Aaron Baddeley staged his golfing redemption to keep International hopes alive with the round of the tournament so far on a day of "carnage" at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
Having squandered a two-hole lead with two to play to share the honours in Thursday's foursomes round, Baddeley took
charge in yesterday's four-ball with fellow Australian Jason Day to claim a hard-fought, one-up victory over two of the biggest names in golf.
The two-time Australian Open winner took responsibility for the foursomes result he said had inspired him for the four-ball round.
"I felt I let Jason down yesterday," Baddeley said.
"Yesterday was very disappointing and I was determined it wouldn't happen again."
With Day again his partner, Baddeley seized the opportunity to be true to his word as soon as their American opponents Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson made a slip.
When the chance came at the 13th, Baddeley slotted a 12m birdie putt to take a one-hole lead he and Day refused to surrender.
For Day the round was a reversal of the foursomes.
"It felt like I was sitting there watching Aaron play the whole round," Day said. "It was a round I'll be happy to forget for me, but I had the right partner."
Woods' loss left him as the only American after two days not to have been part of a winning combination.
On a day of high wind, high tension and high endurance, the Internationals showed steely resolve to split the four-balls 3-3, with the US leading 7-5 overall.
Australia's Geoff Ogilvy combined with Korean KJ Choi to claim the second International win as they edged Bill Haas and Nick Watney one-up.
South African pair Charl Schwartzel and Retief Goosen held their nerve to win the day's final match 2 and 1 over Hunter Mahan and David Toms.
Organisers started the four-ball rounds two hours ahead of schedule to avoid a forecast thunderstorm which didn't eventuate.
After six hours on the course in a howling northerly wind, the players would have welcomed the rain.
Australia's Adam Scott, who with partner KT Kim of Korea went down 2 and 1 to Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, said he was only thankful it was match play.
"It's carnage on a golf course like this today," Scott said.
"Thank goodness it's match play and we weren't actually counting our strokes."
But Scott still praised the course for its ability to still play fair under such testing conditions.
"That's a true testament to how good a golf course this is," he said.
"It's a great course that can play fairly on conditions like this."
Mickelson, who won his second match of the tournament beating Scott and Kim, said the conditions were among the most difficult he has played in.
"This is crazy," Mickelson said.
"You had to read the wind on the putts."
To Baddeley, the rise from the disappointment of a day earlier is viewed as a confidence builder for the entire International team.
"Jason and I are a team and I feel we feed well off each other," he said.
"The win gives us confidence and hopefully gives the other guys confidence as well."
- AAP
Australia's captain Greg Norman, left, congratulates Aaron Baddeley. Photo / AP
Aaron Baddeley staged his golfing redemption to keep International hopes alive with the round of the tournament so far on a day of "carnage" at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
Having squandered a two-hole lead with two to play to share the honours in Thursday's foursomes round, Baddeley took
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