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Believe it or not, International Captain Ernie Els can turn the unfortunate loss of Jason Day into a positive for his Presidents Cup team. Sure, the list of what he has lost is vast, with the news that Day has succumbed to a back injury that will keep him sidelined for two months … • The experience of four previous Cup appearances • A 12-time PGA TOUR winner • A major winner • A former PLAYERS Championship winner • A former world No. 1 • A two-time winner of the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play • A World Cup winner at Royal Melbourne • The best statistical putter on the team from last season • An Australian with a huge following But there are also gains to be had with the introduction of Byeong Hun An into his first Presidents Cup. Stay with us… RELATED: An in as Day bows out of Presidents Cup | Presidents Cup provides bonding experience for Hadwin, Weir | The unlikeliest Presidents Cupper Better form While Day is pure class, the fact remains he has had just one top-10 finish since The Masters Tournament in April – a T8 at the Travelers Championship in June. He hasn’t won since the Wells Fargo Championship in May of 2018. Now An hasn’t won on the PGA TOUR, but just since Day’s last top-10 finish the Korean has two third-place finishes on the TOUR and contended throughout the recent Asian swing. He was T6 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and T8 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP before a T14 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. He sits 16th in the FedExCup while Day, who ended his fall with a missed cut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, is 139th. An ranked first on the PGA TOUR last season in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and seventh in SG: Tee-to-Green. The injection of new blood The International team has a 1-10-1 record in all Presidents Cups. Certain players have been there for a while and been unable to come up with a much-needed win. Now of course, the strength of the U.S. Team is the major factor here. They have always been a far superior team on paper. But a lot of European Ryder Cup teams have looked inferior but won. Day played in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 for an individual record of 5-11-4. For all his match play talent, Day hasn’t been able to turn it into Presidents Cup team success. In 2015, Day had won four of his last nine starts leading into the competition and was no worse that T12 over a stretch that included three majors, a WGC and the FedExCup Playoffs. But in Korea he went 0-4-1 and the Internationals lost by a single point. An is now one of seven rookies on the International Team. They don’t have the scars of losing. And An has his own match play history. He remains the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur, a title previously held by Tiger Woods and then Danny Lee. The underdog status Even with the loss of the world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, the U.S. Team is stacked. Matt Kuchar, at 23rd, is the lowest-ranked American player in the world, and only Adam Scott (18th) and Hideki Matsuyama (20th) sit above him from the Internationals. Haotong Li, at 63rd, is the lowest-ranked International. Everyone expects the U.S. to win. They have dominated in the past and are led by Tiger Woods. But Els can harness that underdog mentality. (No one gives you guys a chance. They don’t respect you. They think they can just turn up and win.) Sport is full of underdog triumphs. There is an entire Hollywood movie genre on it. Maybe Els should play Rocky movies on the team bus. Or highlights of real-life upsets like when Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson or the New York Giants beat the previously undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. They have an opportunity to create a unique legacy here… the team that finally knocked down the juggernaut. Freedom with pairings Els has stated for months that he will use analytics when making his partnerships and with another rookie he will have more freedom to do so. Day was expected to pair with fellow Australian Adam Scott – a unit that played together at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and wanted to do so again. It looked a good duo, despite a missed cut in New Orleans, taking away some options from Els’ plans. Now Scott is freed up to go where the numbers best suggest – something that might help him avoid adding to the unwanted record of having the most losses in Presidents Cup history. Maybe it will be another ball-striker like An or Louis Oosthuizen. Or will it be a fiery rookie with putting prowess like Sungjae Im or Joaquin Niemann? An also brings a balance as he can seamlessly partner with the other Asian players as well as others. So while it certainly isn’t good news that Day won’t return to his native land this December, it is not as dire as it might seem. Els will make sure his team knows it.
