After four-ball rout, S. Korea's Bae remains perfect in his 1st Presidents Cup
International Team player Bae Sang-moon of South Korea waves to fans as he walks from the first tee during his foursome match at the 2015 Presidents Cup at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, Saturday. / AP-Yonhap
Bae Sang-moon, flying the South Korean flag at the Presidents Cup, remained perfect in his first appearance at the biennial match play competition after a resounding four-ball victory on Saturday.
He and his partner, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, destroyed Jimmy Walker and Chris Kirk of the United States 6 & 5 for one of two International victories in the afternoon four-ball session. Bae improved to 2-0-1 heading into Sunday's singles.
Earlier Saturday, Bae and Matsuyama secured a half point in the foursome match against Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar.
Bae, who sat out Thursday's foursome with his practice partner, Charl Schwartzel, sidelined with an illness, picked up his first win on Friday. He and Danny Lee, a South Korean-born New Zealander, defeated Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler in the four-ball, with Bae sinking a birdie putt on the par-5 18th.
International Team players Bae Sang-moon of South Korea, bottom, and Kideki Matsuyama of Japan study a putt on the 18th hole during the round three foursome matches of the 2015 Presidents Cup at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, Saturday. / AFP-Yonhap
After getting the half in the morning session, Bae caught fire in the afternoon. He and Matsuyama combined for seven birdies on the front nine, with Bae sinking three straight birdie putts starting on the seventh.
Feeding off Bae's hot streak, Matsuyama scored consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th. With the Americans unable to find their groove, the International duo closed out the match at the 13th.
The match was so lopsided that, after halving the 12th to extend the match, Kirk and Walker incorrectly thought they'd lost the match there and took off their caps to congratulate Bae and Matsuyama.
They realized their mistake and moved on to the next hole. Kirk missed a six-foot birdie putt that would have sent the match to the next hole. Congratulations and high-fives could finally be exchanged.
With the partisan crowds behind his back, Bae said he couldn't have asked for more from the gallery.
"I'm really glad to be here, because a lot of Korean people are coming out and supporting the International Team," he said. "It really means a lot. Definitely we had a really, really good round today." (Yonhap)