[SPORTS ★★]
JASON DAY VS. JORDAN SPIETH AT THE PRESIDENTS CUP
(P1) Jason Day would RELISH the chance to go HEAD-TO-HEAD with world No. 1 Jordan Spieth in the Presidents Cup but the Australian HOTSHOT knows the SHOWDOWN may not MATERIALISE as team TACTICS take PRECEDENCE over individual glory.
(P2) Day and Spieth ELECTRIFIED the Tour this year with their BUDDING RIVALRY played out on the GRANDEST OF STAGES.
(P3) American Spieth claimed two majors among his five wins, ending his 2015 campaign in TRIUMPHANT style at the season-ending Tour Championship, while Day won the year’s final major and his win at last month’s BMW Championship was his fourth win in six starts.
(P4) When asked if he would be interested in TAKING ON Spieth on the final day of Presidents Cup competition on Sunday, Day said there would be huge interest in that potential CLASH but team STRATEGY could GET IN THE WAY.
(P5) “I think a lot of people around the world are interested to see if that will happen,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “It would be a lot of fun playing against Jordan, but then again I’m not too sure what the strategy is with that.”
(P6) The 11th Presidents Cup, a BIENNIAL team golf competition putting the United States against a team of international players minus Europeans, begins on Thursday at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea.
(P7) After three days of foursomes and four ball team play, the competition goes into a singles format on Sunday with all 12 players from each team taking on an OPPONENT.
(P8) The MATCHUPS will be decided by U.S. Captain Jay Haas and Internationals SKIPPER Nick Price, who will sit across a table from each other and try not to BLINK FIRST.
(P9) “Will they hold Jordan to wait for my name, or will Captain Price hold my name for Jordan? Or maybe he wants me to go out early and get a point up,” said Day.
(P10) “It all depends on where the points are, how everyone is playing … and from there make that decision who I’ll play against. But I think it would be a lot of fun. We’ve both played pretty good golf (this year).”
(P11) Such has been the early U.S. dominance in recent years the Internationals have been left TRAILING going into the final day with little hope of catching the Americans, who have traditionally had a deeper TALENT POOL.
(P12) The United States have won eight of the 10 Cups played so far, including the last five.
(P13) Day said it was time to stop all that.
(P14) “I think everyone’s kind of FED UP WITH it; that we have been losing for a while now,” added the 27-year-old Australian.
(P15) And his personal goal against the Americans?
(P16) “I would love to go 5-0. That would be fantastic.”
WORDS: 463
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Is golf becoming more popular in your country, or less popular?
- What sport that you haven’t played would you most like to try?
- In international competitions such as the Presidents Cup, would you ROOT FOR Europeans, other internationals, or Americans?
- Are you a very competitive person, or not so much?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Head-to-head
- Grand stage
- Take on
- Get in the way
- Blink first
- Talent pool
- Fed up with
- Root for
