Presidents Cup 2015: Match results, live updates, and scores from Sunday in Korea

American captain Jay Haas is probably not exaggerating when he says he “couldn’t have even dreamt this.” Haas’ son, Bill, clinched the Presidents Cup on Sunday on the last hole of the last match in one of the most dramatic and pressurized Sunday singles sessions in the event’s history.

Even though Bill finished 11th in the final Presidents Cup standings, just one shy of automatically qualifying, there were still critics of Jay’s decision to make him a captain’s pick. Then Bill found himself in the anchor match of the entire event. That 12th and final singles match rarely features the top names and superstars because it’s so often irrelevant with the necessary clinching points attained several matches ahead. I’m sure Jay had no idea Bill’s match would mean so much in that 12th spot, but this one time, it decided the entire thing. And it went the full 18 holes.

The week at the Presidents Cup started with International captain Nick Price saying the future viability of the event hinged on his team finally making this competitive. It ended Sunday, in the middle of the night back in the United States, with an incredible see-saw singles session that came down to the final hole of the final match.

And the two players in that final match? Sangmoon Bae, the only Korean on the International team, playing in front of the home crowd in what will be his final event before two years of mandatory military service. And Bill Haas, the son of U.S. captain Jay Haas. The USA got the Cup yet again, posting a 15.5 to 14.5 victory.

The Presidents Cup cannot match the current appeal, competitiveness, and tension of the Ryder Cup. It’s the neglected little brother of these international team match play competitions. I will not argue that it’s the peer of the Ryder Cup, but I still cannot trash it. It’s fun to watch the most famous players in the world play a completely different game and format and have to rely on a partner. If the Internationals can actually make it competitive, the event would take off in the same way the Ryder Cup delivers each fall.

Here’s some background info and a primer on this 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea, as well as a full match board which we’ll update as the event progresses.

There will be Sunday singles session at the Presidents Cup that’s not largely irrelevant. This event has failed to gain the traction of the Ryder Cup because it’s been so one-sided through its short 20-year history. The International team has not only won just once, but they’ve repeatedly failed to keep things close from the very start. By the time it got to Sunday singles, even a 12-point session wasn’t going to be enough to make the final day competitive and worth monitoring closely.

This year in Korea, however, the Internationals have pushed the heavily favored and loaded American roster for three straight sessions. The opening session on Thursday was a disaster as Nick Price’s group fell in a three-point hole and it looked like this was going the way of all the other Presidents Cups. But they cut into that deficit on Friday and then halved both sessions on Saturday. As a result, we got to Sunday singles with the US in front by a point at 9.5 to 8.5. It’s the smallest margin this deep in the event since it was tied at the start of singles in 2005.

An interminable double session Saturday in Korea ends with the USA holding the same Presidents Cup lead they had before any ball was struck. Both sessions were an even split and the USA will go to Sunday singles with a one-point lead at 9.5 to 8.5. It’s the smallest margin for the Americans, who have owned this competition with a series of laughers, since it was tied going to singles in 2005.

Jordan Spieth preserved that margin with a clutch putt on the last hole of the last match of the morning session (a review of the morning foursomes can be found here). In the afternoon, it was more Spieth, a little Phil Mickelson and two International power-pairings. The details from afternoon four-ball:

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.