Sept 28 (Askume) – The United States won the morning foursomes and afternoon foursomes to beat the International team 11-7 in Montreal on Saturday and try to win its 10th consecutive Presidents Cup.
The pre-tournament favorites were tied 5-5 with the Internationals through the first two days of play, but the United States took a 3-1 lead in the four-ball match and also won the four-ball match by the same score.
The United States needs 15-1/2 points to defend its Presidents Cup title, and they will take their chances in the 12-singles match on Sunday at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
“We’re not done yet. We have to come out strong tomorrow. I know they will,” Patrick Cantlay said after making a birdie putt in the final over. “There’s 12 points left. There’s one day left.”
The afternoon game looked to be in favor of the Internationals, but the other three games favored Team USA, with Adam Scott and Tyler Pendaris tying the score at 2 points over Max Homa and Brian Harman.
Collin Morikawa and Sam Burns sent a wave of red across the scoreboard as they came back from an early two-point deficit to beat Canada’s Corey Connors and Mackenzie Hughes 1-1.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler missed two short putts early and he and Russell Henley were 3-3 ahead after six holes, but the American pair came back to beat Hideki Matsuyama and Im Sung-jae by a score of 3-2.
“I felt like I made a mistake at the beginning of the game. I felt like I was on another planet,” Scheffler said. “I don’t think Russ missed a shot today. I don’t think he could have made any better shots.”
Cantlay did.
But the Americans responded in dim light on the final hole, with Cantlay making a 16-foot birdie putt to seal a one-shot victory for himself and Schauffele.
Cantlay said: “After yesterday’s finish like this, there will be motivation going into the singles tomorrow, the team will have a good sleep tonight and we will have a strong performance tomorrow.”
In the morning session, Scheffler made two consecutive birdies at the end of the match to help him and Morikawa defeat Scot and Canadian Tyler Pendaris 2–1.
The Internationals then tied the tie and the Americans won the next two points as King defeated US Ryder Cup captains Keegan Bradley and Windham Clark 4-3.
Schauffele and Tony Finau defeated Connors and Hughes 3 & 2 to give Team USA an 8–6 lead, then Cantlay and Burns defeated Kazuki Matsuyama 2 & 1.
