Internationals salute Bae Sang after stunning win

By Peter Rutherford

INCHEON, South Korea (Reuters) – Bae Sang-moon’s career will take a backseat to military service for the next two years but when he sits back in his barracks, taking time out between drills, his thoughts will surely drift to Friday and the putt that won a point at the Presidents Cup.

Bae, who has won twice on the lucrative PGA Tour and was granted U.S. residency in 2013, was charged in February with violating national service laws after failing to return home when his overseas travel permit expired.

The 29-year-old had hoped the courts would allow him to delay his military service and continue his career in the United States but the military’s case was upheld in July and Bae immediately accepted the ruling.

With the country still technically at war with the North after the 1950-53 Korean War, all South Korean men between 18 and 35 must complete two years of military service.

The uncertainty surrounding his future weighed heavily on Bae while he waited for a decision, and his game nosedived.

But keen to get a Korean on his team for the Presidents Cup, Internationals captain Nick Price took a chance on Bae, the 88th ranked player in the world, hoping his prior wins on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course would also stand him in good stead.

The South Korean had to cool his heels on the sidelines in Thursday’s foursomes, but was thrust into Friday’s four-balls partnering Incheon-born New Zealander Danny Lee against Americans Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

The American pair, who crushed Thongchai Jaidee and Anirban Lahiri 5&4 on Thursday, came out all guns blazing and were two up after three.

Lee struggled mightily on the greens, glowering and grimacing and taking his frustrations out on his putter, but Bae stood strong to keep his team in the game.

Chipping away at the Americans’ lead around the turn, the match was all square by the 18th and, incredibly, Bae found himself standing over a 12-foot putt to beat Fowler and Walker.

With the huge home gallery willing him on, and Lee barely able to watch, Bae drained the putt of a lifetime to seal the match and hand the Internationals another crucial point.

“It was the first time for me to play in the Presidents Cup and I never really imagined how strong the camaraderie between the team members would be,” Bae told reporters.

“So I was really desperate… to help out the International team and after I did the last shot on the 18th hole today, I was very happy.

“But it was a different kind of happiness because I felt like I did something for the team and I also created momentum for the other players, so I was very happy and it was a very thrilling moment.”

Lee agreed he had an off day and said nerves got the better of him. Just watching Bae putt at the last was unbearably tense.

“I was nervous watching him. So he had to stand up and man up and hit that golf ball; I’m pretty sure he was shockingly nervous,” said Lee. “I’ve never felt this kind of nerves before… never been so nervous in my life.”

Price has handed Bae another chance to shine in the Saturday morning foursomes, pairing him with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama against Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar.

Lee will sit the foursomes out.

(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)