The United States retained the Presidents Cup today, securing an easy five-point victory over the International team.
Needing to win only three of the 12 singles matches against the International team, the US made quick work of it - taking three of the first four matches at Royal Montreal.
Stewart Cink clinched the cup when he beat Nick O’Hern.
“I’m happy to do it,” he said.
“We came in this week with a little score to settle in the international golf arena, and I think we showed we can play again.”
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Nick Faldo’s Britain and Ireland team, stung into action by television pundits predicting doom and gloom, ran away with the Seve Trophy at The Heritage near Dublin.
One point ahead entering the 10 concluding singles, Continental Europe took only one of them, halved just two and were sent crashing to a 16.5 to 11.5 defeat - their fourth in a row.
And one lesson Faldo will certainly have learnt in advance of leading Europe in the Ryder Cup next September is that for inspiration nothing works better than people outside the camp saying they are going to lose.
Paul Casey, left out on Saturday afternoon so he could work on his game, said he was watching as fellow European Tour player Jamie Spence and golf coach Simon Holmes, discussing the match on Sky TV, went for wins for Seve Ballesteros’ side in the top three singles.
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Britain & Ireland won the second set of fourball matches 3-2 Friday to pull even with Continental Europe at 5-5 in the Seve Trophy.
Justin Rose and Paul Casey, at 13th and 22nd the two highest-ranked players in the event, held on for a 1-up victory over Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in the final match.
Casey made a 6-foot putt for a winning par at the last hole. They had led by three with six to play.
Rose and Casey both lost their opening matches with other partners.
“Neither of us wanted to go two matches without getting a point. We’re too strong for that,” Casey said. “I think we’re two guys who should be making points and we didn’t do that the first day. I’m glad we’ve corrected that now.”
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Tiger Woods suffered his worst defeat in professional match play competition as the United States team faltered on day two at the Presidents Cup.
After falling five points behind on the opening day, the International team roared back to win four of the six fourball matches, and halve another, at Royal Montreal.
That left the Americans ahead 7-5, with 22 points still to play for over the weekend.
Stuart Appleby and Vijay Singh set the tone for the International team, seeing off Woods and Jim Furyk five and four.
Singh holed a bunker shot at the first hole - and he and Appleby never looked back, going 11-under through 14 holes as Woods and Furyk had no answer.
Steve Stricker and Scott Verplank provided the only American victory, beating Adam Scott and KJ Choi two and one.
But Woody Austin provided the most inspiring story, making birdie at the final three holes to single-handedly earn a half-point as he and David Toms finished all square with Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini.
Austin’s sizzling finish came after he lost his balance trying to hit out of the pond at the 14th hole, falling face first into the water before emerging drenched.
The last thing most of us think of when squaring up for our tee shot is balance. Without a doubt, this should be the very first thing on our minds. Without proper balance, all the swing fundamentals in the world will never allow you to hit a straight shot consistently.
The next time your standing on the driving range, try this exercise. Square up to the ball just like you always do. Pay close attention to the distance you are from the ball. Now, how do you feel. Do you feel like your reaching for the ball or maybe you feel like your a little to close. If you notice either of these things your probably not going to be able to make a true balanced swing. Too far from the ball and your gonna try to reach to hit the ball. This is going to set you up for a nasty little outside-in path and an ugly slice. Too close to it and you’ll be too inside-out and tend to hook it.
Step away from the ball, pick a blade of grass on the ground and set up to it. Don’t focus too much on hitting the blade of grass. Instead, focus on making your swing on plane and keeping perfect balance through your entire swing. Make sure your not leaning into or away from the blade of grass during your swing. Now, take note of the distance your body is from the path the club actually swept across the grass. You might be surprised how far this path is from the grass blade you set up to. If your swing was balanced, this should be the actual distance you should stand from the ball when you tee up. With a lot of practice, this set up position will become ingrained and you will soon have a balanced, consistent swing that will allow you to drive for show.
Source - www.bettergolfswing.org
French teammates Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret led Continental Europe to a 3-2 lead over Britain and Ireland after the first fourball matches at the Seve Trophy on Thursday.
Jacquelin and Havret beat Paul Casey and Simon Dyson 4 and 3 at The Heritage.
“It was a great day for golf,” Europe captain and tournament namesake Seve Ballesteros said. “It was top-class golf. I was not surprised by the quality because I expected it. They are all great champions.”
Swedish players Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson also won, beating Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren 3 and 1, while Markus Brier of Austria and Mikko Ilonen of Finland downed Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson 3 and 2.
Britain and Ireland got points from Bradley Dredge and Phillip Archer, and Nick Dougherty and Graeme Storm.
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The United States roared in to a record 5½-point lead over the International team after the opening-day foursomes at the Presidents Cup on Thuresday.
The Americans made just about the perfect start, winning five matches and halving the other on a bleak day for the Internationals at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec
Four matches were very close, finishing on the 18th hole - but that was little consolation to Gary Player’s International team, a collection of the best players from outside Europe - even if they didn’t look like it coming down the stretch.
Even in the only match the Americans did not win, they had a heroic touch abloutn them.
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