Finally it was a point for Tiger Woods which was all the Americans needed on Saturday in the rain at Royal Melbourne to build a 11-6 lead in the Presidents Cup and put the International team in serious danger of falling too far behind to recapture the cup on home soil.
The Americans went 4-1 in the foursomes session, and tried to expand their lead in the afternoon fourballs. They were up in three matches early, though the International team was trying to rally. No team has ever trailed going into the 12 singles matches and won the Presidents Cup.
Woods played again with Dustin Johnson, and while it wasn't pretty, it was finally a point in their foursomes match.
They trailed early in the match until winning consecutive holes with pars as Adam Scott and K.J. Choi struggled. Woods and Johnson went 1 up on the 13th when the International team conceded before reaching the green, and the Americans went 2 up on the next hole after Scott and Choi made another bogey.
Woods closed out the match with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th.
In afternoon fourballs, Woods missed six putts inside 15 feet — one of them for eagle — as he and Johnson were all square against the South Korean duo of Y.E. Yang and K.T. Kim.
Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk won four out of five holes on the back nine, and Mickelson polished off Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day by holing a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. Mickelson and Furyk won all three matches they played together.
U.S. captain Fred Couples sat David Toms and Phil Mickelson in the afternoon session. Couples said Mickelson offered to sit if needed, and Couples said it would keep the four-time major champion fresh for the Sunday singles.
That ended a streak of 32 consecutive matches played at the Presidents Cup for Mickelson.