Presidents Cup 2011: Tiger Woods, U.S. to Defend Title

Tiger Woods and the Americans have taken control of the 2011 Presidents Cup, and they will certainly defend their title this year.

The Internationals must take eight of 12 points on the final day to win, and the way the Americans are playing, they don't stand a chance.

Winning four of the five matches in the morning foursomes, the Americans extended their 7-5 lead coming into the day.  While they did lose three of five in the afternoon matches, the Americans' lead is still a substantial one.

To come back from this deficit, the Internationals must defy history.  No team has ever recovered from a deficit on the final day in the Presidents Cup, let alone such a large one.

Greg Norman and the Internationals know that they're in trouble, and to win eight of 12 points would require a miracle.

As always, Tiger Woods was in the spotlight.  Woods has recorded at least one point in seven straight Presidents Cups, but he had not done so for the first two days.

However, Woods played well in the third day, recording his first point in the morning foursome.  Unfortunately Woods and teammate Dustin Johnson lost in a shocking upset to down Korean pair Y.E. Yang and K.T. Kim.  Woods could not be faulted, however, since he played well, but Johnson let the team down.

Woods looked good today in some pretty harsh conditions, and announcer Jack Newton commented on his game.

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"I don't think he (Tiger) is far away.  And with all of his other issues, I think his head is starting to come good."     Herald Sun

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If Woods is coming back to his old self the Internationals are just about finished.  Tiger is arguably the weak link on this team as he is ranked No. 50 in the world and is No. 19 among Americans, but he can still play like the best in the world.

Woods showed that he is not done yet, and his play on Saturday was impressive.  If he can continue to play like that, then the Presidents Cup is all but finished.