MELBOURNE, November 18, 2011 (AFP) - The Internationals revitalised their Presidents Cup challenge by splitting Friday's six fourball matches to stay in reach of defending champions the US after a brutal second day at Royal Melbourne.
In the race to get 17.5 points and win the biennial teams event, the Internationals shared the fourball 3-3 to trail 7-5 ahead of Saturday's five foursome matches and five fourball contests, and Sunday's 12 deciding singles.
"We've got a huge amount of confidence right now," Internationals captain Greg Norman said.
"Yesterday took it out of us. Today we got it back again with a little bit more energy and gusto in us."
Norman singled out Australians Aaron Baddeley and Geoff Ogilvy for pepping up the non-European International team, bidding for only their second triumph in nine Presidents Cups.
"We are extremely proud of the way Aaron Baddeley bounced back from yesterday and holing that 3-1/2 footer for a win on the last hole did him and the team a world of good," he said.
"Geoff Ogilvy followed up by doing what he did and holing the same length putt, just as difficult, really helped us generate a lot of momentum."
Royal Melbourne bared its teeth in hot blustery conditions that further juiced up the greens making it difficult for the players to attack the pins in matches that spilled over to almost seven hours.
"It was not much fun out there, I'm sure, for any of them," US captain Fred Couples said. "There were three teams that won on each side, so they had fun, but it was brutal.
"The rounds took a long time because there were very few holes won with birdies, and when you have four guys playing and you've got three, 4 and 5 footers for par every hole, it takes a long time to get through the round. "Our team didn't lose ground. We still have a two point lead."
Baddeley and his Australian playing partner Jason Day condemned Tiger Woods to his second defeat in as many days with a hard-fought one-up win over the former world number one and Dustin Johnson.
Woods put his pair one up with a curling downhill putt at the fourth but they were pulled back at the following hole before Baddeley holed a long birdie putt at the 13th for the Australians to hit the front.
The Australian duo, urged on by a partisan home gallery, held on to their advantage to take the vital point.
It was redemption for Baddeley, who tightened up in a bogey-bogey finish in Thursday's foursomes to finish all square with Bill Haas and Nick Watney.
"Yesterday was very disappointing, even though we still got a halve, but it was great to bounce back today," Baddeley said.
"To win today and to beat Tiger and Dustin, which is a tough pair to beat, it's pretty special."
It is only the second time Woods has lost two consecutive matches at The Presidents Cup after dropping three straight matches at the 1998 event at Royal Melbourne.
"The greens just aren't holding and it's just very hard. You have to play the wind on the putts," Woods said.
Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar had a convincing four and three win over South Korean Y.E. Yang and Australian Robert Allenby.
The Woods-Stricker combination was broken up by captain Couples after their thumping seven and six defeat to Adam Scott and K.J. Choi in Thursday's foursomes.
Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk remained unbeaten this week with a two and one win over Scott and Kim Kyung-Tae.
American rookies Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson had their second win over South African Ernie Els and Japanese youngster Ryo Ishikawa, winning two and one.
The Internationals finished with all the momentum winning the day's last two matches.
Ogilvy and K.J. Choi put away Haas and Watney one up, while South Africans Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel mastered Hunter Mahan and David Toms two and one.
The Internationals have traditionally performed better in fourball at The Presidents Cup taking their record to 48 wins to the US team's 42 in nine tournaments.
Scores on the second day of the USA v Internationals Presidents Cup match play golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Friday:
USA 7 Internationals 5
Fourball
Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson (USA) bt Ernie Els/Ryo Ishikawa (RSA/JPN) 2 and 1
Steve Stricker/Matt Kuchar (USA) bt Y.E. Yang/Robert Allenby (KOR/AUS) 4 and 3
Aaron Baddeley/Jason Day (AUS/AUS) bt Tiger Woods/Dustin Johnson (USA) 1 up
Phil Mickelson/Jim Furyk (USA) bt Adam Scott/Kim Kyung-Tae (AUS/KOR) 2 and 1.
Geoff Ogilvy/K.J. Choi (AUS/KOR) bt Bill Haas/Nick Watney (USA) 1 up
Charl Schwartzel/Retief Goosen (RSA/RSA) bt Hunter Mahan-David Toms (USA) 2 and 1
Presidents Cup Pairings
MELBOURNE, November 18, 2011 (AFP) - Pairings for Saturday's foursomes matches at the USA v Internationals Presidents Cup match play golf tournament at Royal Melbourne:
Foursomes
Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson (USA) v Robert Allenby/Geoff Ogilvy (AUS/AUS)
Bill Haas/Matt Kuchar (USA) v Ernie Els/Ryo Ishikawa (RSA/JPN)
Hunter Mahan-David Toms (USA) v Charl Schwartzel/Retief Goosen (RSA/RSA)
Tiger Woods/Dustin Johnson (USA) v Adam Scott/K.J. Choi (AUS/KOR)
Phil Mickelson/Jim Furyk (USA) v Aaron Baddeley/Jason Day (AUS/AUS)