Brandt Snedeker has given a self-critical assessment of his own Presidents Cup captaincy so far, with time quickly running out to avoid an embarrassing defeat for Team USA on home soil. Team USA came into the week as overwhelming favourites to claim a record-extending 11th consecutive victory, in a biennial event where much of the pre-tournament narrative was around whether change was needed to make it more competitive. Next to no hope had been given to Geoff Ogilvy's International Team, who earned their only Presidents Cup win in 1998 and have lost every edition since a 17-17 tie in 2003, but they are now five points away from completing a seismic shock at Medinah.
A clean sweep in the Friday foursomes gave the visitors a 7-3 advantage heading into Saturday's double session, where the Internationals saw the leaderboard filled with red numbers in both - indicating American leads - before delivering late fightbacks. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The Internationals claimed a share of the spoils in the afternoon foursomes to take a 10.5-7.5 advantage into the Sunday singles, just the fourth time they've led heading into the final day of a Presidents Cup and first experience of it on American soil. "It's tough when there's all red on the board, but to get 2-2 out of that afternoon session and to go into tomorrow with a lead, which was the goal at the start of the week, I'm very proud of them," Ogilvy said.
Team USA have been outpointed in foursomes for a second successive Presidents Cup and have been dominated on the par-threes around Medinah, with the International Team holding a 25-6 advantage on those holes. Snedeker's strategy and pairings have come under scrutiny, with Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman a winless foursomes pairing in two sessions and Wyndham Clark returning just one point from his four matches so far. Scottie Scheffler's torrid foursomes record for Team USA continued alongside Sam Burns, leading to him being benched on Saturday afternoon, with a frazzled Snedeker even getting muddled by his own selections during a live TV interview.
"I tried to work my tail off to put these guys in the best situation possible and I don't think I've done a very good job this week, to be where we are right now," Snedeker admitted in his press conference. "They [Team USA] look to me to put them in the best position where they're comfortable. I hold myself to a high standard - I don't think I've done the best job for them in that room.
"They've given me everything I could possibly ask for and I've just got to figure out ways to get these guys in better situations. I don't think I've held up my end of the bargain. The guys have done everything I've asked of them so far." It would be somewhat fitting if the Internationals could close out an elusive away victory on Sunday at Medinah, 14 years on from Team Europe producing their own unlikely success over Team USA at the same venue.
Europe's comeback from 10-4 down to win 14.5-13.5 in 2012 was miraculous enough for it to be the 'Miracle at Medinah', although their pre-tournament hopes had been far stronger that week than what was expected from the International Team here. There are still 40 per cent of the week's points on offer to be won on the final day, meaning the narrative can quickly change, while the Internationals have failed to reach five points in singles at two of the last three Presidents Cups. Three points is a far friendlier deficit to overcome than the United States faced at last year's Ryder Cup, where they briefly threatened to come back from seven behind before Europe eventually survived their scare to win 15-13.
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