Bae Sang-moon bags 1st Presidents Cup win

International team player Bae Sang-moon of South Korea hits a tee shot on the fourth hole during his four ball match at the Presidents Cup tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, Friday. / AP-Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

INCHEON ― Bae Sang-moon collected his first point and victory at the Presidents Cup in his tournament debut, Friday.

Boosted by Bae’s play, the Internationals saw more wins in five four-ball matches held on day two of the Presidents Cup and kept the Americans in range at 5.5-4.5, making up for the 4-1 deficit they allowed a day earlier.

Bae sank a 2-meter birdie on the par-5 18th hole and clinched a one-up come-from-behind victory over the American duo of Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

“It was a different kind of happiness than that I felt when I won other golf tournaments,” Bae said. “I created a wonderful memory in my first appearance in the Presidents Cup and am so happy to be able to contribute to the team.”

International team player Danny Lee, right, of New Zealand celebrates with playing partner Bae Sang-moon of South Korea on the 18th green after winning their fourball match at the Presidents Cup tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Friday. / AP-Yonhap

Pairing with Danny Lee, Bae, the only Korean player at the Presidents Cup, couldn’t take the lead until No. 17, but managed to thrill his home crowd with the winning putt.

Adding one point by the Bae-Lee pair, the International side claimed three out of five matches on Friday. The two teams shared 0.5 points as a showdown between Zack Johnson and Phil Mickelson, and Adam Scott and Jason Day was halved, and the U.S. team collected the only point thanks to a win by Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes.

The golfers with Korean heritage ― Lee is a Korean-born New Zealander ― were trailing the Americans until No. 9. On No. 1, Lee’s shot hit a thin tree in front of him and flew backward, but Bae lifted the side managing to save the hole with a par. After allowing a lead on the 2nd, the two trailed by one to two holes, but tied the score with Bae’s amazing chip shot which fell into the cup for a birdie on the 10th.

United States’ J.B. Holmes, left, and partner Bubba Watson celebrate after winning a hole during their four ball match at the Presidents Cup tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Friday. / AP-Yonhap

From there, the two pairs tested each other until the very last moment with the score holding on at all square. The Americans both bogeyed on the 14th, but Lee and Bae failed to card a par on the par-4 hole. On the 18th, Walker had a shot for a birdie, but it was short. Bae calmly sank the ball into the cup.

Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace continued the International Team’s momentum. The South African pair, who won the sole point for their team during Thursday’s foursomes matches, clinched a 4 and 3 victory against the U.S. Team’s Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth. Spieth and Johnson were leading through No. 7, but then came the turnaround of the match, with Oosthuizen sinking a jaw-dropping 22-meter birdie on the par-3 No. 8 to level the score.

Grace holed beautiful strokes on No. 9 to take a one-up lead and extended it after sinking a 6-meter birdie on No. 10. Oosthuizen reduced one shot on the Par-4 No. 14 to extend the lead. With Oosthuizen firing another birdie on the 15th, the Internationals collected Friday’s first point.

United States’ Jordan Spieth plays out of the rough on the second hole during his four ball match at the Presidents Cup tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, Friday. / AP-Yonhap

“We both played very poor rounds of golf and didn’t have many chances, so it was Merry Christmas to the other guys,” Spieth said.

“It’s been great,” said Grace after two days of victories. “Every time one made a mistake, the other one lifted us up. And then some clutch putts, the putt Louis made on the 8th was a big turnaround for us and just rode the momentum from there,” he said.

Veteran Mickelson created another shot of the day during his match against the International’s Scott-Day duo. Though 11-time Presidents Cup player breached the “one-ball condition” and was penalized with one-hole adjustment on the 7th, Mickelson conjured up a miraculous bunker shot 138 yards from the cup to eagle the par-4 12th. As Mickelson-Johnson maintained their one-up lead until the 18th hole, the match was halved.

Mickelson placed a different type of ball into play that that which he had been playing earlier in the round. Though the rules say he could have continued the 7th, the Match Committee mistakenly disqualified him for the hole and later apologized, with Mark Russell, vice president of rules and competition for the PGA Tour saying, “I feel the total responsibility of this mistake.” And the situation resulted in the International Team going from all square to two up in one hole.

Mickelson said he had not heard of the hole-adjustment rule, but admitted his mistake that “it is the job of the player to know the rules.” Asked whether he felt like he cost his team a half point, Mickelson said “We spotted the International’s best team two holes and they still couldn’t beat us.”

The U.S. side’s only win on Friday was the Holmes-Watson pair’s two-up victory over the Marc Leishman-Steven Bowditch pair.

In Match 10, Charl Schwartzel, who has been battling sickness and missed the day one foursomes, came back to the field and led his pair’s 2 and 1 win over the Bill Haas and Chris Kirk. Paired with Thongchai Jaidee, the South African did not lose his side’s lead throughout the round. After making the first margin on the 3rd with a birdie, the Australian lifted the pair, firing a birdie on the Par-3 No. 13 to stay three holes up over the Americans. The Americans managed to narrow the gap with Haas’ birdie on the par-4 No. 16, but Schwartzel fired another birdie on No. 17 to end the match.