Two years later and halfway across the world, the Presidents Cup is as close as ever.

Chris DiMarco came up aces, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk came through with clutch comebacks and Retief Goosen and Adam Scott proved as formidable as ever yesterday at Gainesville, Va., all of them turning in solid performances that left the matches tied going into a final round of 12 singles matches.

Each team had 11 points, the first time the Presidents Cup has been tied going into the final day since it began in 1994.

"I think tomorrow is a toss-up," Phil Mickelson said.

Woods will face Goosen in the third match, while Fred Couples will take on Vijay Singh in the fifth match. Mickelson and DiMarco anchor the U.S. team, facing Angel Cabrera and Stuart Appleby in the final two matches.

The Americans had a chance to take the outright lead in the final better-ball match of the afternoon.

Couples hit a wedge into 8 feet on the 18th hole and was poised to score a 1-up victory. But his putt stayed above the cup as he and Davis Love III had to settle for a halve with Michael Campbell and Cabrera.

No one had to work harder than Woods and Furyk, who birdied the last two holes in alternate shot yesterday morning to earn a halve against Singh and Appleby, then went the distance against them in the afternoon. Woods delivered, making an 18-foot birdie on the 16th hole that barely caught the left edge of the cup for a 1-up lead. Appleby hit a wedge into 10 feet on the last hole, but missed the putt.

The star was DiMarco. He made only the second hole-in-one in the Presidents Cup in the morning, holed just about every putt that mattered and joined Mickelson in two victories the Americans needed.

DiMarco and Mickelson were so dominant that neither of their matches yesterday reached the 16th hole.

The International side got more strong play from Scott and Goosen, who battled Scott Verplank and Justin Leonard to a draw in the morning, and buried them in a better-ball match with 10 birdies in 14 holes.

ELSEWHERE

Texas Open: Woody Austin took the third-round lead in the Texas Open yesterday, shooting a 3-under 67 at San Antonio. Austin made a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish at 13-under 197 on the LaCantera Golf Club's Resort Course. Robert Gamez (68), Mark Wilson (66) and Castle High alum Dean Wilson (70) were tied for second. Austin began the round two behind Dean Wilson and was as far back as five on the back nine. Austin rallied with an eagle on the par-5 14th — hitting his 203-yard approach to 2 feet — and two-putted from 80 feet on No. 16 for another birdie after driving the green on the 348-yard hole.