Montreal (AFP) – Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and world number two Xander Schauffele sparked the United States to a 5-0 sweep over the Internationals in Thursday’s opening four-ball matches at the Presidents Cup. The Americans, who lead the all-time rivalry 12-1-1, seized command in quest of a 10th consecutive victory in the series against a collection of global talent from outside Europe.
“I’m happy for the guys. Right now all smiles,” US captain Jim Furyk said. “Tough matches. Our guys played great on the back nine. It came down to a lot of putts.” Schauffele and Tony Finau beat South Korean Ben An and Australian Jason Day 1-up, while Scheffler and Russell Henley defeated South Koreans Tom Kim and Im Sung-jae 3&2 at Royal Montreal. Fourth-ranked Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala beat Australians Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott 1-up, while Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay won 2&1 over Canada’s Corey Conners and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.
And Keegan Bradley, the 2025 US Ryder Cup captain, curled in a 19-foot birdie putt at the 18th to close out the fifth session sweep in Cup history with a 1-up win with Wyndham Clark over Canada’s Taylor Pendrith and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout. “It was just unbelievable,” Bradley said. “To be around the guys and see how into it they are, it’s inspiring for me.” Friday will feature five foursomes matches with four matches in each format on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s 12 concluding singles matches. The Americans, who have won 10 times when leading after the first session, boast 12 of the world’s 25 top-ranked players.
Scheffler and Henley never trailed but faced a battle. Scheffler and Kim tied the par-3 seventh, par-4 10th, and par-5 12th holes on birdies, and Henley birdied from two feet to win 14 and 20 feet to win 15 to give the US duo a 3-up edge. “It was a fun match. We did some good stuff out there,” Scheffler said. “Russell and I did a good job of keeping the pressure on them most of the match. Russell stepped up big there on 14 and 15.” “I just really wanted to get a point,” rookie Henley said.
Scheffler and pal Kim traded barbs after long birdie exchanges, saying, “I would have done the same thing back at home. It’s all in good fun. We’re friends after. We’re not friends during.” Schauffele made sure the Americans won the first match for the fifth Presidents Cup in a row and eighth time in nine Cups. “We knew what we were supposed to do,” Schauffele said. Day birdied to win the first hole, but Schauffele birdied to win the second, and the US duo never trailed again. Schauffele birdied the 10th from 15 feet for a 2-up US lead. Finau tied the 14th on a 30-foot chip-in birdie, and An won the 15th on a seven-foot birdie putt. Finau and Schauffele each missed par putts from inside four feet at 16 to surrender the hole and tie the match.
But Schauffele sank a birdie putt from just outside eight feet at the par-3 17th for a US lead and then dropped his approach at 18 inside three feet and sank the putt to win the match. “He had my back all day,” Schauffele said. “I figured it was my turn to have his back.”
Morikawa and rookie Theegala battled the Aussies in a match where neither side was more than 1-up. Morikawa birdied the par-5 12th to tie the match, then birdied from just outside four feet to win 14 for a 1-up lead. Theegala dropped his approach at 18 inside three feet, and while Scott sank a 10-foot birdie putt, Theegala tapped in to win the match. “We grinded out there,” Morikawa said. “We saw a lot of lip outs, a lot of close putts and never let up.”
Bradley and Clark never trailed in winning but didn’t take the lead for good until Bradley’s birdie from just inside 35 feet won the 13th. Cantlay put his duo ahead to stay with a six-foot birdie at eight, and Burns sank a 10-footer to win 13 for a 2-up edge, with Matsuyama’s 10-foot birdie miss at 17 sealing the US victory.
© 2024 AFP
