Team USA got off to a strong start in their bid for an 11th straight Presidents Cup victory by building a 3-2 lead in Thursday’s four-ball session against the International Team.
Brandt Snedeker’s team has historically dominated the two-year-old event, but presented a tough test on the opening day at Medinah Country Club, where the Internationals won two of the five points on offer.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler ended his winless streak with Sam Burns playing out a last-gasp thriller against Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im, after Justin Thomas partnered rookie Jackson Koivun in a 4&3 victory over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria.
The all-Japanese pair of Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune dispatched Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele 3&1, before Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa beat Ryan Fox and Adam Scott 3&2 to ensure Team USA won the session.
The United States has led after the opening day in nine of the last 10 Presidents Cups, although Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim cut their lead past Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay 3&2 in the final game.
How Team USA went ahead after four balls
A high-scoring match saw Scheffler win the first with a 15-foot birdie putt, before Burns putt from 10 feet to match Lee’s monster putt from the green. Both teams then birdied the next two holes.
I birdied the fifth as both teams made two on the par-three ninth, with Burns chipping in from nearly 20 feet after Lee had putted in close. The internationals then missed several opportunities to go ahead.
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Min Woo Lee made a 50-foot putt on the second hole of his match with Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler
They eventually took the lead when Im converted a 10-foot birdie putt on 13, but Burns responded immediately with a close birdie at the next. The teams stayed tied until both internationals birdied the 17th, handing the hole to Team USA.
Scheffler then holed out of the green bunker on the last four to within inches of the hole, making par and sealing a first win together for him and Burns in either the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup.
Scheffler and Burns had lost three and tied their previous four matches together in the team event
“We just did our best to stay in it,” Scheffler said. “I felt like both teams got off to a pretty hot start today and we settled down a little bit.
“We lost 13 to be down one and then he hit one to a few feet. I felt like it was a really big moment for us as a team, and he stepped up when we needed him.”
Thomas extends the amazing four-ball record
Thomas extended his perfect four-ball Presidents Cup record with an impressive partnership alongside 21-year-old rookie Koivun, with the American duo never trailing after securing the first point of this year’s competition.
The pair won three holes in a four-hole stretch from the third before Conners won the seventh, with the gap remaining at two until Thomas closed out his seventh straight four-hole victory by birdying the 14th and 15th.
Jackson Koivun (right) was named captain for his Presidents Cup debut
“It was fun to be out there with him and do his stuff,” Thomas said. “He’s really impressive to watch and I’m very happy to have him on my team. It was nice to watch him do his thing out there and come up in some pretty big moments.”
Fox and Scott bogeyed the first hole in their loss to Clark and Morikawa, while Matsuyama and Hisatsune battled back from falling behind early to beat Young and Schauffele.
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Actor Bill Murray fired up the Presidents Cup crowd with some exciting action at Medinah
“I saw a lot of good golf there,” said international captain Geoff Ogilvy. We had some really good games there and we had a game up to 18, which would have been nice if it had gone the other way, but we’ll take it (3-2).
In the final match, Kim and Kim lost an early two-hole lead before regaining control with back-to-back wins from the 13th. Gotterup kept the match alive with a long par at the 15th, but Tom Kim sent his ball into the second fairway to seal another point for the Internationals.
Snedeker ‘proud’ as Team USA grabs early lead
Team USA needs 12 more points to retain the trophy or 12.5 more points to extend their winning streak over Team International, with 25 more points up for grabs – including five in Friday’s foursome session.
“I saw those guys (Team USA) compete their asses out there,” United States captain Snedeker said. “I’m really proud of them. A session win is a session win – we’ll take it any way we can.
“Really happy for Scottie (Scheffler) and Sam (Burns) to go out there in that key game and get that big win for us to lead us. It’s a long week and it’s one session. We’ve got four more to go, but we’re just proud of the way these guys started us.
Who will win the Presidents Cup? Live coverage continues with the second foursome, live on Friday from 7pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports OR golf stream and more without contract.
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