James Conner is expected to rejoin the Steelers’ backfield Sunday night against visiting Buffalo after being sidelined by a shoulder injury, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
MELBOURNE, Australia – It started with the twirl of a club on the first tee. It finished with tears of joy. That was the final day of the most unique week for Tiger Woods, who for the first time in his legendary career was the captain of a U.S. national team. Along the way, he also added playing responsibilities. Doing something — again — that few people have ever done. The ending, of course, turned out to be a familiar one for Woods. He was the best player on the winning team, the Americans claiming the Presidents Cup, 16-14. “It’s the same feeling,â€� Woods said. “We won.â€� Unlike two years ago on home soil at Liberty National, winning this Cup at Royal Melbourne wasn’t easy. The Americans entered Sunday Singles trailing by two points. Counterpart Ernie Els seemed to pull all the right levers. The Internationals were in their best position to end their 21-year drought in this event. The hometown support was going to make a difference. PRESIDENTS CUP: Final scoring | Day 4 Singles match recaps But there’s a reason why Tiger Woods has the most wins (with Sam Snead) in PGA TOUR history. He refuses to lose. On Sunday, that spirit permeated the American roster. Woods set the tone by batting leadoff and taking down the Internationals’ hottest player, Presidents Cup rookie Abraham Ancer, 3 and 2. Tiger celebrated the win as if it was his first one. He hugged assistant captain Zach Johnson and then made a beeline toward another assistant, Fred Couples. “I have a bad back,â€� Couples told Tiger as he began to retreat. Didn’t matter. Tiger had won his match, finishing off a week in which he was 3-0-0, the only player on either side to win each of his matches. Couples finally relented. Meanwhile, the group of American fans called “We the Peopleâ€� started chanting for Woods, trying to entice him for a quick visit outside the ropes. Tiger couldn’t resist. He did a little dance as he met the group for some high-fives and selfies. By the way, the Americans were still trailing at this point, 10-9. Already, though, you could sense how this would go. Lots of red was on the board, the U.S. Team getting off to quick starts. Patrick Reed had birdied six of his first seven holes. Dustin Johnson was 5 up through 11. Tony Finau was in the midst of rallying from a 4-down hole against Hideki Matsuyama. The Americans won or tied the first five matches of the day, and eventually lost just two. The signs were there. Woods was not to be denied. Nor was his team. For the first time, Americans were playing for Tiger Woods. They refused to let him down. “It was pretty awesome to play for the greatest player ever,â€� said Matt Kuchar, who supplied the clinching point in the 11th match of the day, rallying from 3 down to tie Louis Oosthuizen. “To have a chance to make a team captained by the greatest player ever that is also a player on the team, I can’t tell you how unique, how cool of a thing that is – to not only play for him, but alongside him.â€� Woods was in the first match out because he wanted to resume his captain role as quick as possible on Sunday. Steve Stricker has assumed captain’s duties while Tiger was playing. Eventually, those duties were handed back. “Stricks was on 14 and the last group just went through and he says, ‘I don’t want to be captain anymore,’â€� Woods recalled with a laugh. “That was one of the great moments, and to hear that in my earpiece was definitely a moment I’ll never forget.â€� Hard to imagine anybody doubting Woods would be a successful captain. He’s meticulous, always thinking, constantly encouraging – his text messages in the middle of the night became legendary among his U.S. players. But he was not overbearing. He knew his team was talented, perhaps among the most talented the Americans have fielded in some time. Arguably no one had played golf better than Woods, but he didn’t need to tell them how to play their sport. Justin Thomas, who partnered with Woods to win two matches earlier in the week, had a conversation with assistant Zach Johnson. The topic of Woods as a captain came up. “Someone who has done as much as he has and had as much experiences as he had in all these team events, he very easily, I felt, could have tried to take over the team rooms or try to give all this advice and try to do so much,â€� Thomas said. But, as Thomas added, “we have 12 of the best players in the world. No offense, he just needed to get out of the way – and that’s what he did.â€� And yet, whenever Woods did speak, it carried significant weight. It was also a new experience for the players, who generally have only seen their captain as a teammate, not a leader. “We had a room full of some of the greatest golfers in the world,â€� Kuchar said, “and when he speaks, we all listen.