- Associated Press - Sunday, October 1, 2017

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Capsules from the singles matches Sunday at the Presidents Cup:

Marc Leishman, International, halved with Kevin Chappell, United States.

The Americans needed only one point to win the Presidents Cup, and Chappell started out as if he wanted it to be him. He holed a bunker shot for eagle on No. 2 and birdied the next two holes in building a 2-up lead. Leishman caught him when Chappell hit into the water on the par-5 ninth and hit his tee shot into a TV tower on No. 10. Leishman went 1 up twice on the back nine, and Chappell squared the match twice with pars. On the 18th, Chappell missed from 20 feet, and Leishman missed from 15 feet for a halve.

___

Jason Day, International, def. Charley Hoffman, United States, 2 and 1.

Day had gone nine straight matches without a win in the Presidents Cup and finally put some semblance of his game together. Hoffman stayed with him on the front nine, and took a 1-up lead at the turn with a birdie at the par-5 ninth. Day holed a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 10 to square the match, won the next hole when Hoffman drove into the trees and went 2 up on the 12th when Hoffman drove into the water. Hoffman could have had the clinching match with a halve, but his bogey on the 17th gave Day his first outright victory since 2013.

___

Hideki Matsuyama, International, def. Justin Thomas, United States, 3 and 1.

Thomas made eight birdies and really didn’t stand a chance against Matsuyama, whose game had disappeared over the last month. Matsuyama at one point played a nine-hole stretch in 8-under par, including an eagle on the par-5 fourth when he carved a shot around the trees and onto the green. Thomas conceded a 10-foot birdie on the 17th for the final margin. Matsuyama on the card was 9 under when it ended on the 17th hole.

___

Daniel Berger, United Stated, def. Si Woo Kim, International, 2 and 1.

Berger never trailed in this match, taking the second hole when Kim twice went into the water. Kim did his best to make it entertaining, especially after a long birdie putt on No. 11 after Berger had chipped in for birdie. Kim put his finger to his lips to shush the crowd, much like Patrick Reed did in Scotland at the Ryder Cup in 2014. Kim conceded the 13th hole to fall 3 down, and Berger went dormie at the 15th to clinch the Presidents Cup.

___

Charl Schwartzel, International, def. Matt Kuchar, United States, 1 up.

Schwartzel was so ineffective that he was benched all of Saturday. He wound up winning the wildest match of the day. Schwartzel was 5 up through seven holes, and still 4 up when Kuchar bogeyed the 11th. Kuchar won the next three holes with two birdies and a par to get to 1 down. He was still 1 down playing the par-3 18th but went into a swale over the green and charged his putt over a ridge, past the hole and off the green. Pars were conceded. Only five of the 18 holes were halved.

___

Louis Oosthuizen, International, def. Patrick Reed, United States, 1 up.

Oosthuizen and Reed played to a draw in South Korea two years ago and they nearly did again. Neither player led by more than 1 up the entire match, though Reed had the least most of the day with birdies on No. 2 and a par at No. 7. He took his last lead with a birdie on the 15th, but Oosthuizen answered with a birdie on the 17th to square the match. On the final hole, with Oosthuizen 10 feet away for birdie, Reed missed the green, chipped out to 12 feet, missed his par putt and conceded.

___

Branden Grace, International, halved Dustin Johnson, United States.

Johnson had a chance to become the sixth player with a 5-0 record in the Presidents Cup, and he broke out to a 2-up lead through three holes and had control of the match for most of the day, even though the cup already had been won. Grace got the match back to square through 14 holes until Johnson birdied the 15th to go 1 up. Johnson missed the fairway and made bogey on the 17th to square the match, and then missed a 20-foot birdie chance from the fringe to settle for a halve.

___

Adam Scott, International, def. Brooks Koepka, United States, 3 and 2.

Scott was 0-3 going into singles and it didn’t look good early, especially when his 4-foot par putt didn’t touch the hole at No. 3 and Koepka birdied the next hole to go 2 up. It stayed that way at the turn. Scott made a 12-foot birdie on the 10th, and then won four straight holes, all of them in birdie range, three of the putts conceded. He closed out Koepka by halving the 16th with pars.

___

Jhonattan Vegas, International, def. Jordan Spieth, United States, 2 and 1.

This was a battle of former Texas Longhorns, and it was a battle for Spieth to try to win his first singles match in the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. That will have to wait until next year. Spieth lost an early lead when he made bogey at No. 8 and then came up short and into the water on the par-5 ninth. Spieth hit into the water again on No. 12 to fall 4 down. The match was dormie after 14 holes when Spieth won the next two holes, but he missed a birdie on the 17th to end the match.

___

Anirban Lahiri, International, halved with Kevin Kisner, United States.

Lahiri went 2 up through five holes until Kisner caught him at the turn and then went 1 up when Lahiri couldn’t hit the green at No. 10. Kisner had control from there as Lahiri kept making bad decisions with club selection, and the American appeared to have this won at 2 up with two holes to play. Kisner missed the 17th green in an awkward spot and made bogey, and he missed the 18th green and conceded the hole to Lahiri for a halve.

___

Phil Mickelson, United States, def. Adam Hadwin, International, 2 and 1.

This was the last match remaining on the golf course, and after Mickelson drove into the water on No. 1 and lost the hole with a double bogey, he took over. He birdie three of his next four holes to build a 3-up lead, and the Canadian never got any closer than 2 down the rest of the way. Hadwin won the 16th with a par when Mickelson missed from 5 feet, but they halved the 17th for the final point in a 19-11 victory.

___

Rickie Fowler, United States, def. Emiliano Grillo, International, 6 and 4.

The last match turned out to be the shortest, and one of only three matches in which the International team never led. Grillo took a double bogey on the second hole and never caught up. He was only 1 down through eight when Fowler won five of the next six holes, only three of them with birdies. Grillo became the only player at this Presidents Cup who lost every match he played.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide