This archive report was first published on 12 December 2019.
On a gusty day at the sandbelt course, Ernie Els' rookie-laden Internationals outfit played fearlessly, routing Tiger Woods' United States in the fourballs matches.
Woods, the playing captain, anchored a comprehensive 4&3 win with Justin Thomas over Australian Marc Leishman and Chilean debutant Joaquin Niemann, but that was as good as it got for the U.S.
They were consistently bamboozled by Royal Melbourne's undulating greens, with Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland being thrashed by South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and Mexican Abraham Ancer.
Ancer had a dream Presidents Cup debut, rolling in a 68-foot bomb on the par-four 12th to all but wrap up the match.
Home hero Adam Scott and South Korea's An Byeong-hun made it 2-1 for the hosts when Scott rolled in a six-foot putt for par on the 17th, clinching a 2&1 win over Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau.
A banner day for the Internationals was complete on the 18th hole, when Patrick Reed missed a long putt to halve the hole and concede a second 1-up win to the east Asian duo of Hideki Matsuyama and CT Pan.
Woods vowed that the U.S. were 'not done, we're not out of it yet', and that 'this is a long week'.