â€� Entering Sunday, Woods simply told his team that the Internationals had more a few more putts during the first four team sessions. Sunday Singles, he added, would be different. “We’re going to be fine,â€� he told them. And they were. The match wins kept coming – Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Webb Simpson, who combined played 50 holes on Sunday and only trailed after two of them. Cantlay and Schauffele, by the way, were partners all week, and on Sunday they played in back-to-back matches. That was deliberate. Schauffele may have snuffed out the emotional support of the Royal Melbourne crowd by going 4 up through seven holes en route to beating Australian veteran Adam Scott. “Xander, to beat Adam Scott on really a course that he plays very well, was really a huge point,â€� Couples said. Finally, it came down to Kuchar’s match. The Americans were leading 15-13 and simply needed one more half-point. Kuchar clinched it by winning the 17th hole with a birdie. The celebration started. Woods was overcome with emotion. Those tears began to swell. He tried to hide his face with his U.S. Team cap. Woods has won a lot of tournaments as an individual player. He cried after a few but not after every one. This win – as a captain, also a player – was special. “I’ve cried in pretty much every Cup we’ve won,â€� he said. “I’ve been doing this a long time. Any time you have moments where you’re able to do something that is bigger than us as an individual is so much more meaningful and so much more special.â€� Said Stricker, a well-known tear-shedder: “I love seeing other people cry – especially Tiger Woods.â€� Then he added, “Tiger did an unbelievable job. It was a privilege – and we’ll keep this on the forefront of our minds forever.â€� Tiger the player was unbeatable this week. Tiger the captain may have been even better. “All of us will look back and have these pictures hanging on our walls and say we played for and alongside Tiger Woods, the greatest player ever,â€� Kuchar said. “It was awesome.â€�
The Zags are handling an ambitious schedule, with their latest win on Saturday at Arizona offering more proof.
Tiger Woods set the Presidents Cup record for most victories when he recorded his 27th match victory in the event by beating Abraham Ancer in the opening singles match Sunday. The U.S. team rallied behind him and is now 11-1-1 in Presidents Cup play.
The Tiger Woods-led United States team defeated an international team to win the Presidents Cup.
Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe, who left Friday’s game against Memphis after injuring his right leg, will miss approximately two weeks due to a right fibula avulsion fracture, the team announced Saturday.
Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell combined for 55 points in wire-to-wire win over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Spurs on Saturday night became the first team in NBA history to play four consecutive overtime games. “It’s awful,” coach Gregg Popovich said of the distinction following his team’s win in Mexico City.
Last season’s Hart Trophy winner left the game after blocking a slap shot from Washington’s John Carlson.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Hindsight is always 20/20. As Ernie Els and his International team pick apart how they were once again unable to thwart a U.S. juggernaut that improved to 11-1-1 in the Presidents Cup they will of course mull over a multitude of moments. Sometimes it is a useless exercise. You can second guess every decision you made and go down a very deep rabbit hole. But sometimes it can be cathartic and you can ensure growth in the future. The dissection of the change of culture amongst the team will later, but there is enough to suggest they are on the right track. While every loss is critical in the final wash up, right now let’s look at the moments on the golf course that really hurt the International cause as they seemingly could have been flipped the other way. Related: Final scoring | Playing for Tiger, the U.S. refuses to lose | Day 4 Singles match recaps FRIDAY FOURSOMES Having won the opening Thursday Four-Ball session 4-1, Els and his team were in great shape heading to the second day. But they were also somewhat cautious knowing they hadn’t won a Foursomes session since 2005. On Friday, that seemed set to change… and in a big way. The Internationals were up in all five matches on the back nine and the projected score read 9-1. But projections are just that. When the U.S. side was ripe to be stomped on the neck, the Internationals failed to do so. First Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele provided 18th hole heroics to beat Joaquin Niemann and Adam Hadwin 1 up before Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas did exactly the same over Hideki Matsuyama and Byeong Hun An. On the 18th tee of both matches, Els would have been hoping for a full point but probably would have settled for a halve. Instead, his team walked away with nothing. In the final match of the session, Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith were 2 up with three holes to play, but lost the 16th and 17th holes and had to settle for a half. In the end, the session ended 2.5-2.5 to push the score to 6.5-3.5, not the worst result but certainly not 9-1. “I wouldn’t say we totally lost momentum, but it was, to me, I felt it was a bit of a blow,â€� Els said post-mortem. “The team didn’t react in that way which I was really proud of, but me as captain, and I didn’t reveal it to them, but I felt we had them right in the headlock, and we didn’t quite finish it off on that particular time. “There’s not many times when you get a team like that under the pump like that. It was great, but it could have been unbelievable. It could have been a knockout blow. “That was probably the difference. We had so much momentum. We had so much going for us… that’s 2.5 points, and where we are, we are 1.5 points shy. So absolutely, that was something.â€� SATURDAY FOUR-BALL Once again the Internationals won the Four-Ball session, but a critical missed chance at a full point in the anchor match between Byeong Hun An/Adam Scott and Tony Finau/Matt Kuchar was another twist of a knife in an open wound. Sporting a 1 up lead coming down the final hole, Scott hit his approach to nine-feet. Finau was slightly better at seven-feet. If Scott made the putt it would have secured the win. But he watched it slide by the edge and then Finau took the gift and ran with it. Instead of 3-1 it was 2.5-1.5 and instead of 9.5-4.5 it was 9-5. SATURDAY FOURSOMES The Internationals came out of a 3-1 session loss actually feeling positive after some incredible fighting qualities were shown. Marc Leishman and Abraham Ancer were unbelievable in earning a half after sitting 5 down though 10 holes to Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. Joaquin Niemann and Byeong Hun An also overcame a late two-hole deficit to secure a half point and also ensure a lead heading to singles. But the reality is both matches that were lost had leads at one point and An was given a chance to win a full point from just outside six-feet on the final hole. The putt came up short and low leaving the final tally at 10-8 heading to singles instead of 10.5-7.5. SUNDAY SINGLES Hideki Matsuyama was for a long time the only bright star during a tough start to the singles session. While Abraham Ancer was fighting hard but never leading against Tiger Woods ahead of him and C.T. Pan and Haotong Li were getting dominated behind him against Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson respectively, Matsuyama had bounced out to a 4 up lead through 10 holes over Tony Finau. It was a point the Internationals had basically banked as they scrambled to find other places on the course to try to flip the red tidal wave off the boards. But Finau was having none of it. The American won four straight holes from 11-14 to square things. Despite the collapse, Matsuyama bounced back with a win on the 16th to once again go 1 up but then inexplicably three-putted from 25-feet to lose the 17th and his grasp on a full point. The tied match was like a win to the U.S. Adam Hadwin produced a gutsy performance against Bryson DeChambeau, clawing back from a two-hole deficit early and finding a way to win the 17th hole when it was clear he had to if the Internationals were to have any chance to still win the Cup. Heading down the 18th all square, Hadwin had to win the final hole to keep the slim winning hopes of his team alive. A brilliant approach to just inside 14-feet set the stage for him to be a hero. But as the putt stayed high and missed the hole, so too did the realistic dreams of winning the Cup for the first time since 1998. At least a shared Cup was still in play. Louis Oosthuizen looked impressive for most of Sunday and made the turn with a 3 up lead over Matt Kuchar. As the session played out in became apparent, the Internationals had lost their chance to win the Cup but if the final three matches stayed black they could grab themselves a share of it. Cameron Smith was playing his part against Justin Thomas, surging back from three down to be 2 up with four to play. But Oosthuizen was going the wrong way. By the 15th hole he had lost his lead and looked dead when he drove the ball into the trees on the 16th and was forced to punch out. Only a three-putt from Kuchar saved him. But it was only a short reprieve. Despite Smith closing out a 2&1 win over Thomas ahead Oosthuizen’s approach to 17, a hole he could not afford to lose, bounced past the pin and settled some 16-feet above the hole. Kuchar stiffed his approach to five-feet. When the South African left his putt too far out to the left Kuchar sent his to the bottom of the Cup ensuring a 1 up lead with a hole to play and the vital last half point, the U.S. needed to clinch. The next chance to avenge yet another loss will come in 2021 at Quail Hollow. Given how close they came it can’t come soon enough for the Internationals. Â
