Capt. Nick Price was right when he said his team needed to just stick to it and that there was 25 points still left on the board. His International team came out guns lazing to take 3.5 points in the Day 2 Fourball session.
Price’s charges climbed back into contention with Louie Oosthuizen & Branden Grace, Danny Lee & Sangmoon Bae, Thongchai Jaidee & Charl Swartzel all earning full point victories while Adam Scott & Jason Day earned a halve against Phil Mickelson & Zach Johnson.
Mickelson’s match was marred by a rules controversy when he knowingly put a different model of ball in play and then realized he may have violated the “one ball rule.” The matter was complicated when a rules official told him he was out of the hole and he picked up.
He actually could have finished the hole but that left Johnson to duel Scott and Day alone and he eventually lost the hole. Had Mickelson played on and won the hole that score would have stood and a penalty of another lose of hole would have been assessed. But since the U.S. lost the hole and then the penalty was assessed they actually went from all square to being two down in the matter of one hole.
To say all the parties were confused would be an understatement. And it turned out to be a critical mistake as the match was halved.
The controversy may have over shadowed a great day of play by the Internationals. It got them back in the Presidents Cup and that is just what this competition needed.
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