Not even the world’s top-ranked golfer could fend off Team International’s blitz on Friday afternoon in Quebec.
After a historic second straight day at Royal Montreal, we suddenly have a battle for the Presidents Cup.
The international team, led by a wild 7 and 6 victory by Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im, swept the Americans in Friday’s foursomes matches. Not only did that mark the International Team’s first victory in an alternate shot match session since 2005, but it also marked the first time there have been consecutive sweeps of a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup in history.
Suddenly, thanks to a clutch putt from Si Woo Kim to end the day, the match is tied 5-5 at the halfway point.
“I believed in the boys,” international captain Mike Weir said. “Whether it was 3-2, 4-1, 5-0 was obviously an advantage (for us today). We just wanted to get back into it. The guys played amazing, they really responded incredibly.”
Matsuyama and I started the day and didn’t waste any time. The duo flew to what equaled the largest margin of victory in Presidents Cup history. They needed just 12 holes to defeat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele and score the first points their team has seen all week.
It was pure domination. Cantlay and Xchauffele didn’t win a single hole in the match, and Matsuyama and Im made seven straight birdies to end the match. Naturally, there was a huge celebration on the 12th green once the match was made official. A 7 and 6 victory has occurred only twice before in the history of the Presidents Cup, and only by international pairs.
Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes were no slouches either. The duo left out Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau in their match. The Canadians won on holes 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9 and then Conners sank a deep birdie putt on the 11th hole to suddenly put them up by six. That led to their 6 and 5 victory.
Although it took them a while to get going, Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith beat Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa 5 and 4 in their match. They won holes 4, 5 and 6 to jump ahead after a tight opening few holes, and then won three in a row to start the back nine before closing out their match early. Theegala and Morikawa won only one hole, the 7th, which was the United States’ only victory among the three explosive groups.
Scott’s victory also made him the winningest international player in Presidents Cup history, surpassing Ernie Els’ points record of 21.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Jason Day closed out their match with Max Homa and Brian Harman 1UP after also holding on late, bringing the international team within a single point. Then, in what was by far the closest match of the day, Kim and Ben An finally edged out Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley down the stretch. After splitting holes twice on the front, Kim and An finally birdied the 13th hole again after hitting a dart off the tee.
Kim and An also nearly tripped on the 18th hole, after their drive landed in the thick rough on the left side of the fairway. But Kim made a deep par putt to convert the up-and-down, which completed the sweep of the session and made history.
The Americans have a dominant 12-1-1 record in the Presidents Cup and have won nine straight heading into this weekend’s event in Canada. Based on how Friday went, Team USA will need a strong outing early Saturday to regain control of the tournament. Otherwise, Sunday’s 12 individual matches could be very interesting.