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The Americans will be favored to retain the Cup next October in Paris, but they haven’t won on European soil since 1993 at The Belfry.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Notes and observations from the International Team after Day 2 of the Presidents Cup. Nick Price’s team had a day to forget and has fallen into an 8-2 deficit with three sessions to play. For more from Liberty National check out the Daily Wrap-up. STRANGER THINGS It is going to take a miracle but “stranger things have happenedâ€�. The International Team fell into a huge hole – the greatest deficit in Presidents Cup history through two sessions – after getting routed 4.5-0.5 in Fridays Four-ball. But despite the fact that the U.S. Team can technically clinch the Cup on Saturday after forging to an 8-2 overall lead, Nick Price’s team has refused to throw in the towel. “Obviously it’s not the best of moods going through the team room right now. We’re pretty fresh off a disappointing day where they stole most of our points,â€� Cup debutant Adam Hadwin said. Hadwin teamed with Hideki Matsuyama to cash the only half point for his side Friday, but was still steaming given they had a 2-up lead with four holes to play over Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. “We are some of the best players in the world. It’s obviously going to be a tall task,â€� he said of a potential comeback. “They are playing well and they also are some of the best players in the world. But stranger things have happened. People have come from further back.â€� Captain Price was quick to point out there are still 20 points on the table for his side.  “There’s a long way to go. And I know the U.S. Team knows that,â€� Price said. “We’re not laying down. These guys are going to come out fighting over the next two days, and especially tomorrow.â€� LATE HOLES COST LEISHMAN-DAY AGAIN Marc Leishman and Jason Day are probably not fans of the last four holes at Liberty National. For the second straight day the Aussie pairing let a lead go against Phil Mickelson and Kevin Kisner over the final stretch and on Friday they couldn’t even scratch out a half. On Thursday they were 1 up with two holes to play before making bogey on 17 and 18. Only Mickelson missing a short putt on 18 saved them a loss. Friday they sat 1 up through 14 holes before losing 15, missing putts to win on 16 and 17, and missing a putt to halve on 18. “We had it going there for a while. We were a couple up through 10,â€� Leishman lamented. He was the one tasked with trying to make an 11-foot putt on the last to tie the match after Mickelson had buried his 12-foot birdie try in the cup. “It is disappointing to miss that putt on the last and not halve it again. But you know, they played really well. Hold our heads up high and give it another crack tomorrow.â€� The Aussie duo will have to perk up quickly as they are now set to face Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed in Saturday morning Foursomes. LOOSEN UP LAHIRI Captain’s pick Anirban Lahiri needs to loosen up according to Captain Price after the Indian national took his Presidents Cup record to 0-4-0. Lahiri sat out the opening day before teaming with Charl Schwartzel on Friday in Four-ball and was part of a heavy 6 and 5 loss to Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman. Things started rough for the man who missed a 4-foot putt on Sunday in Korea that would have at least clinched a tie of the 2015 Cup when he was ruled to have breached Rule 7-2. On the second hole Lahiri left a bunker shot on the lip of the bunker, effectively losing the hole. He then raked the ball back to himself and hit another shot, a breach of the rule that only allows practice on the putting green last played, any practice putting green or the teeing ground of the next hole to be played. As a result he was disqualified from taking part in the third hole. “I think it was just an oversight on his part. He’s obviously trying to prove to all of us that his pick was worth it, and it’s put a lot of pressure on him,â€� Price said. “I think today he showed that; he was very tight out there. I’m just trying to get him to loosen up and play golf and not be so worried about the fact that he’s got to prove something to us. “He doesn’t have to do that. We chose him. The Captains and I and a lot of the team members chose him. “But it’s hard. He really wants to do well, and you can see it in his attitude and the strain in his face. He’s having a tough time at the moment. But he’ll be better over the next two days, I can assure you.â€� ODDS AND ENDS It had to happen sometime. Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen suffered their first loss as a team in the Presidents Cup, going down to Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas 3 and 2. They are now 5-1-0 as a duo and will have a chance for revenge in Foursomes Saturday morning. Adam Scott earned an unwelcome record on Friday, becoming the player with the most ever losses in Presidents Cup history (19) after teaming up with Jhonattan Vegas to fall 3 and 2 against world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka. Scott is now 13-19-5 in the competition. “I’ve played the No. 1 player in the world two days in a row and they’ve both been tight matches. Today he closed like the No. 1 player in the world and birdied 15 and 16 to shut a match down,â€� Scott said. The Australian will have to face Johnson again on Saturday morning. Scott will team with Adam Hadwin while Johnson will pair with Matt Kuchar in Foursomes. World No. 3 Hideki Matsuyama has been rested from Saturday morning Foursomes. He’s the highest ranked player to sit out a Presidents Cup session since Mark O’Meara in 1998. CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The youngest competitor in the PNC Championship's history also may be its most anticipated. Eleven-year-old Charlie Woods will make his debut in the annual exhibition alongside his father, who just happens to own 82 PGA TOUR victories. Snippets of Charlie's swing, shot by clandestine cameramen, have been shared on social media but the PNC will be the public's first opportunity to see his game on display. The PNC will allow fans to see another side of Woods, as well. He has largely shielded his children from the cameras, but all 36 holes of this week's event will be televised, allowing us to watch Tiger mentor his son the way Tiger's dad, Earl, did for him. Earl used to jangle change in his pocket and slam on cart brakes to develop his son's focus while standing over the ball. Now the son has become the father, deploying some of Earl's old tricks and some of his own, too. Woods has been teaching Charlie in South Florida, and at the Masters gushed about how much fun he's having. Jack Nicklaus, who knows a thing or two about being a golf dad, said Woods told him at the Champions' Dinner how he'd put Charlie in a set of blade irons because they are harder to hit and improve hand-eye coordination. "He says, ‘I’m having more fun out with Charlie and Sam, and watching them do different things and be vulnerable,'" Nicklaus said. Charlie has already shot under par for nine holes in competition and shares his father's love of the needle. His competitive side has generated bemused chatter. "For some reason, Charlie just always wants to beat me, it doesn’t matter what it is," Justin Thomas, a friend of the Woods family, said at the Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN last week. "Although he’s never beaten me in golf or a putting contest, he still talks trash just like his dad. "It will be fun," added Thomas, who also will make his PNC debut with dad Mike, a PGA professional. "We’ll have that like inner tournament within a tournament, trying to shut his little mouth up, but it will be fun." In an interview with GolfTV and Golf Digest, Woods confirmed Charlie's love of the needle, calling his son "a little on the chirpy side, just like I am." With the press, Woods has talked about wanting his kids to see him at his competitive best. He ticked that box when he won the 2019 Masters and embraced Charlie on the 18th green the way he and his father Earl had embraced in 1997. "To come full circle," he said, "from me being with my dad and seeing my son there and the same embrace, 22 years apart, pretty good bookends." Now, though, with Charlie taking on more competition, the focus is shifting. "Yeah, Tiger and I talked about it a bunch," Thomas said. "He brought it up a while ago that Charlie wanted to play, and Charlie really wanted to play with us. I’ve obviously gotten to know him well, and he knows my dad a little bit as well." Thomas admitted he'll probably be more nervous for his dad than for himself. The same will most likely be true for 82-time PGA TOUR winner Woods, who said that like many golfers, Charlie got more into the game during the pandemic. "Because everything was shut down, the only thing that was available to us was golf," Woods said. "He started to pick up golf, but this pandemic allowed us to play more golf and be with one another. And we just started playing a lot, and he started getting the bug for it, and so did I. It kept me competitive, kept me in it when we didn't have any tournaments. "But I had a tournament every day with him, and that was the fun part," he added. "Was just like me growing up with my dad." The PNC, which will use a scramble format for all 36 holes, starts Saturday and will air on NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock.
