Match by match: Recaps from Day 3 foursomes By Ryan Ballengee Nov 18, 2011 6:26 PM ET Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson (U.S.) d. Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy (International), 3 and 2 Watson and Simpson continued their winning ways, defeating Royal Melbourne specialists Allenby and Ogilvy. The Americans never trailed, winning the first two holes with birdies. The International duo pulled even with wins at the front-side par-3 third and fifth. The teams traded wins at the eighth and ninth to make the turn all square. From then on, the Internationals did not win another hole. Watson and Simpson won with a bogey at the par-4 12th when the Aussies took four to get on the green. The Americans sealed their third consecutive win with mid-range birdie putts at Nos. 14 and 16. The pair who faced off in a playoff in New Orleans have now taken all three of their matches from the lead-off spot ?a Presidents Cup first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa (International) d. Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar (U.S.), 1 up In their final match as a duo in this Presidents Cup, Ishikawa and Els went out as winners by the slimmest of margins. The Americans led from the beginning, winning the opening two holes with a birdie and an eagle. Setting the tempo for the match, the Internationals answered by taking the par-3 third and fifth holes. The U.S. duo rallied with winning pars at the sixth and seventh, taking advantage of inadequate approach play by the Internationals. Haas bunkered the Americans on the 10th and 12th holes with his approach shots, leaving Kuchar to extricate halves from the sand. But he was unable to get the ball close enough for Haas to make sandies, so the Internationals again pulled even. After the Americans won the 14th with a par, the Internationals took two straight holes to take the lead and keep it for good. Kuchar blasted his first putt at the par-5 15th some 20 feet past the pin, leading to a losing bogey. To secure the win, Ishikawa sank critical putts to halve the final two holes. The Japanese star sank a 14-footer to make par at No. 17, then holed a tricky 5-foot par putt to secure the full point. Ishikawa is done for the day, as he will sit out in the afternoon fourballs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hunter Mahan and David Toms (U.S.) d. Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel (International), 5 and 4 Mahan and Toms avenged a loss in the fourball session on Friday. The Internationals won just a single hole, the fourth, to take the early advantage. Following that win, the South Africans lost four of the next five holes. After Schwartzel short-sided his teammate at the fifth, a par was all the Americans needed to win. A hole later, Mahan holed out his second shot from 53 yards for an eagle at the short par-4 sixth. On the seventh, Mahan made a 21-foot birdie putt to go 2 up. Another International bogey at the ninth bookended the American run on the front side. The Internationals failed to hit the green at Nos. 13 and 14 and were unable to get up-and-down for par on both holes, so the Americans won to close out the match. Both foursomes matches won by Toms and Mahan were blowouts, including their 6-and-5 victory on Thursday. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson (U.S.) d. Adam Scott and K.J. Choi (International), 3 and 2 For the first time in this Presidents Cup, Woods came out a winner. Woods teamed with Johnson to take out Scott and Choi. Woods and Steve Stricker had lost, 7 and 6, in the anchor match of the Thursday foursomes to the same duo. The Americans got behind early after a three-putt at the par-3 third hole, but rallied with pars to win the seventh and eighth ?the two longest par 4s on the front nine. Choi and Scott were unable to get up-and-down from inside 20 yards to halve both holes. Choi made up for a poor pitch at the eighth with a tricky chip at the 11th, leading to a birdie to win the hole and square the match. It would be their final win, however. The American duo closed out the match with wins in the final three holes, beginning with a concession at the 13th when the Internationals had 143 yards to go after Woods found the green for the U.S. The Internationals three-putted the par-3 to lose the next hole, then split the 15th in par 5 before Woods drained a 16-foot putt to win the point. With the exception of the final 16-footer Woods made to secure the win, the American duo made almost no putts of significant length. The longest putt the team made was 5 feet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk (U.S.) d. Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day (International), 2 and 1 After 10 holes of their Saturday foursomes match, the American duo had no business winning a third consecutive match. Playing the final eight holes in 5 under, however, was enough to produce an astounding comeback. Swapping early wins with the Americans at the first and third, the Aussie duo took control of the match with wins at Nos. 4 and 5. To close the front nine, the teams traded wins with par on the final two holes of the side. The 10th hole may have been a turning point, however. The Americans were gifted a halve in bogey, then did not drop a shot or a hole for the remainder of the match. The Americans rattled off three straight wins with birdies, making putts of 13, 25 and 20 feet, respectively. Suddenly, Furyk and Mickelson had turned a deficit into a stunning lead. Two holes later, Furyk made a 21-foot birdie putt to win the par-5 15th, putting the squeeze on the Aussies. Mickelson secured the unlikely win on the penultimate hole in dramatic fashion. The four-time major winner made a putt of 52 feet, including a couple of feet of break, to make birdie and win the match. The undefeated duo, however, will not go for the sweep in the afternoon. Mickelson volunteered to sit for the first time in his Presidents Cup career.