Presidents Cup debutant Marc Leishman is well aware of the enormity of his unfinished foursomes match but he’s relishing being in the moment.
With rain ensuring four of the six foursomes matches on Friday were not completed and with the Internationals still trailing by a point (4.5 to 3.5), it is the Victorian’s match which looms large.
The USA leads two matches 3-up with holes running out at Muirfield Village Golf Club and Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama are in the box seat for the Internationals with a 4-up lead after 11 holes.
Leading just 1-up through 13 holes with Angel Cabrera in their alternate shot showdown with Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker, the 29-year-old knows a win is critical.
“Yeah, for sure (it is a pivotal point to gain),” Leishman said.
“Angel and I, we don’t want to lose our first two matches so we do need to finish this one off for ourselves and the team.
“I think it will be really good momentum for us if we can get across the line and there’s no reason why we can’t.
“I’m really excited. It’s good to be in close matches. Hopefully we can come out in the morning and make some birdies and finish it off.”
Leishman, who admitted to some nerves on the opening day, was now confidently hoping to be the guy to make an impact.
“I think you’ve got to want that five footer to win a match, you don’t want to be shying away from it,” he said.
“We are in a good position and, like I said, we need to finish our match off tomorrow morning and hopefully we can then back up and do some damage in the four ball tomorrow morning.”
The pair didn’t have a lead in the match until winning the 11th hole and backed it up with a win on the 12th before dropping the 13th.
Cabrera made a curling 20-footer for birdie on the 12th despite an obnoxious heckler in the crowd yelling out three times right before he was ready to pull the trigger.
On holing the putt the two-time major winner turned and pointed hard at the culprit.
“It was pretty satisfying for him, it was something that I think fires him up,” Leishman said.
“It was great that he could roll it in and do what he did and he got probably the biggest cheer of the week for us.”
While Scott is in great position in his match it wasn’t a fun day for Jason Day who along with Canadian Graham DeLaet were trounced 4&3 by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley.