Presidents Cup Ends in Sudden Deadlock

Tiger Woods called it one of his “most nerve-racking moments ever.” Ernie Els couldn’t make his legs stop shaking.

The best two players in the world were in a sudden-death playoff Sunday with the Presidents Cup riding on every shot after a stunning comeback by the Americans.

“You let everyone down with one putt,” Woods said. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

Ultimately, their captains felt it was too much for any one player, and so when the first-of-its kind playoff between golf’s biggest stars ended, it lacked one big thing.

A winner.

Woods and Els each made their putts on the third extra hole. Then, as darkness gathered over the Links Course at Fancourt, captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player decided they had seen enough.

They called it a tie.

“I have never seen two teams that played harder or played better,” Nicklaus said. “I did not find a team that deserved to lose.”

The defending champion usually retains the cup when the matches end in a tie.

Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed that both teams should share the cup, but only after a chaotic ending to an exquisite day.

First, the International team grudgingly accepted a tie until it was told that the United States -- as defending champion -- would retain the cup.

Player gathered his troops on one end of the green, Nicklaus took his to the other. About the time the International team said it wanted to return today to finish the playoff, the Americans countered with an offer to share the cup.

Deal.

“I think it’s the perfect decision,” Woods said. “To have two guys decide the fate of the whole team in extra holes like that, I don’t think any of the sides felt comfortable with that to begin with. We’re here as a team. And we’d like to decide it as a team.”

No other cup competition has a sudden-death option to decide the matches. It had never been used since the Presidents Cup was created in 1994. Even before the matches began Thursday, the two captains criticized the format because they felt it put too much pressure on one player. Still, neither thought it would come down to that.

But that’s how it played out.

The Americans, trailing by three points going into the final session of singles, charged back behind dominant performances by Woods, Charles Howell III and Jay Haas, and clutch play from Jerry Kelly, Kenny Perry and Chris DiMarco.

They were poised to win until Davis Love III muffed a difficult chip on the par-five 18th and took bogey, halving his match with Robert Allenby to give each team 17 points.

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At West Palm Beach, Fla., Meg Mallon outplayed Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam over the final nine holes and won the season-ending ADT Championship by one shot, finishing with a seven-under 281 total to win the $215,000 prize.

Trailing the Swede by a shot going into the par-three 17th waterfall hole, Mallon made a 15-foot birdie putt to pull even, and Sorenstam missed her opportunity for a playoff when she bogeyed the 18th.

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At Miyazaki, Japan, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark shot an even-par 71 to overtake third-round leader Sergio Garcia of Spain and beat Daisuke Maruyama of Japan by two shots in the Dunlop Phoenix tournament. Bjorn finished with a 12-under 272 total. Garcia, who had a three-stroke lead heading into the final round, had a 78 that left him in sixth place -- four shots back.

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At St. Simons Island, Ga., the United States kept the UBS Cup after Scott Hoch rallied from two holes down with five to play for a draw against Eduardo Romero. The draw not only gave the Americans a half-point, it also tied the competition, at 12-12, with the Rest of the World, which meant the U.S. kept the title.

The Americans have defeated the Rest of the World in all three meetings of the match-play event in which six members of each team are 50 years or older and six are 40 to 49.

The Rest of the World had led, 11-9, with four matches left at the Sea Island Resort Seaside Course. But victories by Brad Faxon and Hal Sutton and Raymond Floyd draw with Rodger Davis made it 11 1/2-11 1/2.