Presidents Cup 2015 Leaderboard: Scores and Highlights from Friday

The Internationals finally arrived at the 2015 Presidents Cup on Friday as they won three-and-a-half points from the five matches to cut the United States' convincing overnight lead.

At the end of the session, the score stands at 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 in the Americans' favour.

The South African duo of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace took out Jordan Speith and Dustin Johnson in the first game of the day at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Korea to shift the momentum.

Korea's Sangmoon Bae produced the biggest roar of the tournament so far as he holed a winning putt on the 18th to claim a point with Korean-born partner Danny Lee against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker to put the Internationals back within a point of the U.S. 

Here are the full results from Friday's action and a recap of how things played out.

Team USA	5 1/2 - 4 1/2	Internationals
Jordan Spieth & Dustin Johnson	4&3	Louis Oosthuizen & Branden Grace*
Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker	1UP	Danny Lee & Sangmoon Bae*
Zach Johnson & Phil Mickelson	A/S	Adam Scott & Jason Day
Bubba Watson & J.B. Holmes*	2UP	Marc Leishman & Steven Bowditch
Bill Haas & Chris Kirk	2&1	Thongchai Jaidee & Charl Schwartzel*

Internationals Claw Back Toward Parity

Woohae Cho/Associated Press

International captain Nick Price's decision to pair Lee and Bae together turned out to be an inspired move as the Korean crowd got fully behind the pair.

Things weren't looking good as they went two down to Fowler and Walker after just three holes, with neither of the International players able to find a birdie.

They clawed a vital hole back at the ninth as the American duo both carded bogey fives. It was all square for much of the back nine but when Bae holed out a 15-footer for victory on the last, the place went mad, per golf writer Rex Hoggard:

Controversy reigned as Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson faced Jason Day and Adam Scott.

The American duo effectively lost the seventh hole twice as Mickelson received an infringement for changing his ball, which prompted a one-hole adjustment in the score after Day had already won it with a birdie.

Per golf writer Jason Sobel, there was much confusion over the decision:

However, Johnson and Mickelson rallied after going from one up to one down in the space of just a single hole. The five-time major winner pulled out the shot of the day soon after, per PGA Tour:

In a satisfying end to a strange match, Day and Johnson's birdies on the last meant the point was shared.

Oosthuizen and Grace—the sole winners in Thursday's foursomes for the International side—traded blows with their American opposition on the front nine.

Crucially, though, they won eight and nine to turn a one-hole deficit into a lead going into the back nine, per PGA Tour:

Birdies at 10, 14 and 15 took the South Africans into an unassailable four-hole lead, and they added their second point to the International tally.  

Thongchai Jaidee and Charl Schwartzel proved a dynamic paring in their match against Bill Haas and Chris Kirk.

The International duo were never down during their match, and although the United States fought back from three down to just one down walking up the 17th, Schwartzel's birdie two sealed another point for the hosts with a hole to spare.

The United States' only full point of the day came courtesy of J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson, who were never down during their match against Marc Leishman and Steven Bowditch, and confirmed a decent two-up victory with an impressive final hole.

However, the International team turned a one-sided encounter into a nail-biter heading into the weekend at the Presidents Cup on Friday and showed impressive mettle to leave themselves trailing by just one point going into the weekend.