MONTREAL – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The U.S. team clicked at almost every turn in sweeping five four-ball matches to open Presidents Cup competition by blitzing the International team Thursday at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
The 5-0 count marked the first sweep of a four-ball session for the U.S. since the 1994 Presidents Cup.
The most dominant round came from Russell Henley and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler as they secured a 3-and-2 victory over South Korea’s Tom Kim and Sungjae Im. That also marked the tensest encounter.
After Kim celebrated a long birdie putt that gave the International tandem the brief upper hand on the par-3 seventh, Scheffler sank a 27-foot birdie to halve the hole. Scheffler turned and shouted “What was that?” in Kim’s direction, clearly one of the most emotional moments of the first day.
The U.S. pairings showed stellar finishing touches because they led all five matches at times and didn’t need many clutch moments down the stretch.
Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele gave the U.S. its first point with a 1-up victory on South Korea’s Byeong Hun An and Australia’s Jason Day.
Finau’s chip-in front the greenside rough for a birdie on No. 14 allowed the U.S. team to halve the hole. Finau and Schauffele both missed putts from inside 4 feet on No. 16, keeping the match tied.
Schauffele was good from 3 feet on the last hole to clinch the point.
Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala, who’s in his first international team competition representing the U.S., topped Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee 1 up.
Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark never trailed and took the lead for good on the 13th hole to edge South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith 1 up.
Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns finished the sweep by winning 2 and 1 against Canada’s Corey Conners and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. A birdie from Burns at No. 13 gave the U.S. a 2-up lead, and that was the final shift.
The four-ball matches came on the opening day of four days of competition, concluding Sunday. The first team to 15 1/2 points wins the cup.
–Field Level Media