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The United States Team withstood a gallant fightback from the International Team to win the Junior Presidents Cup for a second consecutive time at a sun-baked The Royal Melbourne Golf Club on Monday. After taking a comfortable 9-3 lead from the opening day’s Four-Ball and Foursomes sessions, the American junior golfers saw the International Team pull to within three points in the Singles session through five wins in the top six matches before Ian Siebers, Michael Thorbjornsen, Alexander Yang and Vishnu Sadagopan secured vital wins for the U.S. Team to secure a 13-11 victory. Yang, a two-time Rolex Junior All-American, battled to a 2-up win over Jordan Duminy to bring the U.S. Team’s total to 12 points before Sadagopan clinched the winning point with a 2-up victory over Joshua Greer. The International Team won the session through victories by Jayden Schaper, Kartik Sharma, Andi Xu, Bo Jin, Jang Hyung Lee, Samuel Simpson, Martin Vorster and Christo Lamprecht. U.S. Team Captain Justin Leonard said: “I knew it would be harder than they (his players) thought it would be and I tried to convey that and it was. I’m glad to see the International Team came out today. I knew they were capable of it and they did that. “It’s hard playing against a player or team that is kind of mad and has nothing to lose. That’s a pretty dangerous combination. They started great and we were down on every match except the top match for a while. We got a couple of close ones go our way in the end, just like yesterday morning and afternoon. Those really made the difference for our team.� Leonard, who featured in five Presidents Cups, believes his 12 junior golfers have every potential to become stars on the PGA TOUR in the near future. “For the guys, I think this is a peek into what the PGA TOUR looks like, at least in a team aspect. This event mirrors the Presidents Cup in almost every way imaginable, maybe outside a few more thousand people and TV cameras. It was fantastic. Going forward, this should prepare them to want to achieve these kinds of things in the game of golf. “When you get into a room and you are with the best 11 players in the field and where you are at the point, it makes you a better player. You look around and realize you’re one of the special groups, but it takes a lot of work to stay in that special group. A week like this can propel them to bigger and better things.� Yang never held the lead against Duminy until the 17th hole which he won with a par and then clinched the 12th point for the Americans after his rival got into trouble with an errant drive on 18. “Really happy. I couldn’t have thought about a better situation than to get the 12th point. It’s such an awesome experience to be here. I had two solid two putts on 17 and 18 that closed out the match. It’s so much fun to be around these guys. As a team, we fought back in the closing holes really well. I was worried but I thought I could certainly win my match. It was kind of worry and confidence at the same time. I’m going to watch how the pros attack this course in the Presidents Cup and see how their games are different and see how I can improve in the future,� said Yang, who holds one AJGA victory. Sadagopan, winner of the C.T. Pan Junior Championship in April, was 1-down to Greer through 10 holes but won holes 11 and 13 to gain the upper hand before closing out the match with a par on the 18th hole, much to the jubilation of his teammates who were at greenside. “It’s amazing, it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever accomplished in my life,� said Sadagopan. “To win the winning point for my country is amazing, these guys are amazing. It was just a great week. Just all the memories and fun, I have learned a lot from my captain. I’ll take a lot from this. I’m going to watch the Presidents Cup and compare myself with how the pros play and what they do.� International Team Captain Stuart Appleby was proud with how his charges made the Americans fight for their victory. “We had a chat and a chuckle yesterday about what it’ll be … the Melbourne massacre, the Sanbelt-ing, you know, and I was so impressed today. The odds weren’t good and I told the guys to take it six holes at a time and try to get to a good start and move on. It wasn’t always pretty as the course was the biggest opponent today with the weather and they focused. I’m super proud how they turned around some matches.� Like Leonard, Appleby believes many of his 12 players can go onto become leading golfers on the PGA TOUR. “I think so,� said the Australian, who has played in five Presidents Cups. “I’ve tried to give them an idea of what golf is really about and how you try to break it down and how you should look at your progress and problems. Very rarely you hold that trophy and you’ll hold that trophy for five minutes but it’s taken hundreds, if not thousands of hours, just getting up to that point where you hold that trophy for five minutes and you put it down and you move on again. And that’s what Tiger (Woods) has done his whole career.� “There’s a lot of talent. They’re good enough here, they’re much better when I was their age.�

