Presidents Cup 2015: Schedule, pairings announced for Saturday’s four-ball matches

Saturday at the Presidents Cup started with a one-hour delay and perhaps more menacing weather in the forecast for the event’s only double session day. That posed a potential problem for getting the eight match, sun-up to sun-down Day 3 in before darkness but the morning session has avoided the weather in the area following that one-hour delay at the start.

The morning foursomes session has been a back-and-forth battle that probably won’t create much distance for either team when it’s all over. That’s good for the Internationals. The Americans started with a one-point lead after the Internationals charged back on Friday, and they’re keeping it close again in the morning session on Saturday. They could even have this tied up or in the lead by the time the afternoon four-ball tees off at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Korea.

After two solid sessions to make up for that opening day disaster, Nick Price is sticking with what works and sending his best duo out in the leadoff match for the third straight session. The South African pairing of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace have been unbeatable, wiping out some of the USA’s best pairs to post a 3-0 record in matches that were never really close. Since they were the only pair to earn a point back on Thursday in that opening session, Price has put them in front each and every time since and it has seemed to work. They will draw the USA’s best team so far, Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes, who look like they’re going to be 3-0 as well. So that leadoff match may be the point that swings the whole thing.

Price was able to have the overall number of points reduced for the Cup, enabling him to hide more players on the bench during these two-man sessions against the much deeper American side. But they did institute a rule that every player had to play at least two sessions before the full-team singles on Sunday. On the International side, that meant Anirban Lahiri had to play in the Saturday afternoon four-ball while on the USA side, Chris Kirk was the guy who needed to meet his requirement.

The leader at the end of Saturday almost always wins the Presidents Cup, even with that large 12-point Sunday singles session still out there. Here’s the updated match board for Saturday’s double session. Tee times will be adjusted for that second session, which is delayed due to that early morning weather.