Now we have ourselves a ballgame in South Korea.
The Internationals, desperate after losing Day 1 of the Presidents Cup to the U.S. by a 4-1 count, made a strong comeback in the Friday session of five fourball (best ball) matches, cutting the American lead to a point a 5.5-4.5 through 10 matches.
Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, clearly the most potent beat world No. 1 Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson by a 4-and-3 count in the opening match to set the tone. In the second match, Korean Sangmoon Bae and Kiwi-by-way-of-Korea Danny Lee riled up the South Korean crowd and took home a point against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, the hard-luck duo that plays opponents close but cannot seem to finish off matches. Thongchai Jaidee and Charl Schwartzel took home the final full point for the Internationals in the anchor match of the session against Chris Kirk and Bill Haas, both who sat out on Thursday.
For the United States, J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson earned their second full point in as many tries, scoring a 2-up win over Marc Leishman and Steve Bowdtich. And, despite the rules kerfuffle on the seventh hole that caused them to lose one hole twice, Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson managed a halve against Jason Day and Adam Scott.
The Saturday scene is a full slate of matches, featuring two four-match sessions — one of fourballs, one of foursomes, with foursomes leading.
Here’s a look at the morning slate, which started at 8 a.m. local time after a weather delay:
Match 11: Patrick Reed/Rickie Fowler (USA) vs. Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace (Int’l) — Fowler and Walker get broken up because they can’t win, so Fowler gets another fiery partner in Patrick Reed to take on the South African duo of Ooshtuizen and Grace. At this point, the South Africans have supreme confidence, and you can pencil them in for the lead slot in the afternoon, too.
Match 12: J.B. Holmes/Bubba Watson (USA) vs. Adam Scott/Marc Leishman (Int’l) — International captain Nick Price cannot seem to find a good partner for Scott, whose putting hasn’t been good despite the switch to a traditional-length putter. Watson and Holmes run a brilliant golf detective agency, snooping out points. They should win this.
Match 13: Bill Haas/Matt Kuchar (USA) vs. Sangmoon Bae/Hideki Matsuyama (Int’l) — Haas and Kuchar weren’t successful in their opening matches with different partners, so captain Jay Haas put them together in hopes of creating hard-luck winners. Bae was brilliant down the stretch on Friday, so Price must be hoping Matsuyama’s ballstriking can set up some clutch Bae putts.
Match 14: Dustin Johnson/Jordan Spieth (USA) vs. Jason Day/Charl Schwartzel (Int’l) — Johnson and Spieth looked tired and out of sync on Friday, but looked brilliant in the alternate-shot format. Haas is hoping for a similar result this time around, while Day draws Schwartzel, who was helpful in teaming with Jaidee.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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