MELBOURNE, Australia — If great leaders lead by example, then Tiger Woods was the best of leaders this week at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
The first playing captain at the Presidents Cup in 25 years completed an undefeated week by vanquishing a red-hot Abraham Ancer of Mexico in the leadoff pairing of the Singles Matches of the 13th Presidents Cup. It set the tone for a triumphant rally by the Americans, who retained the Cup with a 16-14 victory.
The U.S. won eight of the 12 singles matches to become the first team to rally from behind in Singles to claim the Cup.
“We did it together,” Woods said. “My teammates all played well. I couldn’t have done it without all their help. They did it.”
Woods penciled himself in the first pairing with the goal of gaining some early momentum after the U.S. entered the 12 singles matches trailing the Internationals, 10-8. The strategy worked.
Woods never trailed in his match with Ancer, who had earned 3.5 points for the Internationals over the first three days. Back-to-back birdies at the par-3 14th and the par-4 15th put the 43-year-old 15-time major winner in firm control at 3-up and then he matched Ancer’s birdie at the 16th to end it.
“The hat might have gone maybe a little early, but it was over,” Woods said. His three wins here improved his Presidents Cup record to 27-15-1, the most wins ever in Presidents Cup competition — surpassing Phil Mickelson.
Woods, who teamed with Justin Thomas to win his Four-ball and Foursomes matches on Thursday and Friday, sat out both sessions on Saturday. It was a decision that some second-guessed considering he was playing so well. But the Americans survived without him Saturday and Woods said he was well-rested for the singles.
“I felt like my game was good,” he said. “I just needed to go out there and focus on my game.”
Woods, the first playing captain since Hale Irwin in 1994, tried not to do too much scoreboard watching while he was competing, but immediately put on his captain’s hat when he was done.
His performance invigorated the rest of his teammates. Wins by Woods, Dustin Johnson (4&3 over Haotang Li) and Patrick Reed (4&2 over C.T. Pan) gave the U.S. its first lead of the event at 11-10.
A tie between Tony Finau and Hideki Matsuyama gave each side a half-point, and when Sung-jae Im took down Gary Woodland, 4&3, the teams were tied 11½-11 ½. The U.S. was leading in three matches, down in three and tied in one at the time, leaving the Cup up for grabs.
Adam Hadwin had a chance to win a point for the Internationals with a 15-footer at the 18th. He just missed the cup, but made the putt to tie the match with Bryson DeChambeau.
Pat Cantlay then dismissed Joaquin Niemann 3&2 to give the Americans a 13-12 advantage. It was 14-12 after Xander Schauffele took out a game Adam Scott, 2&1, and when Webb Simpson beat Byeong-Hun An, 2&1, the U.S. needed just a half point from the final three matches to win the Cup, while the Internationals need to win all three just to tie and share the Cup.
Cameron Smith of Australia took out Justin Thomas 2&1 to tighten the score at 15-13. But when Matt Kuchar made a short putt on the 17th hole to go 1-up, it guaranteed at least a half point and secured the Cup. Kuchar and Louis Oosthuizen would end in a tie, as did Rickie Fowler in his match with Marc Leishman.
It made Woods a winning captain and improved the American record in this event to 11-1-1.
“I love playing with my teammates and couldn’t have a better group of guys to be captain for,” Woods said. “So having the ability to do both this week has been just a special experience and one that I will never forget.”