Phil Mickelson capped a dominating Day Two for the United States, which won four of the five four-ball matches and halved the other while building an 8-2 lead over the International team in the 12th Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J.
The 47-year old Mickelson sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to steal a 1-up victory with Kevin Kisner from Adam Scott and Marc Leishman of Australia, who held a 2-up lead after 10 holes and never trailed until Leishman missed an 11-footer after Lefty’s final putt dropped.
Kisner and Mickelson (pictured right) celebrated with an impromptu and awkward dance on the green.
“I’m clearly the worst selfie-taker and I can’t … dance, but I can putt,” said Mickelson, who is making his 23rd consecutive start for the U.S. in the Ryder and President cups.
“I only matters what the score is at the end of the day. (The Aussies) played great with birdies on the first four holes, and (Kisner) kept us in it with three birdies on the first eight holes. We were fighting to stay in it all day.
“It’s incredible to finish a match like this.”
Presidents Cup rookies Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell started the U.S. surge with a 6-and-5 victory over Anirban Lahiri of India and Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler beat Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, 3 and 2, and Dustin Johnson teamed with Brooks Koepka for a 3-and-2 victory over Adam Scott of Australia and Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela.
Grace and Oosthuizen were 5-0 together in the last two President Cups, including 4-0 two years ago in South Korea, before losing.
Adam Hadwin of Canada and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan prevented a shutout by halving their match with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
“It was fun to be out there and I made some putts, but we’re glad to get a halve,” Hadwin said.
Chappell, from Fresno and UCLA, and Hoffman, from Poway and UNLV, kicked-started the Americans in their first Presidents Cup.
They weren’t happy after being the two players chosen to sit out by Captain Steve Stricker on Day One.
“Nobody likes to sit, but we understand that Steve Stricker has a gameplan, although it’s still tough to take,” the 40-year-old Hoffman said. “That gave us a little fire and we were ready to play.”
Added Chappell: “We don’t want to sit again, so we were excited to get our first chance to represent our country. The crowds were great and we were happy to get that first point of the day.”
There will be four foursomes matches on Saturday morning and four four-ball matches in the afternoon, before the Sunday finish of 12 singles matches.
The leader have two days has never lost in the 11 previous the Presidents Cup.
“That was unbelievable way to finish the day,” Stricker said of Mickelson’s putt. “It wasn’t going in our favor early in the day, but we stepped up and got the job done. Phil knocking that one in should give us great momentum going into tomorrow.”
The U.S. leads the Internationals, 9-1-1, and has never lost on U.S. soil.
