Though the U.S. has dominated the Presidents Cup, defeating the international team in eight of the ten events, there hasn’t been a lack of memorable moments. With the 11th edition of the biennial tournament underway at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, South Korea, we look back at our seven favorite moments from past Presidents Cups:
7) Woody Austin falls into lake
Woody Austin was a 43-year-old playing in his first Presidents Cup in 2007, so there was no doubt he was going to play all out. He showed as much when a shot on the 14th hole of his fourball match on Friday ended up in the water. It was completely submerged but visible, so he took a hack at it, then fell back into the water on his follow-through. Austin and David Toms didn’t win the hole, but they halved the match.
6) Canada’s Mike Weir beats Tiger Woods in Canada
The Canadians love their own, so when the Presidents Cup took place in Canada in 2007, the fan favorite was easily Ontario’s Mike Weir. The U.S. owned a commanding lead heading into the Sunday singles, but that didn’t stop Weir from taking it Tiger Woods. The Canadian ran his record to 3-1-1 on the week after defeating the world No. 1 on the 18th hole.
5) Chris DiMarco gets U.S. back in win column
After losing the 2002 and ’04 Ryder Cups, and tying the 2003 Presidents Cup, the Americans entered the ’05 Presidents Cup without a team match play victory since 2000 (no events were played in 2001 because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks). But Chris DiMarco ended that drought with a 15-foot birdie putt on 18 to defeat Australia’s Stuart Appleby in the last singles match.
4) Tiger Woods’ 5-0 week in 2009
In the final major of 2009, South Korea’s Y.E. Yang defeated Tiger Woods, handing the superstar his first loss in a major after taking the lead into the final round. As fate would have it, the two would meet again at that fall’s Presidents Cup. This time Woods couldn’t be stopped. He had won each of his four matches going into Sunday’s singles, and he crushed Yang 6&5 to clinch the Cup for the Americans. Woods became just the third player to win all five of his matches at the Presidents Cup (a list Jim Furyk joined in 2011).
3) Fred Couples’ putt wins 1996 Cup
When the Presidents Cup began in 1994 and the U.S. won decisively, 20-12, many wondered if the international team would ever put up a fight against the deep Americans. The internationals came close in ’96, but Fred Couples’ birdie on the 17th hole of the final singles match defeated Vijay Singh and gave the U.S. a one-point victory.
2) International team’s first win
The tournament finally took place overseas in 1998, going to Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. And the internationals promptly proved a worthy foe as they stomped all over the Americans, gaining a nine-point advantage by the end of Saturday. They easily clinched their first Presidents Cup victory the next day.
1) Teams declare a tie in 2003
The squads tried mightily to decide a winner, sending Tiger Woods and Ernie Els off to a sudden-death playoff after the 34 matches ended in a 17-17 draw. But after three playoff holes with the two stars still tied and daylight fading out, team captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player decided that the teams would share the 2003 Presidents Cup.
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