The Post sports reporter Colin Hanner is at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin for the President's Cup. Here's a link for a preview of the tournament's action.

 

1:50 -- The first group (Day/DeLaet vs. Mahan/Snedeker) is nearing completion of their front nine holes. Day and DeLaet are the only International team to hold a lead against the U.S. squad, as DeLaet drained a birdie putt on the first hole from just left of the hole.

Mahan and Snedeker quickly fired back, taking holes three and four with birdies. They currently hold a one-up lead after making bogey on the eighth. 

The international team has only won five holes as a team, with Scott/Matsuyama, Cabrera/Leishman, and Grace/Sterne failing to put up a winning score. 

The sixth match has seen only dominance from the U.S. so far, as Johnson/Dufner have won three of their first four holes. 

 

2:48 -- Play was suspeded at 2:38 p.m. because of impending rain. Three of the six matches have completed at least the front nine holes and only one match is all square, as Oosthuizen/Schwartzel and Mickleson/Bradley are tied. The rest of the matches are led by the U.S. 

Johnson/Dufner have taken a commanding lead in their match against Grace/Sterne by winning four of the first six holes, though Grace and Sterne are rookies in President's Cup play. 

4:33 -- Play resumed at 4:00 at the Presidents Cup after nearly and hour-and-a-half delay. The break seems to have benefitted a struggling International team ----- the U.S. is now all square in two matches: Haas/Simpson vs. Scott/Matsuyama and Mickelson/Bradley vs. Oosthuizen/Schwartzel.

In two other matches, the U.S. dropped their lead. Tiger Woods missed a birdie putt on eight against Cabrera/Leishman and Zach Johnson missed a birdie putt on seven to Grace/Sterne. Woods/Kuchar lead by one heading into the ninth. Johnson/Dufner still hold a commanding three-up lead going into nine. 

6:10 -- Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar capture the first victory for either side on the par-4 14th, winning 5 and 4 over Angel Cabrera and Marc Leishman. They won three out of their last five holes. 

Firing just minutes later was Jason Day on the par-4 18th, where he drained a birdie putt to put the International team on the scoreboard. At one point, Day and DeLaet were down by three, but a turnaround on the seventh and eighth holes vaulted them back into contention.

Matsuyama put it to within two feet on the par-4 18th, but trail the Americans by one. The U.S. leads three matches on the course, while the International team leads one.  

8:15 -- Day one of play is complete. The U.S. leads the International team, 3 1/2 to 2 1/2. Matsuyama made his birdie putt to halve the match. 

Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel reversed the trend Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson showed on the front nine, as the Internationals won 2 and 1. 

"I felt like my good shots were really good today," Schwartzel said. "I putted well, but then I also did some poor shots and that's where Louis [Oosthuizen] came in and we really combined really well." 

Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner plowed through their competition, Brenden Grace and Richard Sterne, 5 and 3, while Steve Stricker and Jordan Spieth took it to the last hole of competition to settle their match with Ernie Els and Brendon de Jonge. 

"We ham-and-egged it pretty good," Dufner said. "Zach [Johnson] made some birdies early and saved a couple pars when we needed them, and 14 was pretty key." 

After Jordan Spieth drew it into the water off his tee shot in the last match of the day, Steve Stricker hit the right portion of the fairway. On his approach, he missed short in the bunker, but was able to get up-and-down for par, tying de Jonge and securing a one-up victory in the match. 

The U.S. leads 3 1/2 - 2 1/2 over the International team. 

 

Tee times begin at 1:10 p.m. Tomorrow's pairings are as listed: 

Match #7: 

Jason Day/Graham DeLaet vs. Phil Mickelson/Keegan Bradley

Match #8: 

Ernie Els/Brendon de Jonge vs. Hunter Mahan/Bill Haas

Match #9: 

Branden Grace/Richard Sterne vs. Steve Stricker/Jordan Spieth 

Match #10: 

Angel Cabrera/Marc Leishman vs. Webb Simpson/Brandt Snedeker

Match #11: 

Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel vs. Matt Kuchar/Tiger Woods

Match #12: 

Adam Scott/Hideki Matsuyama vs. Jason Dufner/Zach Johnson

 

ch115710@ohiou.edu

@ColinHanner

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