Not even the top-ranked golfer in the world could fend off the International Team blitz on Friday afternoon in Quebec.
After a second straight historic day at Royal Montreal, we’ve suddenly got a battle for the Presidents Cup.
The International Team, led by a wild 7&6 win from Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im, swept the Americans in Friday’s foursomes matches. That not only marked the International Team’s first win in an alternate shot match session since 2005, but it marked the first time that there have been back-to-back sweeps in either a Presidents Cup or a 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 midway point.
“I believed in the guys,” International captain Mike Weir said. “Whether it was 3-2, 4-1, 5-0 was obviously a bonus [for us today]. We just wanted to get ourselves back in this. The guys played unbelievable, they really responded incredibly.”
Matsuyama and Im got the day started, and didn’t waste any time. The duo flew to what matched the largest margin of victory in Presidents Cup history. They needed just 12 holes to shut down 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 their match. Naturally, there was a huge celebration on the 12th green once the match was official. A 7&6 win has happened just twice before in Presidents Cup history, and only by International pairings.
Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes weren’t far behind, either. The duo shut 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 at the 11th to suddenly put them up by six. That pushed them to their 6&5 win.
Though they were a bit slow to get going, Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith beat Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa 5&4 in their match. They won holes 4, 5 and 6 to jump ahead after a tight opening few holes, and then they won three straight to start the back nine before closing their match early. Theegala and Morikawa won a single hole, at the 7th, which was the only win for the United States among the three blowout groups.
The win for Scott made him the winningest International player in Presidents Cup history, too, surpassing Ernie Els’ points record of 21.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Jason Day closed out their match with Max Homa and Brian Harman 1UP after holding on late, too, which brought the International team within a single point. Then, in what was by far the closest match of the day, Kim and Ben An finally overtook Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley down the stretch. After splitting holes twice on the front side, Kim and An finally birdied again at the 13th after throwing a dart off the tee.
Kim and An nearly stumbled at the 18th, too, after their drive landed in the thick rough along the left side of the fairway. But Kim drained a deep par putt to convert the up-and-down, which completed the session sweep and made history.
The Americans hold 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, the U.S. Team will need a strong outing early on Saturday to retake control of the tournament. Otherwise, the 12 singles matches on Sunday could be very interesting.
