U.S. Loses Presidents Cup

Despite a spirited fightback by the United States, the International Team easily won the third Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne on Sunday.

Trailing by nine points and needing to win virtually all the singles matches on the final day, Jack Nicklaus ' side could manage only a 6-6 result and the first title played outside the U.S. went to the team made up of players from Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Japan, Fiji and Paraguay with a score of 20½ - 11½.

In wild celebrations afterwards, where Steve Elkington poured a bottle of beer over Greg Norman, Japan's Shigeki Maruyama, who came through the three days undefeated, was unofficially crowned the man of the series.

Price acknowledges the Melbourne crowded after clinching the victory. (AP)

Also standing out in a great team effort was the return to form of Craig Parry who played Justin Leonard in the first singles match today. Although he had not won for nearly a year, Parry played inspired golf to wrap up his match 5-3 and take the Internationals within a point of victory. The historic win was secured in the next match when Nick Price beat David Duval 2-1.

In the remaining contests, Phil Mickelson tied with Carlos Franco of Paraguay, Maruyama beat John Huston 3-2, Scott Hock beat Joe Ozaki 4-3, Mark Calcavecchia and Kiwi Greg Turner finished square, as did Lee Janzen and Steve Elkington, Ernie Els defeated Davis Love III 1-up, Vijay Singh and Fred Couples, who played the decided match in 1996, finished square, Tiger Woods beat Greg Norman 1-up in the long awaited clash and Mark O'Meara beat Stuart Appleby 1-up.

International captain Peter Thomson, who took the Internationals to within a point of victory two years ago, described his part in the win as "the biggest thing I've ever done". Coming from the winner of five British Opens, that is quite a statement.

The reaction among the U.S. team was mainly shock -- both at the loss and size of the winning margin.

"It never dawned on me that we would lose," said Mark Calcavecchia. "Did they want it more? No...well, maybe they did. The amazing thing was that it wasn't even close. That's probably the worst part about it. Losing by a point or two, you could have said, 'Well, just one putt here, one putt there'. They just all played well. I'm not sure that one guy in our team played outstanding, that we could say one of our guys played flawless the whole week."

Barbara Nicklaus consoles captain Jack following Price's clinching victory. (AP)

Woods was also bemused at the way the title was won with nternational players making incredibly long putts or holing shots from off the green at critical stages. "Ask the golfing gods," he replied when asked what had gone wrong.

Throughout the two-year lead-up to the biggest golfing event Australia has ever seen, Thomson referred to the U.S. line-up as the strongest golf team in the world. After winning by 10 points, he was asked where this left his team. "Good question," he replied. "But we played on virtual home soil. We have to recognise that and until we beat that team in the United States, I don't think we can crow (boast) too much."

For Price, who has played in all three Presidents Cups, the victory was especially sweet after the 16½-15½ loss two years ago. "I remember Ardena (Singh's wife) was crying her eyes out and we were trying to console her by saying that it was not just Vijay who had missed a putt (in the deciding match he lost to Couples), that one of us had missed a putt along the way."

"I think at the time the whole complexion of the Presidents Cup changed for me because I realised that you could take a group of 12 people from the four corners of the world and make them a team. At the first one, we weren't a team. At the second one we came pretty darn close. But this trip, thanks to Peter here, we were a team. We've surprised outselves."

Much has been made of the advantage the Internationals enjoyed at Royal Melbourne because all four Australians and two Kiwis in the team know the course intimitely. Norman estimated that he and Elkington had played it a total of 250 times in the past 20 years, a point not lost of O'Meara. "It takes time to learn," he said. "It takes time to learn Augusta National as well. They have the same designer (Alister Mackenzie) and the greens are similar."

The Americans said they would struggle to find a venue for the next title in the year 2000 where the Internationals would not feel at home. Calcavecchia suggested Florida and Woods agreed because many of the U.S. team lived there. "Yes, but so do some of them," said O'Meara. "We can't go anywhere," said Woods.

Nicklaus, the winner of six Australian Open titles and a very popular figure in Australia, was gracious in defeat.

"If you look back at the television coverage of this tournament, you would not have to make a highlights package," he said. "The whole thing was a highlight. The number of putts that were holed, the number of chips and pitches that were holed, the number of full shots that were holed, all at crucial times...sometimes, that is what it takes. I know that the game of golf has grown. We think it is a game that is played only in the United States. Huh. we didn't even invent it. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure how well we play it any more."

"These guys (the Internationals) played great. To have these guys from all over the world come together as a group...it is easy fous. We all come from one place. But to take a squad like Peter has and put them together, to fight for each other and root for each other and win is really special. I'm sure Peter is very, very proud.

"Royal Melbourne was magnificent. She showed her teeth for two days and then calmed down for a day and let our guys play a little bit better. I don't think we could have found a better conditioned golf course anywhere in the world. We'll walk away from today with a new international champion. I think the game of golf is better off for it."

Both the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, lobbied heavily for the title to return to Melbourne when it is next played outside the U.S. in 2002. The cameras zoomed in on PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem when they mentioned this. Ernie Els has already said he'd like to see the title in South Africa and Carlos Franco said Paraguay would be a good venue because there are only three courses and it would be easier to choose.

The marquee matchup between Norman and Woods was exciting, though meaningless. (Reuters)

"There is no formula in place," he said. "It is up to the various tours to sit down and talk about it. There is no schedule. There is absolutely no reason why we wouldn't want to play here again, I can tell you that. All the elements have been here to help stage a quality event. The business community has really supported us. The government has supported us. The fans have been wonderful. They've clapped and applauded louder for the International Team but they have applauded all the good shots of the American team and there hasn't been any cat calling or any of that kind of stuff. This is a wonderful gallery here in Melbourne. There isn't any reason we wouldn't want to play here but that is an issue that we have to talk to the players about, and the international organisations involved, and see what would make sense."