Although they have lifted the trophy only once in history, vibes were high for Mike Weir’s international team entering this weekend’s Presidents Cup in Quebec.
And while that kept them in almost every game down the stretch Thursday afternoon at the Royal Montreal, Team International finds itself in a deep hole once again.
Scottie Scheffler and the United States on Thursday bested each of the first five four-ball matches of the Presidents Cup to achieve a rare first-round sweep of the biennial event. That gave the American team a commanding 5-0 lead heading into the second day of play.
This is only the third time in history that a team has swept the first round matches of the Presidents Cup. The United States has done it twice before, first in 1994 and again in 2000. By comparison, the United States has swept just one four-ball session in the Ryder Cup, back in 1984. It’s also the 38th time in the last 42 sessions. that the Americans have maintained the lead.
While there is a long road ahead, the Americans have taken the first step toward lifting their 10th consecutive Presidents Cup this weekend.
“Difficult games. A lot of them were 1UP, even all day long,” said U.S. captain Jim Furyk. “Our guys played very well on the back nine. I would say, sometimes I hate to say it, it came down to a lot of putts… Our guys probably got the benefit of the doubt on that end, and I think that was the difference in a lot of matches. “I think it was definitely a lot closer than 5-0.”
Scheffler set the tone for the Americans from the start, and he and his playing partner Russell Henley scored the biggest victory of the day. The world’s top-ranked golfer, who is in the midst of a tear the sport hasn’t seen since Tiger Woods’ prime, blew up in Tom Kim’s face after responding with a huge putt early on to keep things level. of the match before finally grabbing it. 3 and 2 win. That was the largest margin of victory in the first round.
Scheffler and Henley didn’t have much trouble, but the rest of the American team largely allowed their opponents to hold on longer than necessary. Just look at Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau, who almost let their match slip away. They lost two holes in a row and suddenly found themselves tied with Ben An and Jason Day with two holes remaining after they both missed putts to 5 feet on the 16th hole.
Day and An were by far the closest to victory among the international team pairs. Day just managed a deep birdie putt on the par-3 17th that would have swung the match in his favor heading into the final hole. Instead, Schauffele came back with a birdie putt to put them in control and ultimately give them the victory.
Keegan Bradley also helped save his match with Wyndham Clark with a deep birdie putt from the green on the back nine. That putt, which came after they gave up two holes to Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Taylor Pendrith to leave the door open, ultimately led to the 1UP victory. Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala defeated Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott 1UP in their match. Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns, after falling back one hole early, cruised to a 2 and 1 victory to complete the sweep.
The two teams will return on Friday for a five-game alternate shooting series. If the international team wants to stay in this, they will have to try to gain at least a little ground on Friday before the weekend arrives. Otherwise, despite the five games on Thursday being close, the Americans will be able to win the Presidents Cup again.
“We’re excited about our start,” Furyk said. “We’ll go in there and celebrate, high-five and hug each other. We have to hunker down and prepare for tomorrow… We are going to keep the pressure on.”