The American team held on to slim lead, in yesterday's first day of action at the Presidents Cup, after having jumped to a fast start early in the day before a weather delay bought the International team time to recover.
By the end of the day, the Internationals turned a possible blowout into a one-point deficit. The Internationals were trailing in five out of six matches in fourballs format (better ball) before rain stopped play for 1 ½ hours, giving them time to recoup before play continued.
"The break did us really good," said South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen. "We came back out, felt refreshed and just played well. We came back out and felt refreshed."
Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel led the comeback for the International, down two holes after seven holes to beat 2013 British Open winner Phil Mickelson and his partner Keegan Bradley 2 to 1.
"We knew it was going to be difficult, Keegan and Phil are a great team," said Oosthuizen.
Earlier in the day, Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar set the pace for the American team, outplaying Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Australian Marc Leishman 5 to 4 in a match they dominated from start to finish.
"We ham-and-egged it pretty good," said Woods. "Kuch made a bunch of putts on the front nine, I got it rolling there for a little bit and on the back nine. It was him or me on each hole."
Day 2 action will feature foursomes (alternate shot), a format that has given the Internationals difficulties in the past. The Americans hold a 58-27-5 record in foursomes.
"I think everyone's feeling pretty confident after this afternoon the way they played the last ten, 12 holes, whatever we had left out there," said 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott. "We want to take some of that confidence into (Friday). I look forward to it. If we can win the session, then it's back to level and we might have an advantage and get the momentum going our way."
Friday's Pairings - Foursomes (alternate shot)
1:10 p.m. EST: Phil Mickelson / Keegan Bradley v. Jason Day / Graham DeLaet
1:21 p.m. EST : Bill Haas / Hunter Mahan v. Ernie Els / Brendon De Jonge
1:32 p.m. EST: Steve Stricker / Jordan Spieth vs. Branden Grace / Richard Sterne
1:43 p.m. EST : Webb Simpson / Brandt Snedeker vs. Angel Cabrera / Marc Leishman
1:54 p.m. EST: Tiger Woods / Matt Kuchar vs. Louis Oosthuizen / Charl Schwartzel
2:05 p.m. EST : Jason Dufner / Zach Johnson vs. Adam Scott / Hideki Matsuyama
Live Television Coverage
Friday's Presidents Cup coverage can be seen on the Golf Channel starting 1:00 p.m. EST.
Live Stream (video)
Live stream coverage can be seen here.
Live Stream (audio)
Live stream coverage can be heard on SiriusXM.
Live Leaderboard
The official leaderboard for the tournament can be found here.
Tickets
You can buy tickets for the Presidents Cup via StubHub.com or TicketMaster.com.
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