Australia's Steve Elkington and New Zealand's Frank Nobilo accused the United States of bad sportsmanship after the International team inflicted an embarrassing, 20-11 defeat on the star-studded American team in the President's Cup yesterday. The Internationals, a 12-man team made up of players from seven different countries, won the President's Cup for the first time with an emphatic, nine-point victory at Royal Melbourne - the biggest defeat ever of an American team in professional match-play.
But the Americans played down the performance of the Internationals, suggesting the difference between the teams was luck.
"We've played some pretty good golf this week, but when a team is making it in from 50 feet on the last hole to win matches, holing out on the first hole, chipping in, well there's nothing you can do about it," world number one Tiger Woods said.
The Internationals led 7-3 after the first day of foursomes and four-ball matches and by nine points after the second day, 14-5. The third day finished 6-6 but the final victory margin was still the biggest against an American team, eclipsing Europe's five-point win in the 1985 Ryder Cup.
Mark O'Meara, the reigning US Masters and British Open champion, said the Internationals were the better team, but added they had had a slice of good fortune.
"They were just going in from everywhere. If it wasn't Ernie Els making one, it was Vijay (Singh), if it wasn't Vijay, it was Greg (Norman) or Steve Elkington."
The Americans' comments upset several members of the International team, particularly Nobilo, who holed a 45-foot putt on the 18th hole on Friday to give the Internationals a win in the second match of the tournament.
"I think that's sour grapes because it happened to us two years ago," Nobilo said.
The Internationals certainly enjoyed the better fortunes over the course of the three-day event, but their players said it was due to good play rather than luck.
Norman and Joe Ozaki both pitched in for eagles at crucial times, while Craig Parry chipped in for a birdie on the 18th as he and Shigeki Maruyama scored an amazing one hole win over Woods and Fred Couples.
Els, Singh and Elkington all holed putts over 40 feet while the Americans managed only a handful of long putts and missed a lot of shorter ones.
Elkington said he was disappointed the US team had not given enough credit to the Internationals, particularly after the US won the last President's Cup by a single point.
"We didn't say that about Freddie Couples when he made it in from two counties last time to win it," Elkington said.
