Print this page  |  Close Window

By Melanie Hauser
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

MONTREAL, Canada -- The temperature dipped. The wind whipped. The leaves tumbled down and danced across the green.

Angel Cabrera hit the clinching putt for his team on Friday. (Cannon/WireImage)

MORE

• Friday's scores • Friday's recaps • Saturday at a glance

And Angel Cabrera backed off.

Fall wasn't the only change blowing across Royal Montreal Golf Club late Friday afternoon. The Internationals were charging and, well, Cabrera was the man who could turn those fortunes as quickly as Mother Nature has just switched seasons.

He was taking no chances.

His last birdie putt disappeared on the seventh hole, so he waited for the gusts to settle before he slammed in an 11-foot putt to win the match and give the Internationals their second point of the day -- a 1-up win over Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan in the lead-off match.

Like Mickelson's Foursomes match with Woody Austin Thursday, this one was a big-time comeback. Only this time, the Americans fell short. One hole short.

"Well, we fought hard today and unfortunately we came up a little shy,'' Mickelson said. "We fought hard to stay in the match and made some eagles and birdies to keep us in the match.''

They had to get into it first. The Internationals took a 2-up lead after five holes -- and missed two early birdies that could have put them up by more -- before Mickelson and Mahan came back.

Mickelson cut the International lead to one with a par at the 11th -- Goosen and Cabrera both bogeyed; Mahan took at double -- then there were major fireworks at the 12th when Mickelson and Goosen both eagled to halve the hole. If nothing else, that gave the U.S. momentum.

Two holes later, Mickelson hit his approach at the 14th to 2 1/2 feet and squared the match.

The Americans had chances to go up on the next three holes, but the Internationals answered every time. Which set the stage for Cabrera's putt.

"Retief made a couple of shots there on us and 18, we didn't follow their birdie and Retief was right there if (Cabrera) didn't make his putt,'' Mickelson said. "We came up one hole short but it was a fun, difficult, challenging match.''

The Americans came up short -- Mahan from 40 feet -- and Mickelson had missed the green and had a 6-footer for par.

"We had a lot of fun,'' Mickelson said. "We enjoy playing with each other. We had a good chemistry going. He was able to hit some good shots when I wasn't, and when he hit a few that were uncharacteristic, I was able to keep us in. We worked well together as a team.''

But at the end, they couldn't muster a halve.

Their misses set the stage for Cabrera's putt.

He was over it when the wind blew through and after stopping to move a few leaves, backed off to regroup. It worked. The ball disappeared for the win.