The Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup
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All square heading into Sunday's singles

Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk staged a late rally to win their afternoon fourball match before the U.S. and the Internationals ended the third day of the Presidents Cup deadlocked at 11-11 on Saturday.

Trailing by 6-1/2 points to 5-1/2 overnight, the U.S. pulled level on 8-1/2 points after winning the morning foursomes 3-2.

Unbeaten in the three previous editions staged at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, the U.S. were unable to forge ahead in the afternoon as the sides shared the fourball encounters with two wins apiece and one half.

For the first time on their home soil, the Americans will not hold the upper hand going into Sunday's last-day singles matches.

South Africa's Retief Goosen and Australia's Adam Scott put the first point of the afternoon on the board for the Internationals with a crushing 5 and 4 win over Scott Verplank and Justin Leonard.

Scott and Goosen ripped through the front nine with seven birdies, including six in a row from the fourth.

The red-hot Internationals maintained their scorching pace round the turn before finishing the match with a total of 10 birdies in 14 holes.

"Today we played very well, we just seem to play a similar sort of game. We gel well with each other," said twice U.S. Open champion Goosen.

However, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco eclipsed that scoreline with a 6 and 5 triumph over Australian duo Peter Lonard and Nick O'Hern, preserving their unbeaten record this week after getting to eight under par after 13 holes.

U.S. PGA champion Mickelson, who lost all five matches he played at the last Presidents Cup in South Africa in 2003, has been an inspired figure over the last three days and has relished his partnership with a motivated DiMarco.

"I think tomorrow is a toss-up," said Mickelson, who will take on Argentine Angel Cabrera in Sunday's last-day singles. "The International side has 12 very strong players, 12 of the best players in the game.

"I do feel, though, that the American team is playing some exceptional golf as well and it is going to be a coin toss.

"I have a lot of faith in our team but we have a lot of work ahead of us."

The winning team will be the first to secure 17-1/2 points.

In Saturday's most intriguing match-up, world number one Woods and Furyk recovered from one down with six to play in their fourball contest with Fiji's Vijay Singh and Australian Stuart Appleby before clinching the 16th and 18th for a two up victory.

Bothered by a sore back, U.S. Masters and British Open champion Woods relied on his partner to do most of the work as the pairing fought to stay in the match over the first 12 holes after three times trailing by a hole.

Woods, however, came up with the big shot when it was needed most, rolling in a 17-foot birdie putt at the par-four 16 to put the Americans ahead for the first time before they sealed the win at the last.

"I started off well, making a few birdies, but after that I didn't do much expect read putts and get the pom-poms out," said Woods. "I was just cheering him (Furyk) on all the way.

"Finally I was able to help him out on 16 and made a putt there. Jim played beautifully today."

The match-up between Woods and world number two Singh began in the morning foursomes, a daylong grudge match rooted in the 2000 Presidents Cup when the Fijian's caddy showed up on the first tee sporting a hat that read "Tiger Who".

Singh dismissed the incident but the slight has remained fresh in Woods's mind.

There was little to separate the game's two leading players, and Woods and Furyk halved the foursomes match when the 10-times major winner drained a clutch five-footer at the 18th.

Australia's Mark Hensby and South African Tim Clark eased to a 5 and 3 win over Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink before four-times World Cup winners Davis Love III and Fred Couples halved a close tussle with Cabrera and New Zealander Michael Campbell.

Couples had a chance to give the U.S. the outright lead but missed his birdie attempt from eight feet at the last to leave the everything to play for in the last-day singles.

 

 

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