International Team plays for pride

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Notes and observations from the third day at the Presidents Cup, where the International Team is on the brink of a heavy defeat. The U.S. Team dominated morning Foursomes 3.5-0.5, then were almost as impressive in afternoon Four-ball matches to the tune of 3-1. They are just a point away (14.5-3.5) from clinching the Cup in Sunday singles. For more from Liberty National, click here for the Daily Wrap-up.  PLAYING FOR PRIDE AND PRICE The odds of the International Team winning all 12 singles matches on Sunday to win the Presidents Cup are around 15,000/1. As such, Sunday becomes mostly about pride and about the future. It also is about the past. With Captain Nick Price likely finishing up his term having now overseen three Cups, the focus is on where to from here. “We may be down, but we are not out,â€� Price said “We’ve given it our best shot this week. We’ve just come up against a juggernaut of an American Team that has not put a foot wrong, it seems like, in three days. They have had all the momentum and we’ve had nothing. “There’s an outside shot tomorrow, and the guys all know that. They are going to go play for their pride, they are going to play for themselves, they are going to play for the team and they are going to play for us (captains). “They are going to do their best. You’re not going to be able to take the spirit away out from our team, that’s for sure.â€� Anirban Lahiri, who with Si Woo Kim provided the only International Team win on Saturday, said the side would play with freedom and a determination to send Price out on a better note. Price has been the most popular International leader in some time and the score line has cut the Zimbabwean deep. “We can compete. We haven’t this week but going into tomorrow, I think we have to enjoy ourselves a little more,â€� Lahiri said. “It’s difficult to do that when you’re down the way we’ve been but I think all of us are going to go out there and try and play our best. We’ve got a mountain in front of us, but nothing to lose. “All 12 of us, caddies, and everybody, we feel terrible about this being Nick’s last captaincy, and we’ve not played well. This is not the way we’d like him to leave. We want him to go out on a happy note. So we are going to give him our all and we are going to play for our pride and for him.â€� LAHIRI REDEMPTION KEEPS SLIMMEST OF HOPES ALIVE Two years ago Anirban Lahiri had a 4-foot putt to give the International Team at least a share of the Presidents Cup. It missed. And they eventually lost the Cup by a point. Since that moment the Indian star had wanted a chance for redemption and while his impressive efforts on Saturday didn’t clinch the Cup, they did stop a dominant U.S. Team from doing so. Si Woo Kim and Lahiri sat all square with Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell through 15 holes before Lahiri buried a 16-foot birdie putt, pointing it into the hole as it dropped, to go 1 up. But the drama was far from over. On 17 Hoffman’s approach came up short of the green while Lahiri sat 19-feet from the hole. Hoffman chipped in and celebrated like he’d won the Cup, chest bumping Chappell and running around in euphoria. Once the deafening noise subsided Lahiri lined up his putt – and drained it – ensuring Sunday’s singles would not be dead rubbers. “I think the Americans have done it all week. They seem to make the turn, just around the clubhouse, which is the 14th, and they make birdies down the stretch. They make putts; they hole shots,â€� Lahiri said. “I was sitting in the morning when I came in, and I said one of us or some of us have got to try and do the same. We have to try and make those putts and make those birdies coming home. I guess that was just a good seed in my head when I started out today.â€� On 18 he was left with a 3-foot par putt to secure the 1-up win but as he lined it up Chappell conceded it in a display of good sportsmanship. The International Team had been privately upset at some of the American antics, including Phil Mickelson and Kevin Kisner’s three amigos dance on Friday. “There has not been as much sportsmanship as there should be up until those last two holes,â€� Lahiri added. “So I think that should kind of demonstrate to everyone here how we really should play the game, with the right kind of spirit.â€� ODDS AND ENDS Since 2015 Jason Day has won eight PGA TOUR events including a major and a WGC – Dell Match Play Championship. Unfortunately, his past two Presidents Cups in that time frame have not been as prolific. Day is now 0-7-2 in the last two Cups combined. He plays Charley Hoffman in singles on Sunday as he tries to get an elusive win. The 11-point lead by the U.S. Team heading into Sunday’s Singles Matches surpasses the previous record of nine points; the International Team led by nine points in 1998 and ended up beating the U.S. Team 20.5 to 11.5. The largest overall margin of victory in Presidents Cup history after all sessions is 11 points, when the U.S. defeated the International Team 21.5 to 10.5 in 2000. CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Click here to read the full article…