MELBOURNE, Australia -- The International team has the lead going into the final day of the Presidents Cup for the first time in 16 years, and it has a trio of rookies to thank.
Marc Leishman and unbeaten rookie Abraham Ancer staged a remarkable rally Saturday afternoon in foursomes, going from 5 down with eight holes to play to earn a most unlikely halve against Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler.
Byeong-Hun An and Joaquin Niemann never led in the final match and scratched out another half-point against Matt Kuchar and Tony Finau.
That gave the Internationals a 10-8 lead going into Sunday singles and a real chance to win the Presidents Cup for only the second time in its 25-year history.
"We've given ourselves ... a great shot to win the session tomorrow and win this cup," said Adam Scott, who has been part of one tie and seven consecutive losses in the event. "I think we've got to be pretty happy about that. Come out tomorrow, leave it all on the golf course."
It looked as though the lead could have been even larger when the Internationals built a 9-5 lead after the morning session.
The Americans finally showed some fight, even with captain Tiger Woods sitting out for both sessions. And the caddie of Patrick Reed might have shown too much fight. He confirmed in a statement to ESPN's Michael Collins that he shoved a spectator who he felt got too close to Reed while cursing him.
Kessler Karain, who is also Reed's brother-in-law, will not be on his bag for the final session. Reed said in a statement he respects the PGA Tour's decision and that everyone was focused on winning the cup.
It was the second straight week of scrutiny for the Reed camp, following his rules violation of scooping sand out of the way in the Bahamas, which led to a two-shot penalty during the Hero World Challenge.
There was plenty of drama Saturday, and all that did was set the stage for 12 singles matches.
Woods sent out Reed and Webb Simpson for the third time in a row in the morning, and they delivered a dud by making only one birdie in four-ball and losing, 5 and 3, to Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan.
Even more curious was Woods, who won matches each of the first two days with Thomas, benching himself in the morning and the afternoon, and saying it was best for his team.
"I trust the guys," Woods said.
Dustin Johnson finally got the board when he and Gary Woodland took down Scott and Louis Oosthuizen in the lead match in foursomes. California rookies Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay rallied from 3 down through five holes by winning three consecutive holes and pulling away at the end over Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im.
It was only the third time in 13 events that the International team had the lead after team matches. It held a three-point lead in South Africa in 2003, the year the matches ended in a tie. And it had a nine-point lead at Royal Melbourne in 1998, the only time the International squad beat the Americans.
The Americans trailed in all four morning matches at one stage and kept it close. The Internationals trailed in all four afternoon matches and returned the favor.
The shocker was Thomas and Fowler losing a big lead.
They were dormie with three holes to go when Leishman made an 18-foot par putt and Fowler missed his 6-foot par attempt. Then Thomas missed a 10-foot par putt to end it on 17. On the final hole, Thomas sent his tee shot well to the left and under a tree, leaving the team no chance to get closer than 150 yards from the green. It might not have mattered. Leishman dropped his approach to within 6 feet and a birdie was conceded.
"Speechless," said Thomas, the star of this American team. "It's unacceptable for us to get a half a point. They made a couple long putts there on 15 and 16 to keep it going. We had our chances, and flat honest, just didn't execute."
Woods watched it all unfold from the sideline, sticking to his job as captain. Even after losing the morning four-ball session, he kept himself out of the lineup in a decision that surprised International captain Ernie Els.
On Sunday, Woods and everyone else will be playing, including Bryson DeChambeau, who has not played since Thursday.
The Americans have not won the singles session -- long thought to be a strength -- in the Presidents Cup since 2009; they haven't had to. Now they do.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.