Editor’s note: Contributions can be made via GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/jarrod-lyles-girls. These funds are intended to be rolled into a trust for Jarrod’s daughters, Lusi and Jemma. ST. LOUIS – Rickie Fowler had just shot a 5-under 65 to take the early lead at the 100th PGA Championship, but he bowed his head as his eyes welled with tears. Jason Day got so emotional he had to stop himself during his post-round press conference following his 3-under 67. It was that kind of day at Bellerive as players, fans and others here and around the world continued to react with condolences, donations and grief. Jarrod Lyle, the affable Australian golfer who won twice on the Web.com Tour on the way to an unlikely career on the PGA TOUR, died at age 36 on Wednesday after battling leukemia for half his life. “I was scripted to wear some sort of dark blue shirt,â€� said Fowler, who changed tops in honor of Lyle, known for his signature yellow bucket hat. “So luckily I had a version of yellowish. Yeah, it was tough news yesterday. So definitely happy that we could be here and supporting Jarrod. It’s been a tough few weeks, especially talking with guys that were also close with Jarrod.â€� Former PGA of America employee Erica Stoll, now married to Rory McIlroy, was among those who put together yellow ribbons in the media center Thursday morning. Lyle, who was first diagnosed at 17, left behind his wife, Briony, and two daughters, Lusi and Jemma. Players have reacted with donations and messages of support to the family, the current GoFundMe campaign continuing a fundraising effort that began this year as Lyle battled leukemia for the third time. The January for Jarrod campaign, through youcaring.com, included contributions from many players (Hideki Matsuyama, for instance, donated $50,000) and others in the golf world, as well as donations from the public, with the current total reaching beyond $267,000. The fundraising effort for the family ramped up with the news last week that Lyle’s body, ravaged by years of fighting the disease, was no longer responding to treatment and he would be going into hospice care at his home in Victoria. At last week’s Barracuda Championship, young fellow Australian pro Grant Booth won a $50,000 bonus for playing the 18th hole the best over the four days, a stipend that was to be split two ways, half going to Reno-area charities and half to a charity of Booth’s choice, the Lyle family. Earlier this week, Bryson DeChambeau won $25,000 for charity for winning the long-drive contest at Bellerive, and also directed the money to the Lyle family. “The story, it’s so sad,â€� DeChambeau said. “His kids are suffering, obviously. The whole family is. I thought it’d be the right thing to give it to Lusi and Jemma. They deserve that more than anything right now.â€�   The Tiger Woods Foundation announced a $10,000 contribution. Several others have stepped up anonymously. Donations continue to come in to the Lyle Children’s Family Trust. “I lived across the street from him when we first started out in Orlando,â€� said Day, among the numerous Australian golfers who were tight with Lyle. “He’s a good buddy of mine. It’s obviously heartbreaking to see. I’ve known Jarrod for a long time, and, obviously, my thoughts and prayers go out to Bri and the two kids.â€� Day and others consoled one another as they reminisced about a fun-loving big man with a big game. He was also a fighter, Day noted, beating back the disease three times. Some, like Day and Adam Scott, knew him well. Others met him in passing, and others still knew him only through stories. “Even guys that didn’t know him, hadn’t met him, they never heard anything but good things,â€� Fowler said. “The legend of Jarrod lives on. “I played quite a bit with him my first few years out on TOUR,â€� Fowler added, “and I loved how he was so kind of free-spirited and fun-loving. It didn’t really matter how his day was going or how he was playing, he was always happy or was going to try to make your day better. He wasn’t too worried about himself. He was just a fun guy to be around.â€� Fowler recalled how much it had meant to him to be in Australia for the World Cup and get to play in the benefit tournament for Challenge, the organization supporting kids with cancer fronted by Lyle and friend and fellow TOUR pro Robert Allenby. Lyle was always doing for others; it was nice to do something for him, Fowler said at Bellerive, where he wore a pin of Leuk the Duck, the Challenge mascot, front and center on his cap Thursday. The news of Lyle’s passing hit him especially hard in part because he’d just spoken to him. “I was lucky enough to be able to talk to him last Friday, so one thing that did help is hearing kind of from him how he felt,â€� Fowler said. “He sounded like he was in a good spot. … It’s been fun to be thinking about him while we’re out there playing, because he would probably be the one to kind of kick you in the butt if you started feeling sad or bad, he would kind of give you a hard time and tell you to man up or something along those lines. Maybe not those same words. “It’s been enjoyable celebrating his life,â€� he added, “and we’ll continue to do that.â€�
