it remained that way when Adam Hadwin earned a half-point against Bryson DeChambeau, with both players missing birdie chances at the 18th.
Patrick Cantlay put Team USA back in front with a 3&2 win over Joaquin Niemann after rallying from one down at the 10th with four birdies in five holes.
Adam Scott battled back from four down after seven holes but Xander Schauffele did enough to claim a 2&1 victory and the Americans' 14th point.
Webb Simpson then claimed his first victory of the week when he cruised to a 2&1 win over Byeong Hun An that put the United States 15-12 ahead and guaranteed them at least a tie.
Australian Cameron Smith buoyed home fans by curling in a seven-foot birdie putt at the 17th to end Justin Thomas' unbeaten record this week with a 2&1 victory, one of only two for the International Team in the singles.
It was then left to Kuchar to hole the winning putt as he knocked in a five-footer for birdie at the 17th, following a superb approach shot, to secure at least a half-point against Oosthuizen, who subsequently won the 18th as the match finished all-square, although the South African would have been hoping for better after being 3up at the turn.
With the pressure off, Rickie Fowler also settled for a tie with Marc Leishman on the 18th as the United States extended their reign with a two-point winning margin and became the first team to win the event after trailing going into the final day.
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