(CNN) -- Tiger Woods suffered the
heaviest match play defeat of his career on Thursday, but the U.S. golf team
still emerged from day one of the Presidents Cup with a 4-2 lead over the
Internationals.
Former world number one Woods and
Steve Stricker were handed a tournament record-equaling 7&6 beating by
Australia's Adam Scott and South Korean K.J. Choi at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
It was the first time Woods had come
up against ex-caddy Steve Williams, now working with Scott, since the New
Zealander aimed a racial slur at his former employer earlier this month.
They shook hands before and after the
match, and Woods later said: "There's some great things that Steve and I
did, and that's how I look at it. I know he probably looks at it differently
than I do, but hey, life goes forward."
What can you learn from golf?
It was Woods and Stricker's first
loss as a pairing at the Presidents Cup, having won all four matches together
in 2009, but the U.S. still finished with a lead thanks to victories in three
of the day's six matches.
The last time a match was completed
so quickly -- after only 12 holes -- was in 1996 when South Africa's David
Frost beat American Kenny Perry in a singles clash.
"Unfortunately, they got off to
a quick start and we just couldn't keep up," the 35-year-old Woods told
the tournament's official website. "We kept falling to the wrong side of
these slopes. The golf course is so difficult, it's hard to make up
shots."
They will have new partners for
Friday's fourballs, when Woods teams up with Dustin Johnson and Stricker joins
Matt Kuchar.
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politics
Unfortunately, they got off to a
quick start and we just couldn't keep up
Tiger Woods
"It seemed like we were just a
little bit off," Stricker said. "It seemed like I put him in the
rough by a foot or so. If you're in the rough here, trying to hit to some of
these greens is pretty difficult."
Scott admitted the win was a pleasing
one, but because it was on home soil rather than over Woods.
"A good win, because they were a
tough team last time, took a lot of points off us," said the 31-year-old.
"So it was pleasing to get one up there."
Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson got the
U.S. off to the perfect start, carding a 4&2 win over South Africa's
three-time major winner Ernie Els and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and
Geoff Ogilvy threw away a two-hole lead with just four to play to halve their
clash with American pairing Bill Haas and Nick Watney in match two.
Australian duo Aaron Baddeley and
Jason Day were two-up through 16, but lost the final two holes to halve with
Johnson and Kuchar.
My guys felt like they let a few
matches slip away, no question about it
Greg Norman
Match four saw four-time major
champion Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk playing together for the first time since
the 1999 Ryder Cup, and the Americans lost just one hole on their way to
scoring a 4&3 win over Retief Goosen and Robert Allenby.
The U.S. team's third victory was
even more emphatic, as Hunter Mahan and David Toms overpowered South Korean duo
Y.E. Yang and K.T. Kim by 6&5.
U.S. captain Fred Couples, who guided
the American team to success at the last Presidents Cup in 2009, was relieved
to see his players grab the lead despite being in losing positions.
"It did not look like 4-2 about
an hour and a half ago," the 1992 Masters winner said after play had
finished. "We'll take that any day."
International captain Greg Norman was
left frustrated, but the Australian insisted his players were focused on the
next three days of competition.
"My guys felt like they let a
few matches slip away, no question about it," reflected the two-time
British Open winner. "But they all understand. It's the game of golf.
"It does happen. Their heads are
really held high. They are not worried about the next three days going
forward."
CNN.COM
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