Internationals lead after Day One

The International team engineered a late fightback to grab a three-and-a-half to two-and-a-half lead over the United States after the opening day of the Presidents Cup on Thursday.

It proved a day of comebacks for the Internationals with hometown hero Ernie Els and Australian Adam Scott producing a late charge to sink three birdies on the last three holes to beat the tough combination of Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk.

Captain Gary Player’s decision to pair Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh worked wonders with the duo beating Americans Chris DiMarco and Jerry Kelly three and two to grab the first point of the tournament.

But Player probably overplayed his hand in giving rookies Tim Clark and Australian Peter Lonard the task of trying to tame veteran Davis Love III and Kenny Perry. They started badly and never really recovered in going down four and two.

Nick Price and Mike Weir managed to get the Internationals back in the lead briefly when they survived an entertaining see-saw ride against David Toms and Phil Mickelson, eventually winning one up on the last hole.

But Tiger Woods and Charles Howell III were on song and swamped Australian Stuart Appleby and Korean KC Choi four and three.

Meanwhile, Americans Jay Haas and Fred Funk disintegrated over the closing holes after being two up with two to play, having to settle for a half in their match against Australians Robert Allenby and Stephen Leaney.