Woods and Couples struggle at Presidents Cup

By Steve Keating

GAINESVILLE, Virginia (Reuters) – Tiger Woods and Fred
Couples struggled at the start of the Presidents Cup on
Thursday, going two down after nine holes in their foursomes
game with the International team’s Retief Goosen and Adam
Scott.

Woods, who asked U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus to pair him
with Couples, spent much of the outward nine at the Robert
Trent Jones Golf Club bailing out his partner who was having
trouble finding the fairway.

Clutch putts from the world number one allowed the U.S. to
halve the opening two holes but a bogey at the fourth meant the
Internationals went one up.

Back-to-back birdies from Australian Scott and South
African Goosen on the sixth and seventh put the International
pair three up before they gave a hole back to Woods and Couples
with a bogey on the ninth.

Overall, the U.S. were up in three matches and the
Internationals were leading in three.

Chris DiMarco and Phil Mickelson were one up on Australia’s
Nick O’Hern and South Africa’s Tim Clark through eight holes.

Fred Funk and Jim Furyk, who needed treatment for a sore
rib on the sixth tee, were also one up on Fiji’s Vijay Singh
and Australia’s Mark Hensby.

Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank were one up on Australian
duo Peter Lonard and Stuart Appleby after seven.

Trevor Immelman drained a 95-foot birdie putt on the fourth
as the South African and his partner Mike Weir of Canada went
three up on Americans David Toms and Stewart Cink after six.

U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell of New Zealand and
Argentine Angel Cabrera were one up on Americans Davis Love III
and Kenny Perry after seven.