The Internationals had a chance to take over on Day 1 Presidents’ Cup but Sungjae Im and Min Woo Lee were not able to flip the first match of the day.
the world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and the No. 8 Sam Burns beat that duo 1 in the only match that went to the 18th hole at Medinah Country Club in a four-ball game on Thursday in suburban Chicago.
The United States leads the four-day event 3-2, with five more points at stake in four games (alternate shootout) on Friday.
“I’ve seen a lot of good golf here – 2-3 isn’t too bad,” said international team captain Geoff Ogilvy. “We’ve had a couple of really good solid games there, and we’ve had a game 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.”
Even the Internationals should not feel too discouraged. As road handicaps go — and with the U.S. holding a 13-1-1 all-time record in this event — it was a solid performance.
But stealing that first game would have been great.
The lead match in these events is always crucial, as it can often set the tone for those behind. This was even more important on Thursday, as the Internazionales were able to gain major momentum by not only winning the first match of the week – but by knocking off a duo that included the tallest player in the world.
Scheffler and Burns birdied the first four holes of their match, but were still tied only after Lee and Im birdied No. 2-5. It was still tied until I rolled in a birdie putt on the par-3 13th hole and Scheffler missed his from close range. That gave the Internationals the lead in three of the five games on the course – all of which were on the new hole – until a birdie by Burns on the next hole tied it again.
“I felt like both teams started off pretty hot today and we cooled off a little bit from that,” Scheffler said. “But Sam I feel like he probably hit the shot of the game there on 14. We lost 13 to go 1 down, and then he hit one in there to a couple of feet, and we were able to square the match up. I feel that it was really a great moment for us as a team, and he stepped up when we needed him.”
With the other matchups looking one-sided, the first game seemed destined to decide who would take the lead come Friday. Luckily for the Americans, they didn’t even need to birdie the 17th to win. Scheffler and Burns won the hole with a par and then took the match after Im and Lee didn’t birdie the 18th.
In the four games behind, Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun never trailed in a 4 and 3 victory over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria, earning the first point of the week. The 21-year-old Koivun struggled at times, but Thomas was stellar once again, improving his four-game Presidents Cup record to 7-0-0. A few minutes later Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune beat Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele, 3 and 1.
Scheffler and Burns finished their victory for the second point of the Americans, and it was not long until Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa took a bow on their victory 3 and 2 over Ryan Fox and Adam Scott.
In the final match of the day, Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim had a slim lead over Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay, but won the 13th and 14th holes to take control. They won 3 and 2 after Tom Kim nearly missed his tee shot on the par-3 16th and the Americans conceded.
But there is still a lot of golf to be played. In the last Presidents Cup, two years ago at Royal Melbourne, the Americans won all five of Thursday’s four-ball matches – only to have the Internationals win all five of Friday’s four-ball matches.
The United States won 18.5-11.5 in 2024, their 10th consecutive victory in the Presidents’ Cup.
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