Oct
12
2015
U.S. narrowly wins emotional, drama-filled Presidents Cup (yes, really)
By Stephanie Wei under Presidents Cup

I definitely didn’t think I’d regret not staying up past my curfew last night to watch the Presidents Cup. I certainly didn’t think I’d miss anything but the standard U.S. routing or maybe the Internationals attempting a tepid comeback. I really didn’t think I’d  be saying what I’m about to say, especially since any little interest I had in the Presidents Cup completely disappeared after the only thing I considered that could be slightly intriguing did not happen — which was obviously Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, the worlds nos. 1 and 2, respectively, facing off in what would naturally be an intense battle filled with lots of thumbs-up and fist-pumps for Sunday singles.

Well, to be honest, I doubt I would been awake to watch, anyway, since I was playing in a tourney at NGLA this weekend (yes, very important with at least a few hundred in pro shop credit on the line) and had an early-ish tee time. #sorrynotsorry

But had it been any other weekend, I’m still not sure I would’ve been awake at 3am. I would have been kicking myself probably, but I’ve completely digressed into rambling nonsense, which I apologize for as I’m suffering from serious #firstworldproblems. I gathered it was actually worth tuning into for a bit when I woke up to check my Twitter feed, but I didn’t realize what a classic had unraveled on the other side of the planet in South Korea, while most Americans were sleeping in the wee hours of Sunday morning in the United States. (or doing something, anything besides watching golf on Saturday night). I mean, unfortunately, majority of my playing partners didn’t even realize the event took place this weekend. I’m not exaggerating, either.

Well, I finally sat down to read about the thrilling matches and emotional story lines that evolved into a Presidents Cup for the ages. Who would have thought? Sounds like it started out like a snooze-fest and then magically, chaos and drama and everything that makes match play and team events the best thing in golf unfolded.

Here are some of the highlights we missed…

*Sang-Moon Bae, the South Korean fan favorite who was playing in his last event in front of his home crowd before he has to report for duty in the two-year mandatory military service, chunking a chip on the 18th hole to choke away the chance to tie the Americans for the Cup. It is absolutely heart-breaking to watch him fall down to his knees, covering his face with his hands in agony (just about every time you have grown men crying in sports, you know it’s an instant classic or gut-wrenching moment).

*Bae lost to Bill Haas, who was able to clinch the winning point in the final match of the day, with his father Jay Haas as the captain. Haas, as you may recall, was one of the two wildcard picks. It was one of those fairytale father-son moments that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You may even shed a tear. And that’s perfectly OK.

*Chris Kirk holed a massive putt on the 18th hole to win his match against India’s Anirban Lahiri, but no, that’s not the catch — he reacted and showed emotion on the golf course…for the first time ever (not really)!!! He even threw in a massive fist-pump!

From Bob Harig’s report on ESPN.com:

*Unfortunately, someone has to be on the other side of it and it hurts. Gutted for the almost-hero of the International team Lahiri.

*Shout-out to Branden Grace for going an undefeated 5-0 on the week.

*Round-up/good summary of all the matches.

Only thing that could have made it better was if the Internationals had won…just sayin’. The all-time record is now 9-1-1 with the U.S. dominating. Well, at least we can count on winning one team event every two years! (Sorry, cheap sht, but just couldn’t resist.)

Congrats, team USA!

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