The 2015 Presidents Cup International Team may have come up a bit short on Sunday but this is an overall performance they should be proud of. They made the cup competitive, something we haven’t seen in a decade.
After being down 4-1 after Thursday’s opening session they fought back to have it decided by the last match on the very last hole. But for a few breaks here and there Nick price and his men would have been going home with the cup.
Here’s my Presidents Cup Report Card for the International Team with grades based on their on course play (with Sunday singles weighted heavily) with a little sportsmanship and good old fashioned common sense thrown in.
Steven Bowditch C 1-2-0: He didn’t do much all week, lost in both his outings but his Sunday win over Jimmy Walker was critical in keeping their hopes alive.
Jason Day F 0-4-1: His lone half point came in the infamous “2 ball” match against Mickelson. If Phil hadn’t given them an easy two hole advantage he would have been skunked. Zero wins from their stud, number two ranked player has to leave a sour taste in Day’s mouth after such a successful season.
Grace
Branden Grace A++ 5-0-0: Grace continued his excellent season with an historic Presidents Cup. He is the first International player to ever go 5-0-0 in cup history. He and Louie Oosthuizen were flawless as a team and Grace easily dispatched Matt Kuchar in singles. He was the stud of the week.
Thongchai Jaidee B 1-1-1: He only played in three matches but he came away with 1.5 points. He stole a half point from Bubba Watson on Sunday when he parred the last, from the water, while Bubba choked on a short putt.
Anirban Lahiri F 0-3-0: The first player from India in the cup had a tough week. His miss from four feet on the last hole in singles virtually insured the Americans of at least a tie for the cup.
Danny Lee D- 1-2-0: His lone win came when Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker choked away their lead and handed the Internationals a point on Friday.
Marc Leishman C+ 1-2-1: Didn’t play well until he met the world’s top player on Sunday and beat him. Enough said.
Hideki Matsuyama B 2-1-1: Finally found a partner with Sangmoon Bae and then stole a point from J.B. Holmes in the singles.
Louis Oosthuizen A 4-0-1: Louie was supposed to be hurt and nursing a sore hamstring. Well, beware the wounded golfer. He was undefeated in team play with Grace and on Sunday he stole a half point from Patrick Reed at the last hole.
Adam Scott C 1-2-2: He couldn’t putt all week…until Sunday. Then he finally found the right grip on that new short putter and waxed Rickie Fowler 6 & 5. Even with that win more was expected from a veteran player like him.
Charl Schwartzel D 1-3-0: It was surprising that the normally steady Schwartzel struggled this week. His lone win came against the weak team of Bill Haas & Chris Kirk. And he got hammered on Sunday by Mickelson.
Bae
Sangmoon Bae B 2-1-1: He won with Lee and won and halved with Matsuyama. He carried the hopes of an entire country with him all week. He was held out of the opening session by Price and he shouldn’t have been. His flub on eighteen was one of a handful of misplays by his team that cost them the cup. But he’ll be the one remembered for it. With all that he handled himself with class and was the ultimate sportsman in defeat.
Captain Nick Price B: Price gets an A for effort. It was his constant politicking that got Tim Finchem to change the format this year. And Price was said to give an emotional speech to his team after Thursdays 4-1 whipping. That being said, from my seat some 7,000 miles away I saw one glaring error. Sangmoon Bae should have played in the opening session. Maybe Price wanted to shield him from the pressure of opening the match but he deserved to be there on opening day.
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