U.S. still leads by 2, but Woods loses again

Melbourne, Australia – The U.S. and International teams split balls, but the Americans are still ahead by two at the Presidents Cup.

The U.S. leads 7-5 at a windy Royal Melbourne, but once again got nothing from Tiger Woods.

Woods, playing the four-balls with Dustin Johnson, lost to Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley, 1-up, a day after Woods and Steve Stricker were dealt a record-tying loss.

In his much-anticipated match against Adam Scott and Steve Williams, the caddie who used to work for Woods and made racially-insensitive comments about him, Woods and Stricker were dusted, 7 & 6, by Scott and K.J. Choi on Thursday to equal the most lopsided match in Presidents Cup history.

Woods, a controversial pick by U.S. captain Fred Couples, is now the only American without at least a half-point through the first two sessions.

He hasn't won in over two years, slipping to 50th in the world rankings. And with Keegan Bradley -- who titled twice this season, including the PGA Championship -- sitting at home, the pressure was on Woods.

Friday was a little better in that his match at least went to the 18th hole. In windy, demanding conditions, Woods missed his share of greens, but his short game was strong.

"Wedges aren't holding and anything above that is definitely not holding," Woods said in a televised interview. "It's just really hard. You have to play wind on putts. It's a tough day."

But Baddeley was the key to the Internationals' victory.

After missing a short putt on the 17th Thursday, then duffing a three-wood on the 18th tee, Baddeley, one of Greg Norman's captain's picks, was brilliant. He holed a four-foot par putt to clinch the victory at the site of his letdown the previous day.

"I was very disappointed yesterday, felt like I really let Jason down," Baddeley said on TV. "It was great to come through today and make a good four on the last to win."

"I'm extremely proud of the boys, especially Aaron Baddeley," Norman said. "He came back, bounced back. So good for his confidence. Just proud of him."

The first point of the day went to the same American team that earned the first point on Thursday. Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson combined for a 3 & 1 victory over Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa, their opponents in the foursomes as well.

The next point came from the American duo of Matt Kuchar and Stricker, who were split from their Thursday partners. The U.S. side made six birdies in the diabolical conditions and bested Y.E. Yang and Robert Allenby, 4 & 3.

Baddeley and Day got the Internationals on the board next, but a pair of American veterans picked up the seventh point for their side.

Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk hung on for a 2 & 1 win over Scott and Kyung-tae Kim. The Americans, who've been on every international team together since 1997, are 2-0.

"This was a case where we're trying to read the wind on the putts," Mickelson said. "Apparently we did a good job because Jimmy made a bunch of good, solid four- and five-footers."

Geoff Ogilvy sank one of those solid five-footers for par on the 18th to lead himself and Choi to a 1-up win over Nick Watney and Bill Haas.

Retief Goosen and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel got the International squad the final point of the day in the anchor match. They toppled David Toms and Hunter Mahan, 2 & 1.

The two late points from the Internationals helped keep the matches close.

"We hung in there. We won three points," Couples said in a televised interview. "We did not lose any ground. We're still up by two, so I like where we sit."

NOTES: Choi is the only International player with a 2-0 record...Mickelson, Furyk, Watson and Simpson are undefeated for the U.S...There will be five foursomes matches Saturday morning and five four-ball matches in the afternoon.