Woods and Stricker hammered in Melbourne

Golf:Adam Scott and KJ Choi's emphatic win against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker was the highlight of the Presidents Cup opening day, but the United States nevertheless held a 4-2 lead over the International team after today's foursomes.

Scott and Choi crushed Woods and Stricker 7&6 at Royal Melbourne to set a standard that, for the most part, their International team-mates failed to match.

Woods’ handshake with former caddie Steve Williams at the first tee was the only thing that went right for the 14-time major winner, who failed to register a single birdie.

“They got off to a good start and we just couldn’t keep up,” said a disappointed Woods.

“We kept the ball on the wrong side of the slopes and this golf course is so difficult that it’s hard to make up shots. They shot four under par on us.”

The Internationals led at the fifth hole in five of the six foursomes matches before the Americans mounted a concerted fightback on a layout that offered them few favours.

Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk beat Robert Allenby and Retief Goosen 4&3, David

Toms and Hunter Mahan prevailed 6&5 over South Korean pair KT Kim and YE Yang, while competition debutants Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson were the first to claim a point for the USA with a 4&2 victory over Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa.

Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar recovered heroically from two down with two to play to halve their match with Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day, while Bill Haas and

Nick Watney also rallied late for a share of the points with Geoff Ogilvy and Charl Schwartzel.

Baddeley had the opportunity to close out his match on the 17th green, but his two-metre putt for par slipped past the hole.

The Australian then drop-kicked his three-wood from the tee at the 419-metre par-four 18th into the trees to open the door for his opponents.

Els and his 20-year-old Japanese partner Ishikawa led by two after four holes, but could not keep it going. The momentum swung when Simpson holed birdie putts at five and six and thereafter, according to Watson, it was just a matter of staying relaxed.

“My job was just to loosen him up,” said Watson of his 26-year-old partner, who finished second on the PGA Tour money list last season.

“I told him a couple of jokes. I stopped him a couple of times and made him laugh and he just got into it. He changed his pace a little bit, and here we are.”

Conditions at the course were bright and sunny with an afternoon sea breeze that failed to develop into the stiff northerly that typically transforms Royal Melbourne from formidable to fearsome.

Tomorrow’s programme has been brought forward because of the forecast of afternoon thunderstorms.