9:13 -- Rain continues to pour down at Murifield Village in the fourth straight day of rain soaked conditions.
Cells of storms appear to be moving northwest of Dublin for the time being, as drizzle is sparse in some areas of the course and very much a factor on other holes. Thunderstorms are more likely to hit in the late afternoon.
Johnson/Dufner closed out their opponents Sterne/Leishman on the 15th hole yesterday, the only match to conclude before darkness.
In the Mickelson/Bradley vs. Day/DeLaet, it came down to the final hole. Day hit the team's approach shot short of the green on the 18th hole, whereas Mickelson put it to within 10 feet of the pin. DeLaet went ecstatic as his chip found the bottom of the cup for birdie, but Bradley answered back with a one-putt birdie. The match was halved.
Haas/Stricker finished much like Johnson/Dufner, closing out their opponents Scott/Matsuyama on the 15th hole in a four-and-three victory.
Oosthuizen missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole to halve the match against Simpson/Snedeker giving the Americans a one-up victory against the Internationals. The U.S. was three-down in this match going into the 13th holes, but won the par-4, followed by birdies on the 14th and 15th holes. A par on 17 and 18 was enough to put the Internationals away.
Woods/Kuchar are one-down headed into the 18th hole, but have dwindled their losses from three-down on the 14th hole to one-down headed into the 17th hole.
With one match remaining on the course, the U.S. leads 14-7 over the International team. The widest margin of victory in any Presidents Cup was in 2000, a year the Americans won 20 1/2 - 10 1/2 over the Internationals.
The Singles matches are as followed (U.S. is first player listed, followed by International player):
Match 23: Steve Stricker vs. Ernie Els
Match 24: Hunter Mahan vs. Hideki Matsuyama
Match 25: Jason Dufner vs. Brendon de Jonge
Match 26: Brandt Snedeker vs. Jason Day
Match 27: Jordan Spieth vs. Graham DeLaet
Match 28: Bill Haas vs. Adam Scott
Match 29: Zach Johnson vs. Branden Grace
Match 30: Matt Kuchar vs. Marc Leishman
Match 31: Tiger Woods vs. Richard Sterne
Match 32: Keegan Bradley vs. Charl Schwartzel
Match 33: Webb Simpson vs. Louis Oostuhuizen
Match 34: Angel Cabrera vs. Phil Mickelson
Matches are subject to switch in accordance with play finishing up on the golf course.
10:36 -- Singles matches began at 9:30 at Murifield Village and will continue to tee off unitl 11:31. Woods/Kuchar ended up losing their match to Els/de Jonge, giving the Internationals another point, yet the U.S. still leads the Internationals, 14-8, entering the mid-morning matches.
Weather is still the main concern here in Dublin, as storms continue to flirt with interrupting Presidents Cup play for the fourth-straight day. Tee times were originally scheduled for noon, but were moved two-and-a-half hours earlier in hopes of finishing the Singles matches before inclement weather.
The U.S. needs to win just four of the 12 singles matches to win the President's Cup, whereas the International team needs to win 10 of 12 matches.
12:24 -- Various matches are making the turn in the rain-drenched weather, as the U.S. holds a lead in half of the matches. Three leads belong to the Internationals and three matches are all-square.
Four U.S. matches are led by two-up or more and in the two other matches, Americans have one-up leads. Hunter Mahan has a three-up lead over Hideki Matsuyama through 12 holes of play in the first pairing to go off.
Jason Day, a member at Murifield Village, leads the International team with a three-up lead over Brandt Snedeker through 10 holes.
The following are how matches stand as of 12:24 p.m. --
Stricker/Els all-square thru nine holes
Mahan 3UP thru 12 holes over Matsuyama
Dufner 2UP thru nine holes over de Jonge
Day 2UP thru 10 holes over Snedeker
Spieth/DeLaet all-square thru 10 holes
Scott 1UP thru eight holes over Haas
Johnson 3UP thru seven holes over Grace
Kuchar 2UP thru six holes over Leishman
Woods/Sterne all-square thru five holes
Schwartzel 1UP thru five holes over Bradley
Simpson 1UP thru four holes over Oosthuizen
Mickelson/Cabrera AS thru four holes
If play ended now, the U.S. would win 21 - 13 over the Internationals.
3:33 --
The Internationals put up a fight, but ultimately fell short against a resilent U.S. team in Sunday Singles . The International team won six matches, needing 10 to win the Cup outright. The U.S. won the other six matches, as well as the Presidents Cup.
Jason Day brought in the first match of the day, dominating Brandt Snedeker six-and-four. Day needed just a three-under 33 on the front nine to hold a two-up lead over Snedeker into the back nine, where he won three of the five holes played.
Hunter Mahan finished nearly half-an-hour later, winning over Hideki Matsuyama three-and-two. Mahan held a lead from the seventh hole until the 16th, where he finished play.
Woods would put the final nail in the coffin for the International team, though, securing a one-up victory over International player, Richard Sterne, on the last hole of play. This is the third-straight Presidents Cup that Woods had the clinching point in.
This win for the U.S. improves their record in the Presidents Cup to 8-1-1 in the tournament's history.
ch115710@ohio.edu
@ColinHanner
