Presidents Cup Is About to Go International

America’s worst nightmare came true Saturday in the Presidents Cup. It turns out the International team was only warming up.

One day after Frank Nobilo’s thunderous 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th green gave the International team a jump start, Craig Parry pushed it to the brink of an insurmountable lead Saturday morning with another stunning finish.

Needing to get up and down to halve the alternate-shot match against Fred Couples and Tiger Woods, Parry rammed home a 50-foot birdie chip for a 1-up victory that swung the tide in the International’s favor.

When the dust had settled on another blistering hot, windy day at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, the International lead was at 11 1/2-3 1/2, giving them a chance to clinch the cup should they sweep the afternoon best-ball matches.

At this rate, anything was possible.

“The whole picture of the thing is hard to believe,” Mark Calcavecchia said. “We’re all in a state of shock. We’ve got to win all these afternoon matches.”

Calcavecchia and Lee Janzen accounted for the only U.S. points Saturday morning--a halve against Greg Norman and Steve Elkington, although they surely will look back on Janzen missing a two-foot par putt on the 16th hole that led to a halve.

“They’re playing very well,” U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus said of the Internationals. “But that’s the game of golf.”