Match by match: Presidents Cup Day 2 fourballs By Ryan Ballengee Nov 17, 2011 11:30 PM ET Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson (U.S.) d. Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa (International), 3 and 1 Forget Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods. The Americans have found a new juggernaut pairing in Simpson and Watson. They beat Ishikawa and Els in a reprise of their Thursday foursomes match. "We got off to a pretty good start, but the pins were very hard today and were tough to get close to," Simpson said. The Americans struck first with a Simpson birdie at the par-3 third hole before giving it back to a par by the Internationals at the fourth. A birdie by Watson at the sixth and par by Simpson at the seventh allowed the Americans to regain a lead they would not relinquish. The teams each won two holes on the back nine before the Americans went dormie. A par at the 17th gave the first point of the session to Simpson and Watson. Watson is pleased with his partner. "He's doing good right now, and I'm riding his coattails pretty good, and somehow we got two W's out of it," Watson said. For the first time in Presidents Cup history, the same pair has gone out in the opening match of the first two sessions and won. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day (International) d. Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson (U.S.), 1 up For the first time in his Presidents Cup career, Woods has begun 0-2. Woods and new partner Johnson lost a closely contested match against Aussies Day and Baddeley. Only three holes were won by either side in the entire match, with just one coming on the back nine. Woods won his first and only hole of the opening two sessions with a birdie at the par-4 fourth. The 14-time major winner made just one more birdie in the round - at the par-5 15th ?but it was only good enough for a tie on the hole. Baddeley could not sink a putt to win on the 17th hole for the second consecutive day, but made good on the 18th. Hitting an iron off the tee to insure placement in the fairway, Baddeley found the green and made a critical two-putt for the clinching par. "I felt like I let him down yesterday, so it felt great to come through today," Baddeley said afterwards. If Woods loses his next match, it will equal the longest skid of his Presidents Cup career. He lost the final three pairs matches at Royal Melbourne in 1998. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk (U.S.) d. Adam Scott and Kyung-tae Kim (International), 2 and 1 Mickelson and Furyk may each be struggling with their form, but have managed to win both of their opening Presidents Cup matches. They never trailed against Scott and Kim. The newly minted Hall of Famer and Furyk each won two holes though both struggled to maintain confidence on the greens. "This is crazy because when you get wind like this on greens that are 14 on the Stimpmeter, it's very hard to putt," Mickelson said. "I hit a couple of good putts early on that didn't go in [which] affected my confidence." A day after torching Royal Melbourne against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, Scott could only manage one birdie on the round. Furyk made several critical short putts down the stretch, posting the Americans' score on all but one hole of the back nine. The '03 U.S. Open champion said his team's point came in ugly fashion. "We ham-and-egged it out there pretty well today," Furyk said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Geoff Ogilvy and K.J. Choi (International) d. Bill Haas and Nick Watney (U.S.), 1 Up Watney barely contributed, with the Americans using his score on just four holes. Haas was responsible for both American wins, including an eagle at the par-4 11th. Haas drove the green from 333 yards, leaving a 7-footer for a deuce. The two wins by the FedEx Cup champion neutralized early wins by Ogilvy with birdies at the fifth and sixth holes. Ogilvy took the final hole won in the match at the 12th after both Haas and Watney made bogeys following errant drives. Choi became the leading player for the Internationals. He is the only player on the team to record two wins. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar (U.S.) d. Y.E. Yang and Robert Allenby (International), 4 and 3 Stricker did not win a hole. Kuchar's score was the one used in all five holes won by the Americans. The duo did need Stricker's score for seven halved holes. Kuchar won three of four holes between the third and sixth, two of them with birdies. Until Kuchar made birdie at the 12th hole to go 3 up, Stricker carried the team. The duo clearly worked well together, playing 6 under in 15 holes. Yang was paired with Allenby as part of captain Greg Norman's strategy to create five teams with an Australian serving as sherpa to their partner around Royal Melbourne. The 2009 PGA champion did the bulk of the work, however, contributing on 10 holes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel (International) d. Hunter Mahan and David Toms (U.S.), 2 and 1 Maybe all it took for Goosen to get on track at Royal Melbourne was to pair with a fellow South African. Goosen and Masters champion Schwartzel jumped out to an early lead as Goosen won the second and third holes. Schwartzel extended the lead to 3 up with a birdie at the short par-4 11th. The Americans managed just a single win in the match, taking the 14th with a par after three players missed the green at the gusty par 3. Toms and Mahan beat themselves by hitting just 14 of 34 combined greens in regulation.