For so many years, Ernie Els was the one everyone was cheering for but as captain of the Internationals, he is experiencing life on the ‘other side’.
READ: Internationals hold firm as US fight back
Els could only watch as his bold plan – on Friday he sent out five unique combinations despite watching his side go out to a 4-1 lead on Thursday – took shape and then lost ground late in the day as the USA fought back with two wins and a half in the final match. Ultimately, Els was happy with how his young side managed in the cauldron of battle aided by a partisan home crowd at Royal Melbourne.
‘I can understand how my friends and family have felt for so many years,’ said Els.
‘When you’re rooting for somebody, you really pull for them. That’s what I’m doing here. I’m like a parent this week. The crowd were brilliant today. I got on them a little bit yesterday. Today, we didn’t have to do anything. They were really supportive, and I think they were very fair to the U.S. team.
‘This is a home game for us. Although we have nine different nationalities representing our team, this is our home game. So we want the fan support.
‘I have some really young players in my team and they are learning as they go along.’
The Internationals lead 6.5-3.5 as they bid to win the cup for the first time since 1998 at the same venue.
Saturday fourballs: All times SA
Marc Leishman/Li Haotong vs Justin Thomas/Rickie Fowler – 22:02
Im Sung-jae/Abraham Ancer vs Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay – 22:16
Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan vs Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed – 22:30
Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun vs Matt Kuchar/Tony Finau – 22:44
