The United States have retaken control of the Presidents Cup heading into the final-day singles after a marathon Saturday of high drama and tension in the fourballs and foursomes in Montreal.
Having seen their day-one lead of 5-0 immediately wiped out in staggering fashion by a resurgent International side in the Friday foursomes, the US team won both Saturday sessions 3-1 to establish an overall lead of 11-7 for Sunday’s decisive 12 singles matches.
But the relative luxury of a four-point cushion for the defending champions had looked anything but assured halfway through the delayed afternoon foursomes amid another fierce and determined challenge from Mike Weir’s International side, in which his all-Korean pairing of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim played starring roles.
Indeed, the challengers to the USA’s long-held crown in this tournament took the first point of the foursomes as Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith impressively finished 2up against Max Homa and Brian Harman.
But it was the American team which appeared to get stronger in the later matches as the back nine progressed and took the three following wins in a potentially-decisive series of matches, amid fast-fading light at the Royal Montreal Golf Club after morning fog had led to the morning session being suspended for 97 minutes.
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Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim attempted a variety of trick shots on the range – with mixed results – during a fog delay at the Presidents Cup.
Underlining that late turnaround, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and playing partner Russell Henley eventually triumphed 3&2 against Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im having been three down on the International pairing after just six holes.
Scheffler may have absolutely dominated world golf this year – winning eight times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters – yet the American experienced a woeful time with the putter through the early exchanges in the afternoon.
In an unwanted hat-trick on consecutive misses, Scheffler first lipped out when presented with a makeable birdie putt on the third before uncharacteristically miscuing what should have been hole-tying par puts on the fourth and fifth from inside a few feet.
The two-time Masters champion though did eventually find his form with the putter, although gave his playing partner credit for the match win afterwards.
“I’ve got to give a ton of credit to Russ,” said Scheffler, who had earlier beaten Scott and Pendrith 2&1 alongside Morikawa in the fourballs. “I felt like I messed up the beginning of the match.
“I felt like I was on a different planet for the first six holes, really the first five holes. Starting on No. 6 I hit a good shot in there, and I don’t think Russ missed a shot today. I can’t think of one shot I thought he could have hit better.”
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Tensions rise between Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler at the Presidents Cup, after a birdie at the eighth leads to some interesting scenes.
Putter protests and stunning shots… the two Kims light up Saturday’s sessions
After being left out of Weir’s Friday foursomes line-up, Tom Kim returned to the course two days on from his fourballs flash-point with good friend Scheffler and again proved a central figure in both sessions alongside countryman Si Woo Kim.
A birdie burst helped the South Korean duo first beat Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark 4&3 in the fourballs before they took on Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in the alternate ball format later on.
Two down at the time of the seventh, Tom Kim was left unimpressed on that par-three green when the American duo made him hole out his par putt when just a couple of yards away from the cup, rather than conceding it.
After duly completing the putt to confirm the tie, Kim then laid down his putter next to the pin to seemingly underline how close he had been actually been to the hole.
But the incident and frustration seemed to rouse the International duo to new heights. On the ninth, Tom Kim holed a 37-footer to halve their deficit before levelling the match up from the fringe on the next green.
After twice more falling behind by one, the Kims pulled it back again on the 14th and 16th holes – the latter of which saw Si Woo Kim produce a miraculous chip-in from thick rough on the upslope of the green just ahead of the bunker.
The chip-in to win the hole sparked wild scenes of celebration in the grandstands and among watching International team colleagues, with Kim running around on the green mimicking NBA star Steph Curry’s ‘night, night’ celebration.
However, amid the wild scenes, Cantlay and Schauffele soaked up the pressure and, after a tie on the 17th, the Americans won the match on the last after the former rolled in an impressive birdie putt from the front of the green.
The session’s third match between Collin Morikawa/Sam Burns and the all-Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes also went all the way to the 18th with the Americans, who had been two down after four, ultimately winning out there too. But there was a moment to remember for Hughes when he chipped in for eagle out of the bunker on the 12th.
US captain Furyk, who used all-but one of his 12 players across Saturday’s eight matches whereas Weir stuck with the same eight for both sessions, said: “I think my guys, like we did on Thursday, they played those holes down the stretch very well, able to close out some matches. That 3-1 could have easily been 2-2. It could have been 3-1 or 2½-1½ their side. That’s kind of how team things go.
“In the afternoon, you saw the same thing. The Scheffler-Henley match, 3-down middle of the front nine, and they end up winning 3&2. The Morikawa match and Burns, huge, huge lift for our team to see that ahead, to come back, fight, win the 18th hole. Things like that, that’s a big tipping point.
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“Really the matches were close today. I know what the score looks like. I think the same thing you saw on Thursday, the score looked bad at 5-0, but man, those matches were all really, really tight. They just happened to go our way.
The USA are now in prime position to extend their winning run in the Presidents Cup to 10 consecutive tournaments in Sunday’s singles, and Furyk added: “I think keeping our focus, not getting ahead of ourselves, being prepared. I know the guys are tired right now. They want to get some rest and come out firing again.
“We had to come out today like the Internationals had to come out on Friday. So it will be a gunfight out there [on Sunday]. Looking forward to it.”
Who will win the Presidents Cup? Don’t miss full live coverage of the final day and the crucial Sunday singles from 5pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the Presidents Cup and more with NOW.
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