There’s not a lot of explanation needed when it comes to scoring in golf. You play a golf hole and you record a number based upon the strokes you take. You add up those strokes at the end of the round. If it’s an 18-hole tournament, then 67 beats 70 and 70 beats 71, and on and on. If it’s a 72-hole PGA Tour event, then 16-under-par is better than 15-under-par. It may be a tough game to play, but it’s not a tough game to score. Add up all those strokes and the low number wins.
Then there’s match play, golf’s alternative version of the competitive spirit. Match play is contested hole by hole, individual versus individual. Make a three on your opening hole and your opponent makes a five, and you are one hole up. Make a nine on your second hole while your opponent makes a two and now you’re back to even. Match play is not a regular event in the world of professional golf, but on those biennial occasions when it is the format of choice, I find it to be a great diversion as well as downright entertaining.
During the course of the last 30 days, the top women professionals competed in the Solheim Cup. The Solheim is a team event featuring the top 12 American golfers against the top 12 European golfers. They play better ball (fourball) and alternate shot (foursomes) matches for the first two days and then play individual matches during the final round. The Presidents Cup is also a team event. It includes the top 12 American male golfers competing against the top 12 International golfers. The International team includes everyone on the planet except for European golfers. The European men play in even-numbered years in the long-running Ryder Cup. This year’s Presidents Cup was three days of alternate shot and better ball with a fourth day of individual matches. It was contested for the first time in South Korea.
Team USA prevailed in both instances although the overall flavor of both team competitions was as different as night and day. The Solheim Cup featured acrimony while the Presidents Cup was all about relevancy.
The American team won the Presidents Cup last Sunday in Korea by the thinnest of margins. After falling behind on day one, the Internationals made up ground over the next two days. Team USA entered Sunday’s concluding matches with a one-point lead. Seven of the 12 matches would conclude on the 18th green and, for a time, it was like following a close NBA playoff game in the final seconds. Rickie Fowler lost his match and everything was tied. Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson won their matches and things were looking up for the Americans. J.B. Holmes three-putted and lost his match and Bubba Watson missed two short putts on the final two holes and had to settle for a tie. Rookie Chris Kirk made a big-time final-hole putt and won his match. Jordan Spieth and Jason Day surprisingly lost their matches. It all came down to the 12th and final match with Billy Haas, the son of captain Jay Haas, serving as the American anchor against Sang Moon Bae, the local hero from Korea as well as the winner of the Frys tournament last October at Napa’s Silverado. In the end, it all came down to Bae’s weak chip on the final hole, resulting in a close American team win as Haas prevailed.
True, the International team didn’t win, but this time around the matches were close, entertaining and relevant. The 2015 matches saved the Presidents Cup from the scrap heap. Next time around it will be highly regarded because of the way it was played this year. The Internationals are deeper as a team. Branden Grace was 5-0 for the Internationals. Had Jason Day performed a little better than 0-3-2, then things may have been different. Most importantly, there was a “feel good flavor” to this year’s Presidents Cup.
Then there was the Solheim Cup. It will not be remembered for the great shotmaking and the dramatic conclusion. Yes, it was tightly contested. Team USA made a remarkable final-day comeback, recovering from a 10-6 deficit to capture the Cup with a final score of 14½ to 13½. Sad to say, but years from now, golf fans will instead be talking all about “Gimme-gate.”
The European team of Charley Hull and Suzann Pettersen were locked in an epic better ball match with Brittany Lincicome and Allison Lee. Lee had a 12-foot birdie putt to win the 17th hole and go 1-up in the match. Her putt slid 18 inches past the hole. Petterson had already left the green and Hull started to walk away, heading towards the 18th tee. The walking rules official announced that “the hole is halved.” Lee walked over to her 18-inch par putt, and thinking that the European team had conceded the putt, picked up her ball, and headed to the next tee. It looked like both teams were tied going into the 18th hole.
Then it all changed … for the worse. Pettersen, a savvy veteran with two major titles to her name, contended that the Euros did not give the short par putt to Lee. Instead of the match going into the final hole all tied, the Euros were one hole up. Lee and Hull were in tears, but Pettersen stood her ground. We’ve since learned that Euro captain Carin Koch tried to get Pettersen and Hull to concede the final hole so that the match would end up tied, but Pettersen steadfastly refused. The Euros won the match 1-up. Team USA had all the bulletin board material it needed. It mounted a stunning final-round comeback and won 8½ of the possible 12 points in individual match play to prevail. As Koch later admitted, “I feared it would spur the American team on in the singles matches. That’s obviously what happened.”
Pettersen apologized the next day. She acknowledged that while she was within her rights, it did tarnish the spirit of the matches. From her perspective, Allison Lee says she has put the entire incident behind her. Koch stated that it was all “such a shame,” and three-time Ryder Cupper Johnny Pott, who never has a negative word when it comes to the golfers of the modern era, simply said to me that it was “unfortunate.” Gimme-gate is a far cry from the 1969 Ryder Cup when Jack Nicklaus conceded a 3-footer on the final green to Tony Jacklin, resulting in a tie between the Great Britain-Ireland team and the American team. Nicklaus’ gesture, ripped by captain Sam Snead at that time, has stood the test of time as the ultimate gesture of sportsmanship. Sad to say, but Suzann Pettersen, a very solid performer on the LPGA Tour, will have to live this down for some time. Her Monday apology was fitting and showed class. It’s all part of the magic of match play.
Next up: The Ryder Cup in September of 2016.
