2003 Presidents Cup Ended In a Tie (Rosters, Scores, Player Records)

This was the fifth time the Presidents Cup was played. After the teams tied, the overall standings in the event's history was USA 3, International 1, with one tie. The 2003 Presidents Cup is the only one that involved a sudden-death playoff between the teams. And it's the only one that failed to produce a winner, resulting in the "sharing" of the cup. That's because darkness halted the playoff before a winner could be decided.

Final Score: International 17, USA 17, tie

Dates Played: Nov. 20-24, 2003

Location: Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate (Links Course) in George, Western Cape, South Africa

Team Captains: Jack Nicklaus (USA) and Gary Player (International)

Team Rosters:

• International — Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, K.J. Choi, Tim Clark, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Stephen Leaney, Peter Lonard, Adam Scott, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir.
• USA — Chris DiMarco, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Jay Haas, Charles Howell III, Jerry Kelly, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, David Toms, Tiger Woods.

What Happened in the 2003 Presidents Cup

Recall that at the Ryder Cup, the defending champion needs only tie the overall score in order to retain the cup. At this time, however, the Presidents Cup had a rule stating that if the overall score finished tied, one player from each side was selected and those two players played off, sudden death, to decide the victor. (That rule has since been changed — the Presidents Cup now follows the Ryder Cup rule.)

In 2003, when Teams International and USA finished deadlocked at 17-17, Tiger Woods for Team USA and Ernie Els for Team International represented their sides in the playoff. Woods and Els managed to complete three holes — each sinking big putts along the way to keep the playoff going — before it got too dark to continue.

What to do? Captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player consulted with their teams and with one another, then decided to share the Presidents Cup: Neither side would be called the winner (or the loser); they would be co-champions. And that's how the Presidents Cup was "shared" by Teams USA and International from 2003 until the end of the 2005 Presidents Cup.

To get to the playoff, Team International won the Day 3 session 6-0 to take a lead; only for the USA to win the Day 4 singles session and tie it. The final two singles matches were key: Woods beat Els in one to make the last singles match the decider. In that one, Davis Love III led Robert Allenby, 1-up, going to the last hole, but Love flubbed a chip shot, Allenby won the hole to halve the match, and the score was tied 17-17.

2003 Presidents Cup Match Scores

Day 1 Results

Foursomes

• Nick Price/Mike Weir (Int.) def. David Toms/Phil Mickelson, 1-up
• Retief Goosen/Vijay Singh (Int.) def. Chris DiMarco/Jerry Kelly, 3 and 2
• Davis Love III /Kenny Perry (USA) def. Peter Lonard/Tim Clark, 4 and 2
• Ernie Els/Adam Scott (Int.) def. Justin Leonard/Jim Furyk, 1-up
• Jay Haas/Fred Funk (USA) halved with Robert Allenby/Stephen Leaney
• Tiger Woods/Charles Howell III (USA) def. Stuart Appleby/K.J. Choi, 4 and 3

Day 2 Results

Four-Ball

• Robert Allenby/Mike Weir (Int.) def. David Toms/Phil Mickelson, 3 and 1
• Kenny Perry/Davis Love III (USA) def. Retief Goosen/K.J. Choi, 2 and 1
• Jim Furyk/Jay Haas (USA) def. Stuart Appleby/Adam Scott, 6 and 5
• Chris DiMarco/Justin Leonard (USA) def. Vijay Singh/Nick Price, 2-up
• Ernie Els/Tim Clark (Int.) def. Tiger Woods/Charles Howell III, 5 and 3

Foursomes

• Kenny Perry/Jerry Kelly (USA) def. K.J. Choi/Peter Lonard, 2 and 1
• Fred Funk/David Toms (USA) def. Robert Allenby/Stephen Leaney, 4 and 3
• Tiger Woods/Charles Howell III (USA) def. Tim Clark/Retief Goosen, 1-up
• Ernie Els/Adam Scott (Int.) def. Chris DiMarco/Phil Mickelson, 1-up
• Jim Furyk/Justin Leonard (USA) def. Vijay Singh/Mike Weir, 5 and 4

Day 3 Results

Four-Ball

• Peter Lonard/Stephen Leaney (Int.) def. Fred Funk/Phil Mickelson, 2 and 1
• Ernie Els/Tim Clark (Int.) def. Jim Furyk/Jay Haas, 3 and 2
• Adam Scott/K.J. Choi (Int.) def. Kenny Perry/Jerry Kelly, 5 and 4
• Vijay Singh/Retief Goosen (Int.) def. Tiger Woods/Charles Howell III, 2 and 1
• Mike Weir/Robert Allenby (Int.) def. Chris DiMarco/Justin Leonard, 1-up
• Stuart Appleby/Nick Price (Int.) def. Davis Love III/David Toms, 2-and-1

Day 4 Results

Singles

• Jim Furyk (USA) def. Mike Weir, 3 and 1
• Jerry Kelly (USA) def. Tim Clark, 1-up
• Kenny Perry (USA) def. Nick Price, 1-up
• K.J. Choi (Int.) def. Justin Leonard, 4 and 2
• Charles Howell III (USA) def. Adam Scott, 5 and 4
• Jay Haas (USA) def. Stephen Leaney, 4 and 3
• Retief Goosen (Int.) def. Phil Mickelson, 2 and 1
• Peter Lonard (Int.) def. Fred Funk, 4 and 3
• Chris DiMarco (USA) def. Stuart Appleby, 1-up
• Vijay Singh (Int.) def. David Toms, 4 and 3
• Tiger Woods (USA) def. Ernie Els, 4 and 3
• Davis Love III (USA) halved with Robert Allenby

Player Win-Loss Records

Wins-losses-ties for members of Team USA and Team International.

United States
David Toms, 1-4-0
Phil Mickelson, 0-5-0
Chris DiMarco, 2-3-0
Jerry Kelly, 2-2-0
Davis Love III, 2-1-1
Kenny Perry, 4-1-0
Justin Leonard, 2-3-0
Jim Furyk, 3-2-0
Jay Haas, 2-1-1
Fred Funk, 1-2-1
Tiger Woods, 3-2-0
Charles Howell III, 3-2-0

International
Nick Price, 2-2-0
Mike Weir, 3-2-0
Retief Goosen, 3-2-0
Vijay Singh, 3-2-0
Peter Lonard, 2-2-0
Tim Clark, 2-3-0
Ernie Els, 4-1-0
Adam Scott, 3-2-0
Robert Allenby, 2-1-2
Stephen Leaney, 1-2-1
Stuart Appleby, 1-3-0
K.J. Choi, 2-3-0

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