Scottie Scheffler’s pars on the final two holes were enough to give the United States team an early boost on the first day of the Presidents Cup on Thursday outside Chicago.
That earned Scheffler and partner Sam Burns a 1-up victory against Australia’s Min Woo Lee and South Korea’s Sungjae Im in the first match at Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course, where five four-ball matches were contested.
The U.S. side won two of the other four matches for a 3-2 lead on the International team after the first of four days of competition.
“A session win is a session win; we’re going to take it any way we can get it,” U.S. team captain Brandt Snedeker said. “So happy for Scottie and Sam to go out there in that lead match and get that big win for us to lead us off.”
The International team had stretches of momentum, so both sides had reasons to be encouraged.
“A long buildup, lots of planning, lots of strategizing, and just to get things going was a lot of fun,” International team captain Geoff Ogilvy of Australia said.
The Scheffler/Burns match was the lone encounter to go to the 18th hole. Scheffler won the 17th hole and then the sides halved No. 18.
Scheffler has struggled in international competition despite being part of two winning Presidents Cup teams. His individual record at the Presidents Cup was 3-5-1 entering this week.
“Just doing my best to compete on each and every shot,” Scheffler said. “That was really our motto today.”
Lee/Im took the lead on No. 13 before Burns converted on the next hole with a significant approach shot that led to a birdie to square that match.
“I felt like that was really a big moment for us as a team, and he stepped up when we needed him to,” Scheffler said.
Ogilvy said he was fine with the performance from Lee and Im, validating his choice for using that pairing in that position.
“It was a good decision, and well done to Scottie and Sam for beating them,” Ogilvy said.
Justin Thomas and rookie Jackson Koivun won 4 and 3 against Canada’s Corey Conners and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria, and Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa were 3-and-2 winners against New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Australia’s Adam Scott.
The Japanese pair of Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune defeated Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele, 3 and 1.
The South Korean tandem of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim topped Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay, 3 and 2.
The Thomas/Koivun victory was clutch for the U.S. as both golfers were captain’s picks by Snedeker. Koivun’s birdies on Nos. 3 and 6 won those holes. Thomas was the closer with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.
“It was cool to watch him do his thing out there and show up in some pretty big moments,” Thomas said.
Clark set the tone in Match 4 with birdies on three of the first four holes as he and Morikawa took an early two-hole edge.
Young/Schauffele claimed their only hole on No. 2 on Young’s birdie. Gotterup/Cantlay also won one hole, when Gotterup birdied No. 4.
The U.S. team leads after the first day for the ninth time in 10 President Cups. Friday’s matches feature five foursomes (alternate shot).
Scheffler and Burns will face off against Canadians Conners and Nick Taylor. Then, Im will join Matsuyama against Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman, the two U.S. members who didn’t play Thursday. Clark and Morikawa will stay together to face Fox and Lee; Thomas and Young will play Scott and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout; and Cantlay and Schauffele will conclude the session against the two Kims.
“(The course is) changing a lot, and I think the next three days are going to keep changing,” Morikawa said. “… It’s a lot of fun. It’s nice to see a course like that change as we see it, and we just have to adjust accordingly.”
–Field Level Media