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MELBOURNE, Australia – “I love me some me.â€� Now you know what Justin Thomas kept yelling at Tiger Woods after rolling in a 17-foot birdie putt to win the 18th hole and their Foursomes match Friday against Hideki Matsuyama and Byeong Hun An at Royal Melbourne. RELATED: Scoring | Day 2 match recaps | Day 3 morning match previews| Quiz: Which team should you support? A half-hour earlier, Patrick Cantlay also produced some 18th hole heroics, his birdie from just inside 14 feet giving he and partner Xander Schauffele the win over Adam Hadwin and Byeong Hun An. Until those two putts dropped, the U.S. Team was headed for its first Foursomes session defeat in 14 years at the Presidents Cup. Even more relative, those putts jolted the Americans into life after a relatively listless afternoon in which they appeared headed for a massive deficit. At one point, the Internationals led in all five matches. Had Cantlay and Thomas not made their putts – and had Sungjae Im made his birdie putt from 13 feet on the 18th hole in the final match – the U.S. would be trailing 8-2. Instead, the Americans won two matches and tied the last one, making the deficit a more manageable 6.5-3.5 entering Saturday’s two sessions, followed by Sunday’s Singles. “I know one thing — if we don’t make those putts, this is a pretty deep deficit,â€� Thomas said. And if Thomas didn’t watch a YouTube video — featuring former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens — on the long bus ride to the course Friday, who knows what he would’ve yelled at Woods after making his putt. Fellow TOUR pro and former Alabama teammate Bud Cauley sent the 11-second clip of Owens. Thomas had seen it before, but this time he also showed it to his U.S. teammates. “When you have an hour-long bus ride, you go into a deep hole on the Internet,â€� Thomas explained. “They had not seen it. It’s a really funny video. I said, ‘If I make a big putt today, I’m yelling it.’ “Today that was a pretty big putt, so I thought it was the appropriate time to yell it.â€� Indeed, when Thomas’ putt fell in, he dropped his putter and started yelling, “I love me some me.â€� Woods did the same thing before the two shared a huge hug. “Very familiar with it, yes,â€� Woods said when asked about the T.O. video. “We were looking at it and we had our moment on the last hole, and we both said it at the same time.â€� Thirty minutes earlier, Cantlay rolled in his winning putt to rally past Niemann and Hadwin, who were 1 up through 14. While his celebration wasn’t nearly as exuberant as Thomas, Cantlay’s fist pump was still pretty demonstrative by his standards. “It was nice to see my boy P. here with some emotion,â€� Schauffele said. “I think it just shows how much it means to us.â€� Said Cantlay: “There’s no place I’d rather be than on the 18th green with a putt to win. There’s nothing like the focus that it brings out and the attention to the moment that it brings out, and that’s exactly why I play the game and I think that’s why we all play. Making those putts on 18 were so big for the momentum shift.â€� Despite the Americans’ two wins on 18, the Internationals still had a chance to win the session. Im and partner Cameron Smith were 2 up with three holes to play against Gary Woodland and Rickie Fowler. But Fowler’s terrific approach at the 16th set up Woodland for an 8-foot birdie putt. Woodland then reciprocated with an approach at the 17th inside 5 feet for a Fowler birdie. Tied going into the 18th, Im had a birdie opportunity from 13 feet after Woodland rolled his 44-footer well past the pin. But Im missed and Fowler made the 5-footer to save par and secure the half-point. “Whether it’s for a half-point, or if it’s to win, that’s why we play,â€� Fowler said. “You know, that little adrenaline rush that you get when you do make those putts, they are confidence-boosters.â€� Although the U.S. still trails, Woods and his players are at least feeling better about their chances. And if the Americans rally this weekend to retain the Presidents Cup, they’ll look back at those two winning birdie putts on the 18th hole Friday as the catalyst. “I felt like all day out there, it was another beating and we were getting beat up,â€� Cantlay said. “I looked up on the board and we were down in almost all the matches all day. Being able to flip the whole deal; we’re going to go to bed tonight feeling great and we’re going to have the momentum going into tomorrow. We are still down but there are a lot of points up on the board for tomorrow, available points. “I really thought this afternoon was huge and I think it’s going to be a big paradigm shift going forward.â€�

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