Friday's Four-Ball match recaps
 
Sep. 29, 2007

Match 7
Angel Cabrera and Retief Goosen d. Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan, 1 up

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The Internationals made it two-for-two in the opening matches when Cabrera drilled an 11-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat the Americans 1-up. Both Mickelson and Mahan had missed their birdie putts, opening the way for the Internationals to win the match. The Internationals took a 2-up lead after five -- it could have been more had they not missed a pair of short birdies early -- and kept it until Mickelson cut the lead to one after a par at the 11th. Mickelson eagled the 12th from downtown Montreal to match a short Goosen eagle, but it swung the momentum just enough that the U.S. squared the match at 14. They matched each other at 15, 16 and 17, to set the stage for Cabrera's putt -- his first birdie since the seventh hole.

Match 8
Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby def. Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, 5 and 4

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It didn't even feel that close. The Internationals combined for seven birdies, two eagles and shot 11 under for 14 holes. Tiger Woods made three birdies, he and Furyk shot 5 under. Hardly enough. Appleby and Singh, who is 5-1 against Tiger in four-ball matches, birdied the first hole when Singh holed out from a bunker. Then Appleby birdied the next two to match Furyk's birdie. Then it was Singh holing out on the sixth for eagle and Appleby birding seven to go 3 up. A Furyk birdie on the next hole cut it to 2 up, then Singh birdied 10, Appleby eagles 12 and Singh birdied 13 to go 5 up. Tiger made an all-world up and down on the 14th, but it wasn't enough as Singh closed the match out with a 3-foot birdie. This was Tiger's worst four-ball loss in either The Ryder or Presidents Cup. The previous worst loss was 5 and 3 (Bernhard Langer/Colin Montgomerie d. Woods/Mark O'Meara in 1997 Ryder Cup Foursomes; Els/Tim Clark d Woods/Howell 5 and 3 in 2003 Presidents Cup Foursomes).

Match 9
Ernie Els and Mike Weir def. Zach Johnson and Charles Howell, 3 and 1

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With six birdies in his first 14 holes and seven overall, Canada's Mike Weir pleased the partisan crowd and picked up partner Ernie Els at crucial times as the International Team never trailed. "He played some amazing golf today," Els said of his partner, who didn't make a bogey in 17 holes. "I tried to steady the ship, but Mike made the putts." After halves at the first six holes, Weir put the International Team on top for good with a wedge to the par-3 seventh that stopped two feet away. Weir upped the ante on the next with another wedge that checked up to 6 feet and his conversion doubled the advantage. Bogeys by Howell and Johnson at 11 left them three behind, and the U.S. duo couldn't muster any offense until they were dormie at 16 when Howell delivered a 7-foot birdie. The match ended with conceded birdies at 17 for the Internationals when Howell missed the green and Johnson's long birdie attempt ran 10 feet by.

Match 10
Steve Stricker and Scott Verplank beat Adam Scott and K.J. Choi, 2 and 1

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Verplank and Stricker earned the first point for the U.S. Team on Friday -- with Stricker firing a round of 4 under by making five birdies and just one bogey -- but the 2 and 1 win didn't come easy. Scott earned his first loss ever in Foursomes competition on Thursday, but wasn't going down in Friday's Four-Ball without a fight. Though he and partner Choi went 1 down after the first hole and 2 down after the sixth hole, Scott clawed their way back with a near ace on the par-3 seventh hole and a birdie on No. 8 to make it all square. Stricker and Verplank took the lead again on No. 10 with a birdie by Stricker, but Scott squelched that with a birdie on the following hole. The match remained all square on Nos. 12 and 13 before Scott's luck and the match turned -- both Stricker and Verplank birdied the 14th hole to go 1 up, then Stricker made it dormie by sinking a long birdie putt on No.16. Scott and Choi needed to halve the 17th hole to continue the match and were given a slight reprieve when Stricker and Verplank left themselves difficult birdie tries, but Choi's ball found water and Scott's hit the green nearly 50 feet from the hole. Scott managed to make his par but Stricker soon saved his par attempt to split the hole and the oldest team of the day became the first and only winning team of the day for the Americans. "I didn't realize [we were the only team up]. I was just paying attention to our match and trying to get the job done and fortunately we did," Stricker said.

Match 11
Geoff Ogilvy and Nick O'Hern def. Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover, 1 up

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Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink got off to a dream start in this one. With four 3s between them over the first four holes (one for Cink, three for Glover), the Americans had a swift 2-up lead. However, Ogilvy and O'Hern had three birdies on their next three holes to steal the lead from the Americans and take a 1-up advantage of their own. The match was squared again at No. 10 when Glover made his fourth birdie of the day. It seemed like the turning point in the match would be No. 12, where Ogilvy holed a chip for eagle from about 40 feet to give the Internationals a 1-up lead. But Cink made birdie on No. 13 to square the match again. In the end, Cink walked away as the goat. A missed putt from two feet on the 17th hole gave the Internationals a 1-up lead with one to play. Glover made the Internationals work for the win, as he birdied the final hole with a 10-foot putt. But, Ogilvy answered by canning his 5-footer for the 1-up win.

Match 12
Woody Austin and David Toms halved Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini

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This match was literally wet and wild. First, the wet part. On the 14th hole, a short, reachable par 4, Woody Austin hit his tee shot into the pond that fronts the green. While the ball was completely submerged, Austin decided to take a crack at the shot seeing as his opponents Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini were both looking at no worse than birdie and David Toms was out of the hole since his tee ball found the water. As soon as Austin's club made contact with the ball, he lost balance on his follow-through, tried to catch himself and went head first into the pond, providing the funniest moment of these matches. Austin carried the load for the U.S. and was absolutely outstanding all day -- bobbing for apples and all. With a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 17, he squared the match. At No. 18, Austin stuffed his approach to within five feet of the cup for his a shot at his eighth birdie of the match. Sabbatini followed with a beautiful approach of his own to six feet and made the birdie putt, setting the stage for Austin. Austin made the putt for his third birdie in a row to get the Americans a much-needed half-point on an otherwise dismal day of Four-Balls.

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STANDINGS
Results Points
US TEAM 19.5
INTERNATIONAL TEAM 14.5
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