Internationals return favor, sweep USA to tie Presidents Cup

MONTREAL — Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im tied a record for the biggest blowout, and Si Woo Kim polished off a most perfect day as the International team produced a sweep of its own tie the Americans in the Presidents Cup on Friday.

“Incredible,” Adam Scott said. “Incredible day for us to come back and show everyone what this team is made of.”

A Presidents Cup that started out looking like another American victory took on an entirely different feel before a Royal Montreal crowd that was chanting “I-N-T!” from the opening tee.

Unlike the American sweep in four-balls Thursday, most of the foursomes matches weren’t even close. The Internationals trailed in only one match, and that was for only one hole.

Every video screen showing the scores was filled with yellow.

“There was a lot of belief amongst the room, amongst the guys, that hey, we can still do this,” Mackenzie Hughes said. “We’re still a great team, and we’ve got a lot of golf left to play. We came here this morning, we had our heads held high, chin up, and we were ready to play.”

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, 3-0 in foursomes at the Presidents Cup, never stood a chance against Matsuyama and Im. The Internationals birdied their final seven holes, a staggering streak considering they were alternating shots, for a 7-and-6 win.

It tied the Presidents Cup record, last done in 2011 when Scott and K.J. Choi defeated Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in 12 holes. The Americans didn’t help the cause by not hitting a fairway until the eighth hole. Then again, Matsuyama and Im were 8 under for 12 holes.

Right behind them, Scott and Taylor Pendrith made three straight birdies and never trailed in beating Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa, 5 and 4. Scott became the highest-scoring International player of all time, passing Ernie Els with his 22nd career point.

The Canadians delivered just as big as Hughes and Corey Conners won the first two holes in a 6-and-5 rout over Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau.

It marked the first time in Presidents Cup history that a team won three matches in a single session by the 14th hole.

Two matches went the distance, and the Internationals were just as relentless. Jason Day hit a superb pitch off a muddy lie to the left of the 18th green to a foot that secured a 1-up victory over Max Homa and Brian Harman.

And then Kim produced one last cheer. In a match in which 13 holes were halved, Kim and Byeong Hun An were 1 up over Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley going to the 18th when they hit into nasty rough and had no chance to reach the green.

Henley missed a 25-foot birdie putt. Kim drained a 15-foot par putt to secure another 1-up victory, another full point, and a deadlock going into the weekend.

“We got off to a good start, and the energy is there,” Scott said. “It’s a nice feeling because yesterday was flat. We didn’t give them too much to cheer about. But today, hopefully, this is the start of a great weekend.”

This is the second time that the Presidents Cup has been tied after two sessions. In 2003, it was 5.5-5.5 and ended up tied 17-17, after Woods and Els tied 3 sudden-death playoff holes and captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to a draw under the cover of darkness.

Saturday features two sessions — four matches of four-balls, four matches of foursomes — before the 12 singles matches on Sunday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.