United States win thrilling Presidents Cup

US team members pose for group photo after a news conference of the 2015 Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea, 11 October – REUTERS

Reuters: The United States won the Presidents Cup for the ninth time in 11 editions of the event after beating the International team 15.5 to 14.5 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea on Sunday.

Bill Haas, the son of skipper Jay and a captain’s pick for the biennial event, scored the winning point by beating South Korean Bae Sang-moon two up in the last of the day’s 12 singles matches.

After 10 years of comfortable US wins, the one-point margin of victory was the narrowest since the Americans won 16.5 to 15.5 in Virginia in 1996.

An emotional US captain struggled to get through a televised interview next to the 18th green but said he had given his son a pep talk through the closing stages. “I told him, ‘Come on, win one for your mom, your mom deserves this’,” said captain Haas. “We put him out 12th and had no idea this was going to happen. Couldn’t even have dreamt this.” World number one Jordan Spieth was stunned by Australian Marc Leishman while number two Jason Day lost to American Zach Johnson on a day of unrelenting drama at the Cup, which was played for the first time in Asia.