Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were perfect as Presidents Cup partners, and they got enough help from everyone else yesterday to put the Americans in position to stay perfect on home soil.
With an improbable rally by Woods in the morning and pure putting by Stricker in the afternoon, they became the first partnership in the Presidents Cup, and the first in 30 years of any team competition, to go 4-0.
Phil Mickelson had a chance to join them with an undefeated record using different partners. Mickelson and Sean O'Hair each had a birdie putt inside 15 feet on the final hole to scratch out another win, but had to settle for a halve.
The International team walked away from Harding Park the last two days with momentum from keeping it close. But as darkness fell across from Lake Merced, the deficit looked daunting with 12 singles matches remaining today.
The Americans had a 121/2-91/2 lead. No team has rallied from three points behind on the final day to win the cup outright, and the Americans have lost only one singles session in the seven previous Presidents Cup matches.
In afternoon fourballs, Woods only had to watch Stricker make one long birdie putt after another in a 4-and-2 victory against Y.E. Yang and Ryo Ishikawa, 18, the first loss for the Asian duo.
Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim held on for a 2-up victory against Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera, assuring the Americans the lead going into the final day of 12 singles matches.
The International team picked up easy victories in fourballs from Weir and Ernie Els, who had a 5-and-3 win against Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard; and Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby, winning 2-and-1 against Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink.
Glover is the only American without a point going into singles.
Woods and Stricker are the first partners to go 4-0 in any team competition since Larry Nelson and Lanny Wadkins won all their matches in the 1979 Ryder Cup at The Greenbrier.
"What he did in this morning's round made me want to do something and step up a little bit," said Stricker, who had seven consecutive 3s on his card. "Fortunately, I was rolling it pretty well."
It was vintage Woods in the morning foursomes matches.
He and Stricker trailed most of the match and had to work hard to stay 1 down with two holes remaining. It looked as though the match might end on the 17th hole, when Clark hit wedge to five feet for a birdie. Woods tried to drive the green and found a bunker, and Stricker hit a poor shot 25 feet below the cup.
If Woods missed and Weir made, the match was over.
Woods' putt dropped on the final turn, and he showed more emotion than he has all week, repeatedly pumping his fist as Stricker broke into a wide grin. Weir pushed his putt, and suddenly the match was all square.
On the par-5 18th, with Weir already in the greenside bunker, Woods hit a 3-iron so pure that he twirled the club and held his arms out as he walked toward the green, as if putting a hex on the ball. It stopped eight feet away, and they won the watch when Clark blasted long out of the bunker.
"The stage is set, and he comes through again today," Stricker said. "It's pretty impressive."
Cink and Hunter Mahan already rallied in the morning, trailing for 13 consecutive holes until they cobbled up a birdie on the 18th to earn a halve against Allenby and Vijay Singh. Those two matches -- a three-point swing -- gave the Americans a 10-7 lead in the morning, and they were headed toward at least a two-point lead going into today.
That bodes well for another Presidents Cup victory for the Americans, who have never lost on home soil and lead the series, 5-1-1. The International team has won only one singles session -- two years ago at Royal Montreal -- and the Americans have a 47½-36½ lead in singles.
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