Presidents Cup 2015: Results, scores, match schedule and more

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.

International captain Nick Price successfully lobbied the PGA Tour to reduce the overall number of matches and points for the 2015 edition. While the Ryder Cup features just 28 points and matches, the Presidents Cup had been a much heftier 34-point event. Price got it cut down to 30 (he wanted 28) which is a boost for the International side because they’re not nearly as deep as the Americans and can hide some of their weaker players in the early sessions. In the past, the full 12-man team had to play six-match sessions in the first two days. Those are now five-match sessions and Saturday’s double session has just four matches in the morning and afternoon (used to be five each). It’s one way this could potentially become more competitive.

The primary reason these events are so fun is that it’s a completely unique format for these world class pros, who play medal play and only for themselves almost every other week of the year. It’s fascinating to watch the teams come together, or tear apart, and the strategy involved in the two-man games. Here are the formats that will be in play this week in Korea.

This format will start the competition on Thursday and be used again for Saturday morning’s session. This is the most challenging format these players will play all year, alternating shots with their partner. The U.S. has historically struggled with this format in the Ryder Cup, but has skated by well enough in the Presidents Cup. Alternate shot is the biggest adjustment. You may be playing a different make and model golf ball on many shots, which may seem trivial for a weekend hack, but can make the best in the world, who stress over every slight detail to be perfect, uncomfortable. You may also go a significant stretch without making a shot, or without having to putt. There’s strategy on who will tee off on odd holes and who will blast away on even holes, which usually puts the bigger hitters on the set with more par-5s. It’s just a different game that requires more adjustment and strategy, which is fun to watch.

This format will be used for Friday’s five-match session and the afternoon session on Saturday. It’s your basic best-ball game where all four players play their own ball from tee-to-green and the best score of the two smashes up against the other side. There’s some strategy involved here, mostly about order of play between partners and who will get aggressive and who will play safe. But it’s not as significant a departure from what they’re used to compared to the Foursomes game.

The traditional Sunday finish will feature 12 head-to-head singles matches. With 12 of the 30 points out there in the final session, there is the opportunity for a dramatic comeback. We’ve seen that in the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup in recent years, but the Internationals have not been able to manage a comparable charge after they get in huge holes after the two-man sessions.

Sure, the Presidents Cup is not as competitive as the Ryder Cup but this American roster is loads better in current form and talent than the group we took to Scotland last year. They own three of the four majors, posted 17 PGA Tour wins, and feature five of the top 10 in the world rankings. All 12 are inside the top 30 in the world rankings, while the Internationals have just five players inside the top 30. The International team is not nearly as strong as the Euros in 2014, but the Americans have taken a huge leap in the last 12 months and have a totally different dynamic.

Each team places 10 automatic qualifiers on the rosters based on different points systems for each group. Then there are two captains picks for each side. American captain Jay Haas had to make a third captain’s pick when Jim Furyk came down with a wrist injury during the FedExCup. He opted to go with J.B. Holmes, who finished 13th in the points standings. There was some outcry over younger players like Brooks Koepka, who will probably be a part of these teams for years to come, getting passed over and not getting the reps. But it’s a solid roster top to bottom and heavily favored against Nick Price’s group. The International side, which allows all non-European players to qualify, features players from Australia, South Africa, India, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, and New Zealand.

Unlike the three-day Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup spreads its matches out across four days. The first two days are single five-match sessions followed by a Saturday double session and then Sunday singles. The 30-match schedule is four less than the traditional setup, which had put the deeper American side at an advantage. The different formats create sessions that run different lengths each day, so the schedule switches each and every day in Korea.

The Americans dominated the opening session, taking a three-point lead after the first five matches. The Internationals have historically struggled in Foursomes and they were wiped out in four of five matches, handily. But they’ve done much better in four-ball, which is a two-man best-ball format and they responded again this year on Day 2. The Internationals took 3.5 of the possible 5 points in the second session to cut the deficit to just one point heading to the weekend.

In the Saturday morning foursomes, session, the USA needed everything they had to escape with a split 2-2 session and keep their overall 1-point advantage. A clutch putt on the 18th green of the last match was the difference for the USA side. It was more of the same in the afternoon four-ball, with Spieth dominating and clinching a critical point that kept the USA in front by just a single point.

The Sunday single session will go down as one of the most dramatic and pressurized in this event’s history. It was exactly what was needed after the week started with some Internationals questioning the future viability of the Cup because of the format and a lack of competitiveness. Bill Haas, the son of US Captain Jay Haas, clinched the winning point on the last hole of the last match. It was an amazing see-saw day full of fluctuations that left the U.S. on top by a point, 15.5 to 14.5. They take the Cup yet again, improving to 9-1-1 in the event’s history.

