Fourballs Capsules

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (AP) - Capsules from the fourballs matches Friday at the Presidents Cup:

Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, United States, def. Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa, International, 3 and 1.

The Americans never trailed, yet this opening match showed just show tough it was going to be. To a front pin on incredibly firm greens, Simpson hit it 10 feet by the hole on No. 3 and made the birdie. Ishikawa squared the match on the next hole with a par, one of four holes in the match that was won with a par. Watson nearly drove the sixth green and chipped to 4 feet for birdie at No. 6, and they won the next hole with a par. The International side never caught up, though Els’ birdie on the 13th pulled them within one. The Americans regained control when Watson used his length to get close to the par-5 15th in two and make birdie.

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Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day, International, def. Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods, United States, 1 up.

Woods made his first birdie and won his only hole on No. 4, perhaps the toughest green at Royal Melbourne, when he rolled in a 25-foot putt. The 1-up lead lasted only four holes. On the eighth, Johnson went from the bunker over the green, and Woods came up short and missed a 10-foot par putt to lose the hole. Baddeley gave his side a 1-up lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th, and the rest of the holes were halved in pars. Woods nearly chipped in for birdie from behind the 18th green, and Baddeley holed a 3 1/2-foot par putt to win.

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Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, United States, def. Adam Scott and K.T. Kim, International, 2 and 1.

The Americans won the third hole with a par and never trailed after that. Mickelson made a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 4 that he barely touched, then struggled with a number of short putts after that. By then, Furyk took over. His birdie on No. 11 gave them a 3-up lead. Scott and Kim won two holes with pars and were 1 down with two holes to play. But neither was on the 17th green in regulation, and Furyk ended the suspense by making a 15-foot birdie putt.

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Geoff Ogilvy and K.J. Choi, International, def. Bill Haas and Nick Watney, United States, 1 up.

Ogilvy, who grew up next door at Victoria Golf Club, holed a 45-foot bunker shot on No. 5 to go 1 up, and he holed an 8-foot birdie on the next hole _ with Choi some 4 feet away _ to go 2 up. Haas responded with a 40-foot birdie putt on the ninth, then drove the 11th green to within 8 feet for an eagle putt he never had to hit when the Americans didn’t make birdie. But the Americans chopped up the 12th for a bogey to fall behind, and they never caught up. The last six holes were halved with pars. On the 18th, Watney hit a great shot that just went over the back. Ogilvy came up some 90 feet short, rolled a putt to 6 feet and holed it to win the match.

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Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker, United States, def. Y.E. Yang and Robert Allenby, International, 4 and 3.

In the shortest match of the day, Kuchar knocked in a downhill, breaking birdie putt from 30 feet on No. 3 and did his “Diamond Cutter” dance in celebration. They won the fifth hole with a par to go 2 up, Kuchar made another birdie on the sixth for a 3-up lead and the match was never seriously in question. Allenby birdied the seventh, but that was as close as they got. Another birdie by Kuchar stretched the lead back to 3 up on the 12th, and the Americans closed out the match when Kuchar made yet another birdie on the par-5 15th.

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Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel, International, def. Hunter Mahan and David Toms, United States, 2 and 1.

Mahan and Toms, who looked tough to beat in foursomes, never led in fourballs. They failed to birdie the downwind, par-5 second hole to fall behind, and they both came up short of the green on the par-3 third hole and made bogey. They halved the next seven holes, six of them with pars, before Schwartzel birdied the 11th for a 3-up lead. The only hole the Americans won came on the 14th with a par.