2015 Presidents Cup scores: Jordan Spieth drains clutch putt to keep USA ahead by a point

The International team is now taking the fight to the heavily favored U.S. roster. Three of Saturday’s foursomes matches went the full 18 holes and the USA was fortunate to escape with a split session, each team earning 2 points. The session came to a finish with Jordan Spieth, the USA’s best player, draining a putt on the 18th green to keep the U.S. advantage at one point, 7.5 to 6.5. A review of the morning alternate-shot matches on Day 3:

International wins, 3&2 -- The International team’s most reliable duo were at it again, wiping the floor with some of the USA’s top young players. South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace are unstoppable right now and they put Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed down early and never gave them much of an opening the entire back nine. The USA pair pulled it all-square on two different occasions, but that only lasted a hole.

Grace is coming off one of his best summers and Oosthuizen, when healthy, is reputed to have the sweetest swing in the game. They’ve been making their putts, avoiding the mess off the tee, and sticking one approach shot after another into these flags. It has to be demoralizing for the opponents to know they have to bomb in birdie putts from lengthy distances just to halve a hole because these South Africans keep throwing darts at the flag.

Grace and Oosty, meanwhile, will leadoff a session for the third straight time. A win in the afternoon four-ball would make them the first ever International duo to go 4-0-0 through the first four two-man sessions at the Presidents Cup.

Halved -- J.B. Holmes, the last player to make the American roster, has turned into perhaps its most valuable player through the first three days. Holmes got the call from Captain Jay Haas last week when Jim Furyk said his wrist injury would not be healed in time. Bubba Watson immediately texted Haas asking to be paired up with his fellow country bomber and the two have been the USA’s best team.

But after leading for most of the back nine, the Americans gave it away at the end. Bubba had a pretty simple 4-foot putt for birdie at the 18th green for the 1-up win and pushed it past the cup, missing the edge. His caddie, Ted Scott, as we’ve come to expect, immediately bore the brunt of the incredulous Bubba following the critical miss.

Give the Aussie duo of Adam Scott and Marc Leishman credit for hanging in against this powerhouse American pairing. Walking off that 18th green with a half-point had to feel like a win. Bubba and Holmes will play in the leadoff match in the afternoon against Grace and Oosthuizen. So something will have to give there in what could be the critical point of the entire Cup.

Halved -- The most even match of the morning session ended with another disappointing half-point for the USA, who could not make a putt on the 18th green to preserve their 1-up advantage. The back nine was a constant see-saw in which the USA never trailed. The Internationals, however, never let them get too far away. Matt Kuchar would bomb in a putt, and then Sangmoon Bae would chip in to halve the hole.

It was that even, but the Internationals tried to gift the match to the U.S. on the 17th green when they duffed two straight chips from two tough spots and didn’t even make the Americans putt. That 1-up lead, however, was given right back by the USA side on the 18th green. Just minutes after Bubba’s miss above, this was another wasted opportunity for Haas’ club.

USA wins, 1-up -- While the Americans just gave away wins in the preceding two matches, they absolutely stole a point in the anchor match. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson were the USA’s most disappointing team during the Friday session that let the Internationals back in it. They faced that red-hot Grace-Oosthuizen duo but never really mounted a challenge, missing everything up on the green and hitting several loose irons and wild drives in Friday four-ball.

DJ and Spieth started Saturday morning and fell in a hole again. They made the turn against Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel 3-down in what looked like another easy point for International captain Nick Price. The Americans, thanks to a string of clutch Spieth putts and some International mistakes, somehow flipped it from 3-down to a 1-up win over the final nine holes. At the 18th with the match all-square, Schwartzel left one in a fairway bunker giving the Americans a huge advantage.

The U.S. pairing did not exactly make it easy after that. Spieth hit a mediocre wedge shot and DJ blasted his lag putt seven feet past, forcing Spieth to hit a knee-knocker for the full point. As you might expect, the “best putter in the world” and No. 1 player in the world put it in the center to preserve the USA’s 1-point overall lead heading to the afternoon session.

That was a fitting end to an incredible match that featured the No. 1 vs. No. 2 player in the world. It’s 7.5 to 6.5 with four more points up for grabs in the afternoon four-ball.