US take eighth victory in Presidents Cup
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The United States secured a fifth successive Presidents Cup win with an 18½-15½ victory over the Internationals at Muirfield Village.
The hosts led 11½-6½ before Sunday’s delayed foursome matches and 12 singles games.
The Internationals gave themselves and early chance by winning six of the first nine singles matches completed in Ohio, but Tiger Woods’s 1up victory over Richard Sterne sealed the result.
The US have now won eight of the 10 stagings of the event, of which US captain Fred Couples has won three in a row.
The US needed only four points from Sunday’s singles to retain the Cup, having established a lead of 14-8 after the delayed final foursomes session.
Australian Jason Day won the first point of the singles, crushing Brandt Snedeker 6&4, shortly before Hunter Mahan beat Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama 3&2.
US PGA champion Jason Dufner beat Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge 4&3, while Canada’s Graham DeLaet holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie at the 18th to edge Jordan Spieth 1up.
Zach Johnson wrapped up a comfortable 4&2 win over South African Branden Grace to put the US 17-10 ahead, before Masters champion Adam Scott scored another win for the Internationals with a 2&1 win over Bill Haas.
South African Ernie Els scraped past Steve Stricker one up, Australian Marc Leishman sank a 14-footer from the fringe to par the last and beat Matt Kuchar by the same margin before former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa beat Keegan Bradley 2&1.
But world number one Woods, who won three matches out of four in partnership with Kuchar, shrugged off back pain to cinch overall victory with two matches still to finish.
In those, Webb Simpson and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen tied their game, before Argentina’s Angel Cabrera beat Phil Mickelson 1up.
