Tiger Woods clinches Presidents Cup for eighth time

Tiger Woods, right, celebrates with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn (Reuters)

The United States won the Presidents Cup for the eighth time last night, beating the Internationals 18½ to 15½ at Muirfield after Tiger Woods clinched the victory by beating South African Richard Sterne.

Woods secured the decisive point by safely parring the final hole of his singles match. The world No 1, despite visibly suffering from back pain over the closing holes, came from one down after eight holes to seal a one-up win that gave the US an unassailable lead with two singles matches still to finish. “It feels good. It was a team effort this whole week,” Woods said. “It was a tough day, tough conditions, rain, wind. It was tough all around. It was a long week but it was worth it. We did it.”

The US had needed only four points from the 12 singles to keep the cup having established a lead of 14-8. However, the Internationals mounted a gutsy fightback, winning seven and a half of the matches.