Americans Lead In Presidents Cup

Maybe one fewer match really did help the International team in this Presidents Cup. Otherwise, the deficit might have been even worse.

The Americans put red on the board early Thursday, and it stayed there all day at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in an opening session they dominated to build a 4-1 lead.

In the only match that reached the 18th hole, Phil Mickelson hammered his best drive of the day that set up Zach Johnson to hit a 7-iron into the par-5 18th hole in what turned out to be a 2-up victory over Jason Day and Steven Bowditch.

It was the fifth straight time the Americans have won the opening session, and it was their largest margin since a four-point lead after the first round in 2007.

"It's tough when you go out there and you see the first three or four holes, all the red and we're done in matches," International captain Nick Price said. "You just try and do your best, that's all. That's all I'm doing now is I'm talking to my team and I'm saying to the guys, `Don't get down. It's early days.' I'm certainly not despondent about the whole thing. We're not in the situation we'd like to be after the first round, but there's an awful lot of golf to play."

The Americans are going for their sixth straight victory, and after one day, there was a familiar feel to the event.