Presidents Cup 2015: Biggest Winners and Losers from Incheon City, South Korea
The United States side captured the Presidents Cup for the sixth consecutive time with a 15.5–14.5 win over the Internationals Sunday. Thus, common sense dictates the Stars and Stripes are collectively winners this week.
This isn't to say, however, that select members of captain Jay Haas' team weren't losers in South Korea (Matt Kuchar, we're looking at you).
Likewise, while the International team came up a match short, not all of Nick Price's men were non-winners at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (Jason Day, we're looking at you).
Of course, the competition as a whole, on the verge of extinction in the minds of some, is a big winner as well.
That's where we'll get started after the jump.
Winner: The Presidents Cup
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Before the competition began, Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest published an article titled, "To hear Nick Price put it, Future of Presidents Cup hinges on a close contest this year."
Shedloski wrote: "Nick Price didn’t mince words Tuesday in declaring that the 11th edition of the Presidents Cup that begins Thursday at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club will be the most important in the young history of the biennial competition."
The article also quoted Price as saying: “I’m not going to say ‘what if,’ but this better be closely contested. I’m not going to tell you what the repercussions [could be]. I’ll let you guys figure it out."
Fortunately, Price's foreboding scenario didn't come to pass as the competition was close for the first time since 2003, when the two sides tied.
The format change, which essentially features fewer matches to neutralize the U.S. side's depth, also seemed to help, although correlation shouldn't be taken to indicate causality. Regardless, the biennial battle is a big winner.
Loser: Jason Day
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The world No. 1 and leading Presidents Cup points-getter, Jason Day didn't exactly pull his weight in South Korea. The Australian, playing in the biennial competition for the third time, struggled to an 0-4-1 record.
In fact, the only half-point Day was able to secure came in a match where Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson managed to effectively lose two points on one hole, thanks to the former's rules blunder.
Johnson was quite the thorn in Day's side: Mickelson and Johnson toppled Day and Steven Bowditch in the Thursday foursomes. Day and Adam Scott halved their match with Mickelson and Johnson on Friday as mentioned above. Day then lost to Johnson 3 and 2 in the Sunday singles.
Not the type of performance any team hopes for from its top man.
Winner: Phil Mickelson
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Phil Mickelson was a controversial captain's pick, with many thinking Mickelson's poor play leading into the competition and position in the points standing (30th), coupled with his all-out assault on captain Tom Watson at the Ryder Cup, should have seen him left off the squad.
After an opening win with Zach Johnson over Steven Bowditch and Jason Day, Mickelson looked to be on his way to validating Jay Haas' selection.
Things looked a little different Friday, when Mickelson violated the "one-ball rule," which led—through a series of mistakes by Mickelson and the rules official—to the effective loss of two holes. Even with the handicap, however, the 45-year-old and Johnson managed to halve their match.
Lefty partnered with Johnson in the Saturday afternoon fourball session to capture another point, and on Sunday, he embarrassed Charl Schwartzel, 5 and 4.
After the competition, Mickelson said, per Reuters (h/t Yahoo): "I love playing with these guys. I love the emotions that we share and the intensity and the pressure that we deal with each match throughout the week."
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Loser: Anirban Lahiri
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Presidents Cup rookie Anirban Lahiri had a rough go of it in South Korea.
Overall, Lahiri, who made history as the first Indian to tee it up in the competition, posted an 0-3-0 record and was the only player not to earn at least a half-point for the International side.
More disappointing than the bagel, however, was Lahiri's missed putt late in Sunday's singles competition.
After stuffing his approach at the final hole to inside four feet against Chris Kirk, the 28-year-old looked like he'd have a putt to win the match and secure a critical point.
Instead, after Kirk rolled in his birdie putt, Lahiri's short putt was to halve the hole. Unfortunately, he missed, handing the point to the American side.
Shortly thereafter, Bill Haas wrapped things up.
Captain Price felt bad for his player and said, per Sky Sports:
"I feel so bad for Anirban, as we all do.
But you can't look back at one shot on the 18th hole. That's often what happens. You look back, there were mistakes made early on in today's round and yesterday's round and Thursday and Friday.
We are going to cheer Anirban up. We are going to make sure he goes away from here with a wonderful experience and not let him dwell on what happened today.
"
Winners: A Pair of South Africans
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Worst-to-first stuff here: Branden Grace, who went 0-4-0 in the 2013 Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village, did almost the opposite in this year's competition.
The South African assembled a 5-0-0 record, earning an impressive five points for his team.
Grace, along with the injured Louis Oosthuizen, who went 4-0-1, accounted for 9.5 of the team's 14.5 points.
Impressive work amid a losing effort.
Loser: Matt Kuchar
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Veteran Matt Kuchar had amassed a 4-5-1 record in two Presidents Cup appearances. So, captain Jay Haas probably thought he could count on Kuch to at least go .500 at this year's competition.
Instead, the 37-year-old went 0-2-1, losing a critical match to Branden Grace in the Sunday singles that left the scoreboard knotted at 14.5 late in the competition.
Disappointing from an experienced player, especially as it came on the heels of a 1-3-0 effort at the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Winner: Jay Haas
7 of 8The sixth U.S. captain in Presidents Cup history did pretty well for himself, and Jay Haas was treated to one of those incredible moments of happenstance in sports.
Haas got to see his son, Bill—a captain's pick—clinch the Presidents Cup with a two-up win over Bae Sang-moon.
And for the emotional interview following his son's clinching effort, Haas is a winner, too. Check it out above.
Oh, and his captain's picks did pretty well. As Yahoo's Ryan Ballengee noted, "United States Presidents Cup captain Jay Haas picked one-quarter of his team, and those picks repaid him by accounting for almost half of the victorious team's points."
Loser: Brandel Chamblee
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Seemingly caught up in the excitement of the Presidents Cup competition, Tiger Woods called U.S. assistant captain Davis Love, per Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest.
The former world No. 1 reportedly told the 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup captain he'd happily serve as an assistant captain if he failed to make the squad.
"I don't really think it's appropriate to give players leadership roles in an event they didn't show passion for when they were competitors," said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee (per Stephen Hennessey of Golf Digest).
Chamblee offered some rationale for why Woods "didn't show passion" (namely his underwhelming record in the competition) and then decided to rag on Phil Mickelson while he was at it.
Referring to Mickelson's performance during the 2014 Ryder Cup, where he publicly questioned captain Tom Watson, Chamblee said: "I think he corrupted the team from the inside out. These are not leadership qualities. I get it. Everyone looks up to him and respects his record. But really should give it to people who have passion for it."
The Skip Bayless of golf "analysis" ought to realize the competitions are better off with Tiger's involvement. On any level. Period. His personal feelings toward Woods, the golfer's character or decisions to rebuild his swing shouldn't cloud his analysis.
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