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A memorable start that featured the previous three U.S. presidents on the first tee ended with a familiar result in the Presidents Cup. The Americans are out to another big lead in the event they haven’t lost in nearly two decades. PGA champion Justin Thomas made his professional team debut with a short day of work as he and Rickie Fowler lost only two holes in a 6-and-4 victory. Jordan Spieth holed a 35-foot putt that sent him and Patrick Reed to another victory. Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar remained unbeaten. The Americans won the opening session for the sixth straight time in the Presidents Cup and built a 3 1/2-1 1/2 lead Thursday after the opening foursomes matches. Phil Mickelson, playing in his 23rd consecutive team competition, ended the tough, wind-swept afternoon at Liberty National by missing an 8-foot par putt, or the U.S. lead would have been even greater. He and Kevin Kisner were 1 down with two holes remaining to Jason Day and Marc Leishman, so a half-point wasn’t bad. Mickelson’s only complaint was that he botched his selfie with former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, with barely his head showing. For the most part, everything else went the Americans’ way. The lone bright spot for the International team was Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, who improved to 5-0 as a tandem. The South African duo pulled away for a 3-and-1 victory over U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger. The stars on this day didn’t hit a shot. The leader of every country where the Presidents Cup is held are invited to be honorary chairman, but this was a first — three U.S. presidents together at this event, sitting together in a box on the first tee and then posing with the trophy, the players and their wives. “I was looking forward to this Presidents Cup for a very long time, and I didn’t expect all the presidents to be there,” Charl Schwartzel of South Africa said. “Just to get to meet them was a dream come true for me. Then to hit that first tee shot with the wind pumping off the right was quite intimidating.” The Americans have a 9-1-1 lead in the series, their lone loss in 1998 at Royal Melbourne a few weeks before Christmas. Nick Price, back as International captain for the third time, was not ready to panic. The Americans opened a 4-1 lead after the opening session two years ago in South Korea, and that came down to the final match. “We always get ourselves behind a little bit in alternate shot,” Day said. “It would have been nice to be 3-2, but once again, we’re not that far behind. The American side is very, very talented and stacked. But I think our team and our boys are ready to rally behind everyone, and hopefully we can finish strong later on in the week.” Fowler holed a 70-foot pitch and Thomas followed with a 12-foot birdie, and they were never seriously challenged. Spieth and Reed improved to 6-1-2 as a tandem in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. They won four straight holes early in the match against International rookies Si Woo Kim and Emiliano Grillo. And when the match looked as if it had a chance to get tight, Spieth rolled in his big putt and they were on their way. Johnson and Kuchar are unbeaten in four matches together, and they had to be at their best. The gusts topped 20 mph and felt even stronger on exposed areas of Liberty National, which sits across New York Harbor from Manhattan. The par-3 10th hole was so difficult to judge the wind that Adam Scott hit a tee shot that sailed over the green into a hazard, while Spieth in the match behind him came up some 60 feet short of the hole in a bunker. Johnson and Kuchar didn’t make a single bogey, remarkable in the format and in the wind, and they still didn’t take the lead until Johnson’s tee shot on the par-3 16th with a strong wind at his back stopped 5 feet away. Scott came up short, and then missed a 6-foot par putt. Scott and Jhonattan Vegas never caught up. “In alternate shot, in these conditions, not to make a bogey and for us to just win 1 up, that’s a heck of a battle that we had with those guys,” Kuchar said. Leishman was playing with his sixth partner in his last six Presidents Cup matches. He and Day were 1 up with two holes to play when Leishman missed the fairway on the 17th hole and they made bogey. On the 18th, Mickelson went over the green in a swale, while Day came up short. Both teams made bogey for the halve. Friday features five matches of fourballs, followed by a full day of foursomes and fourballs Saturday and the decisive Sunday singles.Â
