Match 6 report: USA, Internationals halve

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Here's an in-depth look at Thursday's Foursomes match between the United States duo of Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard and the Internationals' Retief Goosen and Y.E. Yang.

Match reports: Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Match 4 | Match 5 | Match 6 | Full scoreboard

Match 6

Jim FURYK/Justin LEONARD (USA) halved Retief GOOSEN/Y.E. YANG (Int'l)

Overview: The veteran American duo of Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard were 2 up with two holes to play but surprisingly failed to hold onto the lead. Retief Goosen rolled in a six-foot birdie putt on the 17th to win the hole, and then Leonard missed a birdie putt on the par-5 18th from 4 feet, 3 inches that allowed the Internationals to win the final hole with birdie and halve the match, a potential momentum shift in the last match of the first day. It was definitely a disappointing finish for the Americans, who had rallied from 3 down after five holes to gain control of the match. It was also an unusual finish. Goosen thought the match was over before Leonard hit his par putt and had to be told that it wasn't. Leonard didn't know if the putt was being conceded or not, but when told it wasn't, he had to regroup and putt. He didn't blame his miss on the circumstances, however. Afterward, Goosen and International Captain Greg Norman met with Leonard and U.S. Captain Fred Couples to explain what happened. "No one has a problem with it," Couples said.

Key moment: Leonard's missed putt on the 18th. Leonard had found the green in two to set up a two-putt birdie, but Furyk's putt from 37 feet, 8 inches came up well short to set up the longer-than-expected birdie opportunity.

Quote: "I just hit a bad putt." -- Justin Leonard

"When you get into a zone like these guys get into, you sometimes lose whether you're under par or what your score is for the day. That's what happened to Retief; he though the match was over and he didn't concede the putt, he just though the match was over. It was a legitimate mistake." -- Greg Norman

"Do we think we were going to be up 4 and 2? Yes, we really did. But it won't be the last putt ever missed at the Presidents Cup and it won't be the last time a little bit of a reversal was done." -- Fred Couples

Updated Presidents Cup player records: Jim Furyk (13-8-3 overall, 4-3-3 Foursomes); Justin Leonard (6-10-3 overall, 3-3-3 Foursomes); Retief Goosen (11-7-3 overall, 2-5-2 Foursomes); Y.E. Yang (0-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 Foursomes).