Presidents Cup 2015: Jordan Spieth-Dustin Johnson pairing falls in Friday four

The South Africa duo of Grace and Oosthuizen has been the driving force for Captain Nick Price.

United States’ Bubba Watson, left, and teammate J.B. Holmes celebrate after defeating worldwideteam player’s Adam Scott of Australia and Hedeki Matsuyama of Japan 3 & 2 in their foursome matches at the Presidents Cup g…

Friday’s four-balls also saw the first moment of controversy at the biennial event, being played in Asia for the first time, when American Phil Mickelson was penalized for changing the type of ball he was playing on the seventh hole.

“Pricey had the idea to get us up in there because we had a good one yesterday and try to lead the whole team from the front”, said Grace. Haas rolled in a birdie putt on the 16th hole to cut the deficit to 1 down with two holes remaining, but Schwartzel won the match with a birdie on the 17th. That hole was halved, but it was a statement sent early that a USteam of power and putting would be tough to beat.

United States’ J.B. Holmes, left, and partner Bubba Watson celebrate after winning a hole during their four ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, Frida…

Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar, United States, halved with Bae Sang-moon and Hideki Matsuyama, International. Bae is playing his final event before his mandatory military service starts in South Korea.

“When [Price] came around again, I said, ‘I’ll play, ‘” Oosthuizen said. He won two matches on the day.

The last three morning matches all went to the 18th hole. The globalled 1 up with two holes to play when Johnson hit a tee shot to 7 feet and Spieth made the birdie to square the match.

The teams split both sessions. He holed a bunker shot and made several other great plays to do his part in keeping the Americans on top.

The Americans took a quick lead with a birdie on No. 2, only for the South Africans to birdie the next hole. Oosthuizen hit into the water, and it was so dark that Grace didn’t even know it. From 263 yards with a chilly wind in his face, he blasted a 3-wood that narrowly cleared a bunker and settled on the edge of the green. On the 18th, Bae missed the green and chipped to 12 feet, and he poured in the birdie putt for the win. globalwon the par-5 15th, and closed out the match when Oosthuizen made a 6-foot par on the 16th. They had no trouble getting their first win at the Presidents Cup. History is still against the globalteam.

This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.