The Presidents Cup, unlike the Ryder Cup, spreads its competition out over four days to allow the players some breathing room, as opposed to cramming two-a-day sessions for sun-up to sun-down golf. But on Saturday, the only day of the four with two sessions on the schedule, 16 of the 24 golfers will play more than 36 holes in what will be a grueling march of golf.
Presidents Cup 2013: Tee times, schedule and pairings for Saturday’s resumption of play
The PGA Tour will be pushing it on Saturday as they try to finish up one session, and play two more at the Presidents Cup. It will be a long day in flux.
Jokes about all the bad weather at the annual Memorial tournament each May have become cliche now. Muirfield Village seems to get hit with huge storms every year, throwing off that prestigious stop hosted by Jack Nicklaus. This week is no different at Muirfield, however, with October storms hammering the course on each of the first two days of competition for more than four hours of weather delays.
The deluge on Friday afternoon resulted in waterlogged greens and only two of the six foursomes matches finishing up before darkness. The PGA Tour will resume Friday’s Foursomes session at 7:35 a.m. ET, and then give the players an hour from there before starting originally scheduled five Four-ball matches Saturday morning. Golf Channel will be on the air by 7 a.m. to broadcast the finish of Friday’s matches.
The Captains were all set to announce the pairings and order for the first full session on Saturday, but then all of a sudden, plans changed and they decided to wait until the morning after the matches from Friday are resumed. It was a bizarre change of plans, but probably the right move.
Get your pairings sheets ready. Captains will be setting tomorrow's Four-Ball matches in a few… http://t.co/we0MrhTTke
— The Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) October 4, 2013
Just a few minutes later:
[UPDATE] Captains will not do Four-Ball draw tonight. After Captain meeting, determined best interest of competition to pair tomorrow, 8am.
— The Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) October 5, 2013
And Jason Sobel weighed in on the quick pivot:
So true "@JasonSobelGC: captains were to make pairings for next session tonight. Now they won't. Has a make-it-up-as-we-go-along feel to it"
— Robert Lusetich (@RobertLusetich) October 5, 2013
Here’s where those unresolved matches from Friday stand:
| Match Progress | International Pairing | USA Pairing |
| USA wins, 4&3 | Jason Day & Graham DeLaet | Phil Mickelson & Keegan Bradley |
| INTL wins, 4&3 | Ernie Els & Brendon de Jonge | Hunter Mahan & Bill Haas |
| USA 3up thru 14 | Branden Grace & Richard Sterne | Steve Stricker & Jordan Spieth |
| INTL 1up thru 13 | Angel Cabrera & Marc Leishman | Webb Simpson & Brandt Snedeker |
| USA 3up thru 12 | Louis Oosthuizen & Charl Schwartzel | Matt Kuchar & Tiger Woods |
| INTL 4up thru 11 | Adam Scott & Hideki Matsuyama | Jason Dufner & Zach Johnson |
Those matches should all end within an hour, then they’ll get the five Four-ball matches set and out on the course after the break. The Five Foursomes matches originally set for a 1:21 p.m. start will almost certainly be pushed back, and it will be tight getting things done before darkness again. Oh, and there’s also a chance for more rain in the forecast for Saturday.
We will update as soon as the order and pairings are set for the third session of the week. It’s going to be a long day.
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