Ernie Els was left with a beaming smile after watching his Internationals side soar into a 4-1 fourballs lead over the USA at Royal Melbourne, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Els, going up against fierce rival Tiger Woods, saw his foe claim the first point alongside Justin Thomas in a resounding 4&3 win over Joaquin Niemann and local star Marc Leishman.
That win, however, did not set the tone for what many pundits expected would be another resounding USA win in the two-yearly competition where the US has been defeated just once – at this venue in 1998.
Before Thursday’s opening round, world No 20 Louis Oosthuizen admitted his side needed to turn things around.
‘I think this week, this is probably the best chance we will have with this golf course, this crowd, and I think the way our guys are playing.
‘I think this is probably the best chance that we’ll have in the four Cups that I’ve played,’ he said.
And Oosthuizen was part of the day-one bid to reverse the horrific historical record as he joined Abraham Ancer (Mexico) in dismantling the powerful combination of Gary Woodland and Dustin Johnson 4&3.
Sung-Jae Im, a 21-year-old rookie who set the tone with a first-hole chip-in, and captain’s pick Adam Hadwin joined the party as they secured a 1UP win over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, ranked 7th and 9th in the world.
Veteran Internationals star Adam Scott and Byeong Hun were never behind as they battled past Tony Finau and Bryson DeChambeau for a 2&1.
With the score now 3-1 in favour of the hosts, it was only Patrick Reed (and Webb Simpson) who could spoil the near-perfect start. The American, who has been at the centre of a cheating controversy, threatened to pull his side back on the 16th hole with a birdie that levelled his match against CT Pan and Hideki Matsuyama.
That birdie fired up Matsuyama as the Japan star rolled in a birdie on the next to send the Internationals down the last with at least a half point secured. When Reed’s birdie try from range rolled past the cup at speed, the handshakes were extended as Els was left to thank the boisterous crowd in attendance safe with a three-point margin.
The Internationals hold their first lead after a session since Day 2 of the 2005 Presidents Cup. While that might be one good omen, another is that no team has ever lost the cup when holding a 3-plus lead after the first session.
The Australian crowd could get a little louder over the next few days. The tone has been set.
