U.S. pulls even at Presidents Cup

GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Chris DiMarco's tee shot at No. 7 took a big hop at the front of the green and rolled into the cup, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk staged a late comeback, and Davis Love III and Stewart Cink survived a bit of controversy as the U.S. team drew even Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup.

The Americans spent most of the session leading in four of the five alternate-shot matches, but they won only two, halved two others and tied the International team at 8 1/2 . Still to come were five better-ball matches in the afternoon and the singles on Sunday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, where the Internationals have never won the Cup in three previous tries.

DiMarco and Phil Mickelson were already 1 up over Michael Campbell and Angel Cabrera when DiMarco used a 7-iron to ace the 187-yard par-3 seventh that juts into Lake Manassas. DiMarco threw his arms up and hugged Mickelson to celebrate the second hole-in-one in Presidents Cup history.

The United States Team pulled even with the International Team thanks to a 5 and 3 victory by Chris DiMarco and Phil Mickelson early Saturday.

DiMarco and Mickelson shot a 29 on the front nine and were 8-under-par through 15 when DiMarco's 15-foot birdie closed out the 5 and 3 victory. Mickelson, 0-5 at the Presidents Cup two years ago in South Africa, is 2-0-1 with DiMarco this week.

"We read putts the same, we have the same demeanors," Mickelson said. "We're really having a lot of fun."

Woods and Furyk were 2 up in their match when Woods' tee shot at the eighth hole went horribly awry and landed at the No. 9 tee, swinging the momentum that turned into a two-hole lead for Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby with two to play. But Furyk birdied the 17th with a 15-foot putt and put his approach within 4 feet for Woods to make birdie at No. 18, a celebratory close to a tense match that ended in a halve.

The Americans were poised to take a big overall lead in the matches, but they had several collapses on the back nine. Fred Funk and David Toms were 2 up after 12, but Tim Clark and Nick O'Hern won four of the next five holes to win 2 and 1.

Love and Cink were 4 up after 12, but they lost three of the next four to Mike Weir and Trevor Immelman before a misunderstanding brought play to a halt at No. 17. After Cink put his approach a foot from the pin, Love picked up the ball because he thought Weir had conceded the putt.

"It was my fault," Love said. "I heard him say 'good.' And he said 'Good shot, Stewie."'

A long discussion on the green ensued among captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, retired USGA rules chief Tom Meeks and the players.

"I didn't want him to pick up because if I missed, the match would be over," Weir said. "It was better for me to see the coin there."

During the discussion, Immelman said the penalty was a loss of the hole, which would have squared the match. Weir simply wanted Love to replace his ball, which is what the rule provides.

Weir made his putt to send the match to the 18th hole, where Immelman's long putt to halve the match lipped out, giving Love and Cink the victory.

The first match of the day featured the only two 2-0 teams, and they played to a draw.

Justin Leonard missed a 7-footer at the 17th that would have given him and Scott Verplank the lead over Adam Scott and Retief Goosen. Scott had a chance to win the match at the 18th, but his 25-foot birdie putt stopped inches short.