Unsung heroes lead Internationals

MELBOURNE, Australia — Maruyama, Parry and Nobilo. Hardly golf’s big-name attractions.

But that trio — along with a few guys named Norman, Elkington and Price — combined to win the Presidents Cup from an American team that never seemed to be in the picture.

While the Internationals partied hard at a Melbourne casino Sunday night, many of the Americans packed their bags and left early today for the United States.

It was always going to take an extraordinary effort to beat the Americans — guys like Woods, O’Meara, Janzen and Couples — which had the top four players in the world rankings and eight of the top 15.

But the Internationals came up with one, and then some, so much so that a much anticipated match between Tiger Woods against Greg Norman was only for show. Two hours before the final putt was conceded, the champagne already was pouring for the International team.

“They played some of the most unbelievable golf,” said U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus. “Wow.”

Not even Woods’ 1-up victory over Norman could keep the United States from its worst loss in the history of match play — International 20 1/2 , United States 11 1/2 .

“We creamed them,” said Steve Elkington, who downplayed American comments that their putts didn’t drop and that the Internationals had holed too many impossible shots.

“We didn’t say that about Freddie Couples when he made it from two counties last time to win it,” Elkington said of the birdie putt that beat Vijay Singh two years ago in the deciding match.

“We’re down here trying and we made those shots. They didn’t.”

Craig Parry, who pulled off one of “those shots” on Saturday, steamrolled past Justin Leonard for a 5 and 3 victory on Sunday. Thirty minutes later, Nick Price polished off David Duval 2 and 1, and the celebration was on.

“We had a sour taste in our mouths from last time,” Parry said. “We wanted to have champagne in our mouths tonight.”

Pour the biggest drink for Shigeki Maruyama, the mighty mite from Japan who won the hearts of the Australian gallery and carried the International team by winning all five of his matches.Only Mark O’Meara in 1996 had gone 5-0 in the Presidents Cup.

“It wasn’t a question of beating America,” Price said. It was a question of winning that Cup. We want that trophy.”

Some of the best matches of the day didn’t even matter — Woods holding off a late charge by Norman, Fred Couples and Vijay Singh playing to a draw and O’Meara winning 1-up over Stuart Appleby.

International captain Peter Thomson described the U.S. team as the “greatest collection of golfers in the world” during the opening ceremonies.

Not this week. And particularly not at Royal Melbourne.

Until Sunday, the worst loss in U.S. history was 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 to Europe in the 1985 Ryder Cup at The Belfry, which turned out to be the start of European domination in those matches. Could the Presidents Cup be headed down the same path?

“We came in here as underdogs and came out showing the force of International golf,” Norman said.

It was vindication for an International team that had lost the first two Presidents Cup events, and proof that moving outside the United States does make a difference.

“We used to think golf was only played in the United States,” Nicklaus said. “We didn’t even invent it. I’m not even sure how well we play it anymore.”

From the time Frank Nobilo sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th to give the International team its first point of the matches on Friday, the Americans were never in the game.

Associated Press