Friday’s second session is worth just five of the 30 points up for grabs at this year’s Presidents Cup. But it will probably determine whether this event becomes a competition or just another laugher all weekend as the USA cruises to a blowout victory.
Presidents Cup 2015 TV coverage: Schedule and start time for Day 2 matches
The Internationals are desperate to make up ground in the second session on Friday, or primetime Thursday night back in the United States.
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Jay Haas’ American team will begin Friday’s four-ball session with a 4-1 lead after wiping the floor with the International side in Thursday’s opening session. That opener featured five foursomes matches, which is the alternate shot format that the Internationals have historically struggled with and put them in deep holes early in the weekend. Now it’s happened again and this Cup, which the Internationals said was critical to keep close for the future viability of the event, is on the verge of becoming a runaway again.
Fortunately for the Internationals, and those hoping for a competitive event into the weekend, Friday’s format is one they have fared much better at in recent Presidents Cups. Four-ball is a fancy name for your basic best-ball game that you play on the weekend with a partner. Each player plays his own ball all the way in, and the best of the two scores smashes up against the best of your two opponents. The Internationals, believe it or not, have a winning record against the Americans in four-ball since 2007. So there’s some slight hope heading into Friday’s session.
The matchups are pretty tasty for this pivotal session, beginning with the leadoff clash at 8:35 p.m. ET on Thursday night. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, a day after anchoring the dominant first session, will shift to the top of the match board and face the South African duo of Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen. Those two are the most comfortable pairing on the International side, and play together all the time. They were the only ones to get a point for captain Nick Price and looked strong in doing so. It's an enormous and important start for the Internationals, who have the Korean home crowd favorites in Danny Lee and Sangmoon Bae going off second.
Four-ball is a format that takes longer than foursomes, which obviously features just one “live” ball per two players. With all four players playing their own shot, the tee times are bumped up more than 90 minutes from the first session. That opening match will go at 9:35 a.m. local on Friday in Incheon, and 8:35 p.m. ET back in the States on Thursday night. The session should finish sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. ET and Golf Channel, who is hoping this gets competitive, will have the full broadcast again on Thursday night.
Here are your media options for Day 2 at the Presidents Cup:
Day 2 coverage -- Thursday night / Friday morning
Television:
8:30 p.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. ET Friday -- Golf Channel
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Friday -- Replay on Golf Channel
Online streaming:
8:30 p.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. ET Friday -- Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream
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