MEDINAH, Ill. — The Internationals have this to accept for solace after Day 1 of the 16th Presidents Cup: At least they didn’t get skunked.
Two years ago, the home team at Royal Montreal lost all five fourball matches to put themselves in a deep hole, only to recover by going 5-0 the next day in foursomes. (Only to then get outscored 13½-6½ on the weekend.)
On Friday, the Internationals go into alternate shot at Medinah only one point down, trailing 3-2 after Thursday’s foursomes. They got wins from the teams of Hideki Matsuyama-Ryo Hisatsune and Tom Kim-Si Woo Kim, while the U.S. got its first ever team victory from Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, with Justin Thomas-Jackson Koivun and Wyndham Clark-Collin Morikawa also earning points.
“I saw those guys competing their asses off out there,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “I'm really proud of them. A session win is a session win; we're going to take it any way we can get it.”
Geoff Ogivly, the Internationals captain, assessed: “I saw a lot of good golf out there. [A score of] 2-3 their way is not too bad. We had a couple of really good solid matches there, and we had a match go up to 18, which would have been nice if it went the other way, but 2-3, we'll take that.
“The boys have got a round under their belt now. It sounds like the course played a little tougher today than they were expecting, a little bit firmer. So we'll just get a plan for tomorrow and look forward to that.”
The fact that the Internationals kept it close in a fourball session is not an anomaly. They went into this year’s event having been outscored by only five points over the history of the Presidents Cup. It’s in alternate shot where the U.S. has really made its mark, holding a 34-point advantage. (The Americans are plus-15 in singles.)
With that in mind, a look at Friday’s foursomes matches:
2:05PM ET: Scottie Scheffler-Sam Burns (US) vs. Corey Conners-Nick Taylor (I)
Kevin C. Cox
What to Watch: The American duo was part of the only match to reach the 18th hole on Day 1, but the friends got their first win together, and so Snedeker is putting them out there again. Burns had the second-best strokes-gained mark on Thursday, while Scheffler had the lowest among Americans in positive territory. They draw an all-Canadian matchup, with Conners having lost in foursomes (with no help from Nico Echavarria, who lost 5.37 strokes to the field) and Taylor playing his first-ever match. Combined, the Canadians notched only two top-10s this past tour season.
2:19PM ET: Russell Henley-Jacob Bridgeman (US) vs. Sungjae Im-Hideki Matsuyama (I)
Icon Sportswire
What to Watch: This seems like an interesting call—Snedeker putting two of his best putters together in alternate shot in their first appearances here. Bridgeman, who is making his U.S. debut, was No. 1 on tour this year in SG/putting, and Henley ranked 12th. Henley played twice in foursomes in 2024, getting a win with Scheffler. The Japanese pair didn’t trail after the second hole and beat the formidable team of Xander Schauffele-Cameron Young in fourball on Thursday. Matsuyama had the best SG number for the Internationals.
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2:33PM ET: Collin Morikawa-Wyndham Clark (US) vs. Ryan Fox-Min Woo Lee (I)
Ben Jared
What to Watch: Snedeker is redoing another winning pair from Thursday by putting the two major winners together again. They were the most dominant team for the U.S. in fourball, winning the first hole and never giving up the advantage after that. Clark carried much of the load by making five birdies. Lee and Fox are both getting new partners after separate losses in fourball. They each made only one birdie in their matches.
2:47PM ET: Justin Thomas-Cam Young (US) vs. Adam Scott-Christiaan Bezuidenhout (I)
James Gilbert
What to Watch: You have to feel for Scott. He got no help from Fox in their fourball loss and now he draws Bezuidenhout, who finished 97th in the FedEx Cup this year and notched his last top-10 finish in May. They go against the ultimate pick-me-up player in Thomas, who carried Jackson Koivun to a win on Thursday, and Young, who was as flat as his partner Xander Schauffele in their Thursday loss. Thomas loves Medinah and it showed by him notching Day 1’s best SG (3.68).
3:01PM ET: Xander Schauffele-Patrick Cantlay (US) vs. Tom Kim-Si Woo Kim (I)
Michael Reaves
What to Watch: We didn’t need a crystal ball to see this one coming. It’s a rematch of the scintillating, back-and-forth Saturday foursomes match from Montreal that the Americans won when Cantlay made a birdie putt in the dark on the 18th hole. The U.S. duo has to be fuming after suffering separate losses on Thursday, but they’re back together again for the 16th time in team competition and will try to up their Presidents Cup record in foursomes to 5-1. The always entertaining Kim Squared duo is coming off a dominant fourball win from Thursday. They’ve only played once together in foursomes, but are now 3-1 in fourballs.
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