The International team was so opportunistic it was difficult for its members to comprehend what they accomplished during Friday’s session of the Presidents Cup outside Chicago.
The International team had its way with the United States, sweeping all five foursomes matches to surge into a 7-3 lead with two days to go.
“It’s hard to imagine,” International team captain Geoff Ogilvy said. “… We just wanted to come win the session. They were all in a really good frame of mind, but you would never imagine doing five sets.”
“There’s no scenario where you ever want to get swept,” U.S. member Justin Thomas said. “But if we’re going to do it, I would say Friday sounds a little bit better than any of the rounds tomorrow.”
The U.S. pairings didn’t gain much traction during the alternate-shot setup at Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course.
“It’s not even halftime of a football game,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “There’s a lot of golf left. Come in with a great attitude, keep doing what you’re doing.”
South Korea’s Sungjae Im and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama finished first, topping Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman, 3 and 2.
The Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Nick Taylor defeated Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 1 up in the No. 1 match.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Australia’s Min Woo Lee knocked off Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark 1 up.
Australia’s Adam Scott and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout were mostly in control against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, winning 3 and 2.
Finally, South Korea’s Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim handled Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, 4 and 3.
“I think we kept our foot in the gas,” Tom Kim said. “Mentally, we’re all there together.”
The Conners/Taylor vs. Scheffler/Burns match was even through 11 holes before Taylor rolled in a 6-foot birdie putt. That proved to be the difference when the two sides halved each of the final six holes.
Taylor, making his debut in Presidents Cup competition, didn’t flinch.
“I’ve got a lot of trust in Nick’s game, and I know he steps up when it matters most, and he certainly did that today,” Conners said. “So it was a blast to share the experience with him.”
Morikawa/Clark led through 14 holes, but Fox/Lee had birdies on the next two holes to snatch the lead.
Thomas/Young bogeyed the first hole and never had a birdie until the par-3 16th. That hole marked the end of the match anyway, as Bezuidenhout holed a 31-footer for birdie for the International team.
Bezuidenhout/Scott had birdies on the first two par-3 chances. Scott rolled in a 44-footer on No. 7. On the ninth hole, Bezuidenhout put his tee shot inside of 4 feet of the cup for an easy birdie conversion for Scott.
“I’m just really chuffed that I could make the putt for Adam and for the team today,” Bezuidenhout said.
These were deflating moments for the U.S. team after the Americans closed Thursday’s four-ball competition with a 3-2 lead in pursuit of an 11th consecutive Presidents Cup title.
“They made a ton of putts,” Snedeker said of the opposition. “I feel like our guys hit a bunch of great putts and just couldn’t find the bottom of the hole.”
Henley/Bridgeman’s birdie on the second hole marked the duo’s only birdie until No. 16, which Im/Matsuyama also birdied to clinch the point.
Saturday is the only day of the competition to feature two sessions, with four-ball in the morning and foursomes in the afternoon. The competition concludes with singles on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
