JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) The Americans came within one match of winning the Presidents Cup.

On Saturday.

Anirban Lahiri made two clutch birdies that only delayed the inevitable. This is a powerful U.S. team playing to its full potential, and the result is the biggest blowout since these matches began in 1994.

Lahiri and Si Woo Kim had the only victory for the International team over two sessions. From the sun rising over the Manhattan until the chilly twilight at Liberty National, the American poured it on. They had a 14 1/2-3 1/2 lead and need only one point Sunday to win the cup for seventh straight time.

Phil Mickelson set a Presidents Cup record with his 25th victory, breaking the record set by Tiger Woods. Mickelson hit two wedges into birdie range in the morning foursomes session with Kevin Kisner, when the Americans won three matches and halved the other.

Jordan Spieth’s best intentions cost him a hole in a ruling rarely seen in match play, though that didn’t matter. All..

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) Authorities in New Jersey say a Hawaii man stands accused of defacing the greens at four golf courses that President Donald Trump owns in New Jersey and New York.

Somerset County prosecutors say 61-year-old Clifford Tillotson, of Kaneohe, is charged with criminal mischief.

Tillotson allegedly used some sort of chemical to write various comments critical of the Trump administration on nine putting greens at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on or around Sept. 11. The damage was estimated at more than $10,000.

Tillotson also is charged in New York with defacing Trump golf courses in Ferry Point, Hudson Valley and Westchester.

It wasn’t known Saturday if Tillotson has retained an attorney.

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. (AP) Five-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Byrd shot a 7-under 64 in rainy, windy conditions Saturday to take the third-round lead in the Web.com Tour Championship.

Needing a high finish to regain his PGA Tour card, Byrd had a 20-under 193 total at Atlantic Beach Country Club for a two-stroke lead over Sam Saunders in the last of four Web.com Tour Finals events.

Byrd finished 55th on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list and 170th in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings. He entered the week 66th in the race for 25 cards with $5,480.

”I was telling myself, `I’m a clutch putter and I’ve made a lot of clutch putts over the year,”’ Byrd said. ”I just felt good out there,” the 41-year-old Byrd said. ”I felt at ease. When you feel that way, you’re kind of letting it come to you, you’re not working hard to make putts. You’re just kind of letting it happen and that’s kind of the way I felt.”

Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, had a 70, two days after shooting a ..

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — As Saturday's four-ball session nears its end, the Americans have once again taken over, earning the first two points and leading in the final two matches on the course. This thing may be over before Sunday's singles matches.
But at least we did get a little controversy from the Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed versus Louis Oosthuizen/Jason Day match. In case you were sleeping through the coverage (we wouldn't blame you), Spieth was disqualified from the 12th hole when he stopped Louis Oosthuizen's ball, which was still rolling past the cup. The technically proper ruling (applied under ridiculous circumstances) resulted in a rare loss of hole for Spieth and Reed.
As is the case with most rulings, the rules official sometimes become the center of attention. As veteran European Tour referee Andy McFee was discussing the infraction on his walkie talkie, the entire group, including Tiger Woods and Nick Price, huddled around, presumably discussing the absur..

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Do you have Presidents Cup tickets for Sunday? With the U.S. turning this year's event into a total rout, allow us to ask another question: Have you ever heard of StubHub? We kid, we kid, because it's still supposed to be a beautiful day at lovely Liberty National. And besides, there's still plenty of things to do that don't directly involve watching golf. Here's our (hopefully) helpful rundown.
1. Take photos of the NYC skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Did you know Liberty National has great views of these landmarks?
FacebookPinterest2. Get a photo of yourself with the NYC skyline or the Statue of Liberty in the background.
FacebookPinterest3. Get a photo of yourself with the victorious Team USA and the Presidents Cup! Sort of …
FacebookPinterest4. Go for a nice walk. If you're not near one of the ongoing matches, there's a lot of pretty real estate to explore. On second thought, there will probably be plenty of room to roam no ..

On Saturday at the British Masters, the Englishman Ian Poulter teed off on golf's new cell phone policy.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) A capsule look at Saturday’s matches at the Presidents Cup:

FOURSOMES

Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, United States, def. Jason Day and Marc Leishman, International, 4 and 3.

Leishman began this match by driving into the water to fall behind the Americans early, and the match was square when Reed gunned a birdie putt some 12 feet by that led to a three-putt bogey. Day chipped in from below the seventh green for a 1-up lead, and the International team kept the lead with matching bogeys on No. 8 when the Americans three-putted again. The match was all square at the turn, and then it ended quickly. Day drove into a video board tower complex on the 12th. Spieth hit wedge to 6 feet on the 13th. Day drove into a bunker that led to bogey on the 14th. And the Americans closed them out when Spieth hit a wedge to 6 feet on the 15th.

—

Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, United States, def. Adam Scott and Adam Hadwin, International, 4 and 3.

Johnson and Kuchar didn’..

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, England (AP) Rory McIlroy moved into contention at the British Masters by shooting a 6-under 64 in the third round, leaving the No. 6-ranked golfer two strokes off the lead held by Robert Karlsson on Saturday.

Karlsson shot 67 and was one stroke clear of five players, including overnight leader Tyrrell Hatton, who bogeyed the last for a 71.

Hatton was one of only three players in the top 24 to fail to break par on a day of low scoring at Close House in northern England.

McIlroy made the weekend only after a back-nine rally in the second round, and now has a good chance of winning for the first time in 2017, in what is his next-to-last event of the season.

”You get yourself into contention and you start to think about things and it would be nice to get a win,” said McIlroy, who chipped in for a birdie on the fifth hole and carded three more birdies in a front nine of 31.

”The last couple of tournaments, I’ve been off pretty early on the weekends and had 50..

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) The International team lost just about everything but its sense of humor.

A long and demoralizing day at the Presidents Cup ended with Anirban Lahiri making two clutch birdies in a fourballs match that spared his team the indignity of watching the Americans celebrate another victory – on Saturday, no less.

From the sun rising over the Manhattan skyline until the chill of twilight at Liberty National, the Americans poured it on with such frightening force that they were one match away from clinching the cup one day early. The International team went 13 straight matches without winning until Lahiri and Kim won on the 18th hole.

”They got a standing ovation when they walked in our team room tonight,” International captain Nick Price said with a smile. ”First time we had seen a match go our way for a long time.”

And that means it will be a short Sunday.

The Americans had a 14 1/2-3 1/2 lead and need only one point from the 12 singles matches on Sunday.

Th..

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) Phil Mickelson set the Presidents Cup record with his 25th victory and the Americans moved to the cusp of their most dominant performance ever.

Mickelson dropped in two wedges to short range for birdies as he and Kevin Kisner defeated Emiliano Grillo and Jhonattan Vegas in foursomes. The Americans won three matches and halved the other Saturday morning in foursomes, giving them an 11+ to 2+ lead.

For the second straight session, the International team failed to win a match. Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, its best tandem, halved with Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler.

Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed won again, as did Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar. The Americans have a chance to be the first team to clinch the cup before the Sunday singles.