Story highlights
Tiger Woods scores decisive points as U.S. retains Presidents Cup title
Americans beat International team by 18½-15½ at rain-hit Muirfield in Ohio
Woods beats Richard Sterne 1-up in Sunday's singles, before which U.S. led 14-8
World No. 1 suffered his only defeat in delayed morning foursomes
Tiger Woods doesn’t have a great record in team events, especially in light of his stellar solo achievements, but the world No. 1 helped the United States win the Presidents Cup for the fifth successive time Sunday.
Bouncing back from his first defeat of a week marred by bad weather at Muirfield Village, Woods clinched the decisive point against the visiting International team by defeating South African Richard Sterne.
The Americans have now held the title since 2000, with Fred Couples unbeaten as captain on the last three stagings – though he will stand down ahead of the 2015 event in South Korea.
“A three-peat’s good enough for me,” said the 54-year-old after the 18½-15½ triumph against a team featuring major champions such as Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Angel Cabrera.
Woods has won just 13 of 29 Ryder Cup matches for the U.S. but has earned the clinching point in the last three matches against the Internationals.
Read: Warrior Price on Presidents Cup battle
The U.S. dominated the match, and went into the closing singles with a 14-8 lead after the final foursomes results were finally completed Sunday morning.
Woods and playing partner Matt Kuchar suffered their first defeat, losing 1-down to South African Els and Zimbabwe’s Els Brendon de Jonge.
However, the 14-time major winner overcame a niggling back problem to beat 41st-ranked debutant Sterne 1-up with a half at the 18th hole.
“It feels good. It was a team effort this whole week. We played well and had a nice lead going into the singles,” said Woods, who earned just one point in fourballs and foursomes at the last Presidents Cup.
“I wasn’t feeling my best coming down the stretch. I had a 1-up lead and I tried to keep hold of that. I knew I wasn’t feeling well and I really didn’t want to play any more, so I really just wanted to get that half on the final hole and get it over with.”
Woods has been a winner five times at the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield, though rarely has the Ohio course been this waterlogged.
“It was a tough day, tough conditions – rain, wind all around. It was a long week, but it was worth it,” he said.
“A few of us are a little bit dinged up – I’m one of them – and our physios did a great job of getting us out there. I’ve never played three matches in a day before.
“I’m a little bit sore and I’m looking forward to not picking up a club for a while.”
Meanwhile, Europe won the Seve Trophy for the first time in more than a decade Sunday, beating Great Britain and Ireland 15-13 in France.
In a match missing many of the European team which shocked the U.S. on the last day of the Ryder Cup at Medinah, Italian Francesco Molinari sealed the result when he defeated England’s Chris Wood 3 and 2 in the decider.
“Everything went to the last match. The boys played really well today and I’m really happy to have won the Seve Trophy this time,” said European captain Jose Maria Olazabal, who led the 2012 Ryder team.
The competition is named after Olazabal’s great friend and Ryder Cup teammate, the late Severiano Ballesteros.
