Americans Maintain Lead in Presidents Cup


The U.S. held serve on Day 2 of the Presidents Cup, maintaining its two-point lead that it enjoyed following the first-day foursomes.

The Yanks, who started play with a 4-2 edge, now lead 7 to 5. The U.S. won three matches in four-ball (best ball) Friday and the Internationals did too on a wind-blown day at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.

On Friday the Americans notched wins by Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, 2 and 1 over Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa in the first match, followed by Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk by the same score against Adam Scott and K.T. Kim in Match 3, and then added a 4 and 3 victory by Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker over Y.E. Yang and Robert Allenby in the fifth match.

The International squad got full points after wins by Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day 1-up over Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods in the second match; Geoff Ogilvy and K.J. Choi 1-up over Bill Haas and Nick Watney in Match 4; and South Africans Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel 2 and 1 over Hunter Mahan and David Toms in the final bout of the day.

On Saturday, 36 holes will be played, with foursomes in the morning and four-ball in the afternoon. The ninth Presidents Cup will conclude with 12 singles matches Sunday.

For more information, including Saturday's pairings, visit http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/presidentscup/.