DUBLIN, OHIO (AP) - The Presidents Cup ended Sunday the same way it always goes _ an American celebration after Tiger Woods delivered the winning point.
Woods’ back flared up on him again in the final hour at Muirfield Village. He still managed to hang on to beat Richard Sterne, 1 up, to give the Americans the 18 points they needed to win the Presidents Cup for the fifth straight time. It was the third straight Presidents Cup that Woods won the cup-clinching match _ all three with Fred Couples as the captain.
“It was a team effort this whole week,” said Woods, who went 4-1 for the best record of any player. “We really played well to give ourselves a nice lead.”
The biggest surprise was not so much the outcome _ United States 18 1/2, International 15 1/2 _ but that the matches ended without going to Monday.
Rain interrupted the matches all week and made the course Jack Nicklaus built so soft that it was mere target practice for the best players in the world outside Europe. The fourth session of foursomes had to be completed Sunday morning because of the delays. That might have been the end of International hopes.
The Americans were 3 down in two matches and turned them into a win and a halve, giving them a 14-8 lead going into the final round. The Americans needed only to win four of the 12 singles matches to keep the gold trophy. It was a little harder than they imagined, though it was a long shot for the Internationals.
Even though the Americans clinched a tie with more than an hour left, it took until Woods in the ninth of 12 matches to secure the win.
REIGNWOOD LPGA CLASSIC
BEIJING (AP) _ China’s Shanshan Feng eagled the par-5 18th hole after her second shot approach hit the pin for a one-stroke victory in the smog-affected Reignwood Classic, the LPGA Tour’s first tournament in Beijing.
For most of the tournament, the players couldn’t escape the capital’s notorious pollution _ there was another smog delay of nearly three hours before the final round started Sunday. Germany’s Sandra Gal was one of several players wearing surgical-style masks.
Feng closed with a 5-under 68 for a 26-under 266 total. She won the LPGA Championship last year to become China’s first major champion.
Stacy Lewis also had a 68 to finish second. Top-ranked Inbee Park was third at 21 under after a 68.
SEVE TROPHY
SAINT-NOM-LA-BRETECHE, France (AP) _ Francesco Molinari beat Chris Wood 3 and 2 in the last singles match to give Continental Europe a 15-13 victory over Britain and Ireland in the Seve Trophy.
Continental Europe had lost the event the last six times after winning the inaugural contest in 2000.
Nicolas Colsaerts, Gregory Bourdy, Matteo Manassero and Miguel Angel Jimenez also won singles matches for Continental Europe, and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano halved with Jamie Donaldson.
Tommy Fleetwood, Marc Warren and Paul Lawrie won matches for Britain and Ireland. Britain and Ireland’s Simon Khan of England couldn’t play because of a back injury, so his match against Thomas Bjorn was halved.
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