Alex Noren takes 1-shot lead at Torrey Pines

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Here are the recaps from the completed matches in Saturday’s two sessions at the Presidents Cup. Foursomes are being played in the morning at Liberty National with Four-ball matches set for the afternoon. MORNING FOURSOMES MATCH 11: USA wins, 4 and 3 Jordan Spieth/Patrick Day (U.S.) def. Jason Day/Marc Leishman (International) Holes won: USA 6, International 2 Holes led: USA 8, International 2 Recap: The powerhouse American duo won the final four holes to break open a tight match and continue their domination in these team events. Spieth and Reed are now 2-0-1 this week and 7-1-3 in team events (including Ryder Cup results). Meanwhile, the Aussie partners are 0-2-1 this week, with Day now 0-6-2 in his last eight Presidents Cup matches. Day did have the biggest highlight for the Internationals, chipping in for birdie to win the 7th hole and put his team 1 up. But the Americans responded two holes later with a birdie at the par-5 ninth to square the match. They then dialed it up a notch on the back nine. A terrific approach by Reed set up a tap-in birdie at the 12th. A Spieth approach set up a Reed 7-foot birdie putt at the 13th. The Internationals lost the 14th with a bogey after Day found the bunker with his tee shot. And then Spieth’s approach to 7 feet at the 15th set up Reed for the match-ending birdie. QUOTES Jason Day: “I didn’t do Leish any favors hitting driver off the tee on 12. I didn’t do too well hitting a driver off on 14, as well, obviously putting him in a bunker there wasn’t a go, and then Jordan hit a great bunker shot out of there. I mean, it is what it is. Unfortunately we just didn’t have it today, more so myself. Leish played great. You know, it sucks.” Marc Leishman: “I didn’t hole the putts today that I needed to hole. I teed off the holes where you need to be holing them and wasn’t, but they just played too good. You know, today is a day where you’re going to make a few mistakes, and we did, but they outplayed us, so credit to them.” MATCH 12: USA wins, 4 and 3 Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar (U.S.) def. Adam Scott/Adam Hadwin (International) Holes won: USA 8, International 4 Holes led: USA 13, International 0 Recap: The Americans won six of the first nine holes, thanks in large part to some poor International play, and maintained control the rest of the way. Pars were good enough for the U.S. to win hole Nos. 1, 3 and 6, and the Americans even won the fifth hole with a bogey. The Internationals suffered another double bogey at the seventh, but the U.S. won it with a 17-foot birdie putt from Johnson. DJ also won the ninth with a 7-foot birdie putt, putting the Americans 4-up at the turn. Hadwin started the Internationals’ rally with a 24-foot putt to win the 10th and also made an 8-footer to win the 13th. But a third double bogey cost them the 14th and stopped any momentum. QUOTES Dustin Johnson: “We play a lot of practice rounds together, and we really enjoy playing this alternate-shot together. It’s a fun format, especially on a day like today. It’s tough out there. I thought we played really solid.” Matt Kuchar: “I love playing with this guy. I think anybody would do well playing with this guy. I’ve been a lucky recipient a number of times. We make a great team and it’s really been a fun ride.” MATCH 13: USA wins, 2 and 1 Phil Mickelson/Kevin Kisner (U.S.) def. Jhonattan Vegas/Emiliano Grillo (International)  Holes won: USA 5, International 3 Holes led: USA 6, International 1 Recap: In one of the most well-played matches of the day, the Americans led off with a birdie at the first hole and went 4 under to beat back the steady new South American tandem of Vegas/Grillo. Mickelson and Kisner improved their record to 2-0-1 this week. The Internationals briefly took the lead when the U.S. bogeyed the 7th, but the Americans responded with a birdie to square the match and never trailed again. A terrific approach by Mickelson won the 15th, and his approach at the 17th to 7 feet set up Kisner to close out the match. MATCH 14: Halved Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace (International) halve with Justin Thomas/Rickie Fowler (U.S.) Holes won: International 4, USA 4 Holes led: International 5, USA 2 Recap: The South African duo remained the strongest pairing for Nice Price’s team, claiming a half-point in the final match against the red-hot American pairing which had rolled through the first two sessions. Oosthuizen and Grace won three of the first six holes and were 2 up at that point, Oosthuizen having set up Grace for a 7-foot birdie putt at the sixth. But the U.S. won the next two holes with a par and a birdie and were 1 up through 10. Oosthuizen rolled in a 38-foot putt at the 11th to square the match and the two sides halved the rest of the holes. AFTERNOON FOUR-BALLS Match 15: Louis Oosthuizen/Jason Day (International) vs. Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed Match 16: Jhonattan Vegas/Hideki Matsuyama (International) vs. Justin Thomas/Daniel Berger Match 17: Anirban Lahiri/Si Woo Kim (International) vs. Kevin Chappell/Charley Hoffman (U.S.) Match 18: Marc Leishman/Branden Grace (International) vs. Brooks Koepka/Dustin Johnson (U.S.)

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Phil Mickelson struggled on the front nine. That gave him time to bounce back into contention. Jordan Spieth struggled on the back nine. That only gave him time to fume. The two past AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champs – each playing at Pebble Beach on Saturday — appeared on the verge of making their presence felt at the top of the leaderboard during Saturday’s third round. But while Mickelson will have a chance to chase his fifth tournament title on Sunday, Spieth appears to have too much ground to make up. Mickelson is at 12 under and in solo second; he’ll be in the final group with tournament leader Paul Casey (15 under). Spieth, the 2017 champ, is in a four-way tie for 18th after a bogey-double bogey finish left him at 7 under. “I’m very frustrated,â€� Spieth said. “If I just go par, par, I’m essentially still in this tournament with what’s forecasted tomorrow. I kind of threw myself out of this tournament. So yeah, it will affect me for awhile.â€� Spieth was at 11 under through 12 holes and in prime chasing position of Casey. But a wayward drive at the par-4 13th – he was heading back toward the teebox until his ball was located – produced a double bogey. After a bogey at the 17th, a poor drive at the par-5 18th set up another double. MUST READS: Round 3, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Leader Paul Casey eyes final exam at Pebble Beach “My driver just didn’t behave at all,â€� said Spieth after his 2-over 74. “It was a 150-yard spread on either side and that’s not good around Pebble Beach.â€� Mickelson’s driver didn’t always cooperate, either. On Thursday, he hit all 13 fairways while playing Monterey Peninsula, but in the last two rounds, he’s 13 of 28 in fairways hit. A poor drive on the opening hole Saturday set up a bogey, but he bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 second. That was the start of a roller-coaster round that finally got untracked on his final eight holes, as he went bogey-free with a birdie at the 13th and his first career eagle at the par-5 14th. Making up three shots not only gave him a spot in the final group, it put him in a good frame of mind as he tries to chase down Casey. After missing the cut last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson changed drivers and has been pleased with the results. He may still miss some fairways, but a 331-yard drive – his distance on the 14th that set up a 4-iron from 238 yards that landed inside 4 feet for eagle – confirmed he made the right decision in his equipment adjustment. “I had been working on getting a different driver in play and I took a chance thinking I had figured something out at Waste Management – and I ended up driving it awful, into the water,â€� Mickelson said after his 2-under 70. “I went back to the driver I played well with in Palm Springs and I’ll stay with that all the way through Augusta.â€�

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