DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods sat in a cart with a tiny squirrel resting on his shoulder. Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel walked onto the first tee wearing wigs to make up for their bad haircuts. Fred Couples had cupcakes delivered to him by the opposing captain in honour of his 54th birthday.
Opening day at the Presidents Cup was unlike any other Thursday at Muirfield Village.
Except for the score.
After six hours of fourballs that produced 102 birdies, two eagles and a new celebrity named “Sammy the Squirrel,” the Americans won the opening session for the fourth straight time, a solid start in their quest to maintain dominance in this event.
But it took a great save from a plugged lie in the bunker by Steve Stricker in the final match on the course to give the Americans a 3 1/2-2 1/2 lead. And despite being in another hole, this only felt like a divot to an International team inspired by the clutch play of Hideki Matsuyama, the South African duo of Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, and the refusal to be spooked from trailing early in every match.
“There’s plenty of heart on the team,” Adam Scott said. “And think we should take a lot of that.”
Ernie Els didn’t make a birdie until the 17th hole, but his 12-footer extended the match to the 18th hole.
The Internationals looked like they might win the last hole with a par when 20-year-old Jordan Spieth drove into the water and Stricker’s approach plugged into the face of the bunker. He blasted out to 3 feet, and de Jonge missed his 18-foot birdie putt to end a wild day.
“You don’t want anybody else to have to get that up-and-down other than Steve Stricker, so, God, what a match,” Spieth said. “It was incredible.”
That wasn’t the only highlight.
Scott chipped in for eagle on the 15th hole and Matsuyama holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the next hole to square their match against Bill Haas and Webb Simpson. Haas answered with an 18-foot birdie putt to go 1 up, only for the 21-year-old Japanese star to hit his 8-iron approach from 168 yards to 2 feet for birdie on the 18th to halve the match.
“There were so many birdies made, you really couldn’t keep up,” Couples said.
As for that squirrel?
Love found it on the second hole and kept it with him for good luck the rest of the way. It was on his wrist, in his pocket, and quickly became the team mascot.
At one point, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn put it on Woods’ back. It spooked her boyfriend, who at first looked bothered, but later became friends with Sammy.
“I carry a rabbit’s foot around a lot. I don’t know much about a squirrel, or a live squirrel,” Couples said.
The International team had its own mascot — Mother Nature.
The Americans bolted out to a big start and were ahead in all six matches early. The round was stopped for 1 1/2 hours because of thunderstorms, and while none of the matches had gone beyond the 10th hole, it felt like a chance for the Internationals to start over.
“The break did us really good,” Oosthuizen said. “We came back out, felt refreshed and just played well.”
Jason Day and Graham DeLaet rallied from 3 down to Hunter Mahan and Brandt Snedeker, winning on the 18th hole when Day made a 20-foot birdie putt.
Oosthuizen and Schwartzel gave Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson their first loss.
The South Africans, best of friends since junior golf, took their first lead on the 11th hole and didn’t lose another hole until they had a 2-and-1 win. Mickelson and Bradley were 3-0 as partners in the Ryder Cup last year and had a 2-up lead through seven holes on Bradley’s eagle. They didn’t win another hole the rest of the way, however.
“I had good rhythm early on and when we went back out (after the delay), I was just a little bit tight and didn’t make very good swings,” Mickelson said.
The Presidents Cup began with fourballs for the first time since 1996, which should have favoured the Internationals. Instead, the Americans won their first fourballs session in 10 years, dating to the second day in South Africa. Still, this was a moral victory for the International team.
“At the break, I just spoke to most of the guys and said, ‘Hey, the U.S. has had everything go their way the front nine, and just be patient,”’ captain Nick Price said. “And what a comeback they made.”
Muirfield Village was set up for birdies, and there were plenty of them. Ten of the 12 teams were at least 8-under par in their rounds.
The exceptions were Angel Cabrera and Marc Leishman, who were only 3 under in the shortest match of the day. They lost, 5 and 4, to Woods and Matt Kuchar. The Americans used a handshake from “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and they used it a lot.