Team USA made a solid start to their bid for an 11th consecutive Presidents Cup victory by building a 3-2 lead in Thursday’s fourballs session against the International Team.
Brandt Snedeker’s side have historically dominated the biennial contest but were presented with 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 record alongside Sam Burns by edging a final-hole thriller against Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im, following Justin Thomas partnering rookie Jackson Koivun to a 4&3 win over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria.
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Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns were locked in a tight fourballs clash with Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im on the opening day
The all-Japanese pairing of Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune despatched 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 would win the session.
The United States have led after the opening day in nine of the last 10 Presidents Cups, although Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim reduced their advantage by seeing off Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay 3&2 in the bottom match.
How Team USA edged ahead after fourballs
A high-scoring top match saw Scheffler win the first with a 15-foot birdie, before Burns holed from 10 feet to match Lee’s monster putt from off the green. Both teams then birdied the next two holes.
Im won the fifth with a birdie, while both teams made two on the par-three ninth, with Burns rolling in from nearly 20 feet after Lee had fired his tee shot close. The Internationals then squandered several chances to move ahead.
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Min Woo Lee holed 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 at the 13th, but Burns immediately responded with a close-range birdie at the next. The teams remained tied until both Internationals bogeyed the 17th, handing the hole to Team USA.
Scheffler then splashed out of the greenside bunker at the par-four last to within inches of the hole, securing the par and sealing a first win together for him and Burns at either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.
Scheffler and Burns had lost three and tied on of their previous four matches together in team events
“We just did our best to stay in it,” Scheffler said. “I felt like both teams got off to pretty hot starts today and we cooled off a little bit off that. Sam [Burns] hit probably the shot of the match there on 14.
“We lost 13 to go one down and then he hit one in there to a couple feet. I felt like that was really a big moment for us as a team, and he stepped up when we needed him to.”
Thomas extends amazing fourballs record
Thomas extended his perfect Presidents Cup fourballs record with an impressive partnership alongside 21-year-old rookie Koivun, with the American pair never trailing as they secured the first point of this year’s contest.
The pair won three holes in a four-hole stretch from the third before Conners claimed the seventh, with the gap remaining at two until Thomas closed out a seventh consecutive fourballs victory by birdieing the 14th and 15th.
Jackson Koivun (right) was named as a captain’s pick for his Presidents Cup debut
“It was fun to be out there with him and doing his thing,” Thomas said. “He’s really impressive to watch and I’m really happy he’s on my team. It was cool to watch him do his thing out there and show up in some pretty big moments.”
Fox and Scott trailed from the first hole in their defeat by Clark and Morikawa, while Matsuyama and Hisatsune fought back after falling behind early to beat Young and Schauffele.
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Actor Bill Murray ignited the Presidents Cup crowd with some excitable first-tee antics at Medinah
“I saw a lot of good golf out there,” International captain Geoff Ogilvy said. “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 we’ll take that (3-2).”
In the bottom match, Kim and Kim squandered an early two-hole lead before restoring control with back-to-back wins from the 13th. Gotterup kept the match alive with a long-range par at the 15th, but Tom Kim sent his tee shot to tap-in range at the next to close out another point for the Internationals.
Snedeker ‘proud’ after Team USA grab early lead
Team USA require a further 12 points to retain the trophy or 12.5 more points to extend their winning streak over the International Team, with 25 more points on offer – including five in Friday foursomes session.
“I saw those guys [Team USA] competing their asses off out there,” United States captain 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.
“So happy for Scottie [Scheffler] and Sam [Burns] to go out there in that lead match and get that big win for us to lead us off. This is a long week and this is one session. We’ve got four more to go, but just proud of the way these guys started us off.
Who will win the Presidents Cup? Live coverage continues with the day two foursomes, live on Friday from 7pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream golf and more with no contract.
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