Wednesday-Thursday
Session 1 -- Five Foursomes Matches -- USA wins session, leads Cup 4-1
10:05 p.m. ET Weds -- Matsuyama/Scott vs. Holmes/Watson -- USA wins, 3&2
10:18 p.m. ET Weds -- Oosthuizen/Grace vs. Kuchar/Reed -- Intl wins, 3&2
10:31 p.m. ET Weds -- Jaidee/Lahiri vs. Fowler/Walker -- USA wins, 5&4
10:44 p.m. ET Weds -- Day/Bowditch vs. Mickleson/Z. Johnson -- USA wins, 2-up
10:57 p.m. ET Weds -- Lee/Leishman vs. Spieth/D. Johnson -- USA wins, 4&3

Thursday-Friday -- Golf Channel -- 8:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET
Session 2 -- Five Four-ball Matches -- INTL wins session, USA leads Cup 5.5 to 4.5
8:35 p.m. ET Thursday -- Spieth/D. Johnson vs. Oosthuizen/Grace -- Intl wins, 4&3
8:50 p.m. ET Thursday -- Fowler/Walker vs. Lee/Bae -- Intl wins, 1-up
9:05 p.m. ET Thursday -- Mickelson/ Z. Johnson vs. Scott/Day -- Halved
9:20 p.m. ET Thursday -- Watson/Holmes vs. Leishman/Bowditch -- USA wins, 2-up
9:35 p.m. ET Thursday -- Haas/Kirk vs. Schwartzel/Thongchai Jaidee -- Intl wins, 2&1

Friday-Saturday -- Golf Channel -- 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET
Session 3 -- Four foursome matches, Session halved, USA leads Cup 7.5 to 6.5
7:05 p.m. ET Fri. - Fowler / Reed vs. Oosthuizen / Grace -- Intl wins, 3&2
7:16 p.m. ET Fri. -- Watson / Holmes vs. Scott / Leishman -- Halved
7:27 p.m. ET Fri. -- Haas / Kuchar vs. Bae / Matsuyama -- Halved
7:38 p.m. ET Fri. -- Spieth / D. Johnson vs. Day / Schwartzel -- USA wins, 1-up
Session 4 -- Four four-ball matches, Session halved, USA leads Cup 9.5 to 8.5
12:05 a.m. ET Sat -- Watson / Holmes vs. Oosthuizen / Grace -- INTL wins, 1-up
12:19 a.m. ET Sat -- Mickelson / Z. Johnson vs. Lahiri / Scott -- USA wins, 3&2
12:33 a.m. ET Sat -- Kirk / Walker vs. Bae / Matsuyama -- INTL wins, 6&5
12:47 a.m. ET Sat -- Spieth / Reed vs. Day / Schwartzel -- USA wins, 3&2

Sunday -- Golf Channel -- 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. ET
Session 5 -- 12 Singles matches U.S. International, Session halved, USA wins Cup 15.5 to 14.5
8:15 p.m. ET Sat / 9:15 a.m. local Sun -- Reed vs. Oosthuizen, Halved
8:27 p.m. ET Sat / 9:27 a.m. local Sun -- Fowler vs. Scott, INTL wins, 6&5
8:39 p.m. ET Sat / 9:39 a.m. local Sun -- Johnson vs. Lee, USA wins 2&1
8:51 p.m. ET Sat / 9:51 a.m. local Sun -- Holmes vs. Matsuyama, INTL wins, 1-up
9:03 p.m. ET Sat / 10:03 a.m. local Sun -- Watson vs. Jaidee, Halved
9:15 p.m. ET Sat / 10:15 a.m. local Sun -- Walker vs. Bowditch, INTL wins, 2-up
9:27 p.m. ET Sat / 10:27 a.m. local Sun -- Mickelson vs. Schwartzel, USA wins, 5&4
9:39 p.m. ET Sat / 10:39 a.m. local Sun -- Kirk vs. Lahiri, USA wins, 1-up
9:51 p.m. ET Sat / 10:51 a.m. local Sun -- Spieth vs. Leishman, INTL wins, 1-up
10:03 p.m. ET Sat / 11:03 a.m. local Sun -- Johnson vs. Day, USA wins, 3&2
10:15 p.m. ET Sat / 11:15 a.m. local Sun -- Kuchar vs. Grace, INTL wins, 2&1
10:27 p.m. ET Sat / 11:27 a.m. local Sun -- Haas vs. Bae, USA wins, 2-up

The Presidents Cup comes to Asia for the first time ever. Past International host sites have stopped in Australia, South Africa, and Canada, so it was time to find an Asian venue for the International side. The choice was Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon City, South Korea. It’s a new course, opening in 2010, that Nicklaus built on a landfill but now costs $1 million to join. It has hosted a Champions Tour event but this is obviously its first big showcase.

Nicklaus is considered the greatest golfer of all time, but his design work is often panned by those who closely follow golf architecture. The greens here were softened up since its opening, which has happened at other Nicklaus designs (he has over 400 across the world -- some are great, others are good, and many are mediocre-to-bad). This a relatively wide open course with big fairways for these long hitters. The greens are its major defense, with significant undulations and pin placement opportunities that will provide the biggest challenge for these world class pros. It’s awesome to finally have Asia get major world-class and international event, but you may not see this course put in competition too many more times after this Presidents Cup.

The rise of global talents made this Presidents Cup a great idea to play in non-Ryder Cup years, getting some of the amazing players from Australia, Asia, South Africa and elsewhere involved in these team match play competitions. The Internationals have the talent to win these Cups, but depth can become an issue when going up against the loaded 12-man American side.

The USA has owned this event since the start, going 8-1-1 in its 20-year history. The first and only International win came at Royal Melbourne all the way back in 1998, and it was a 10-point rout. Then there was the infamous tie in 2003 in South Africa, when captains Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus decided on the fly with darkness settling in that they would just share the Cup. The decision was not without its critics at the time and now more than a decade later. The full Presidents Cup history: