Medinah (United States) (AFP) – Canada’s Corey Conners capped a late fightback, and the Internationals were poised to snap a 28-year win drought, leading the United States by three points after Saturday’s four-ball and foursomes matches at the Presidents Cup. The Internationals took a 10.5-7.5 edge into Sunday’s 12 concluding singles golf matches at Medinah, leading on US soil for the first time after pairs matches.
Australian Min Woo Lee and British Open champion Ryan Fox of New Zealand rallied to beat US Open champion Wyndham Clark and Sam Burns 3&2, while Canada’s Conners and Nick Taylor, three down after 10 holes, shocked Jacob Bridgeman and Russell Henley 1-up. “No giving up. We knew it was going to be a battle,” Conners said. “We gave them a few holes early on, did a good job of just staying with them. It feels good to get it done.”
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The Internationals swept Friday’s foursomes matches to grab a four-point lead, and they clung to the edge even though the Americans went 4-3-1 in Saturday’s matches. “Our guys battled hard. It was a tough day. I was proud of the way they hung in there,” US captain Brandt Snedeker said. “Stay the course. It’s going to be a long hard day tomorrow.” Internationals captain Geoff Ogilvy of Australia was overjoyed at the fightback foursomes split. “Amazing. Having all red on the board, being down in every match, for the boys to come back and split points in the session was great,” he said.
The Americans, who lead the all-time rivalry 13-1-1, seek an 11th consecutive victory, with each side needing 15.5 points to hoist the trophy. US President Donald Trump, who attended the Americans’ Ryder Cup loss last year, is expected to watch Sunday at the suburban Chicago layout where Europe rallied for an epic 2012 “Miracle at Medinah” Ryder Cup victory over the Americans. The Internationals, who took their only victory in 1998 at Australia, had been heavy underdogs with the US team boasting eight of the world’s 11 top-ranked golfers.
Lee and Fox took three of the last four holes to win. Lee made a 23-foot birdie putt at the par-three seventh to equalize, and the global side never trailed again. “We turned it around, which was awesome,” Lee said. Conners and Taylor sparkled late as Henley and Bridgeman stumbled. Taylor’s five-foot par putt won the 11th and his 11-footer took the 12th before US bogeys at 14 and 15 gave the Canadians their first lead, setting up Conners’ winning six-foot par putt at 18.
Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup won their second match of the day, routing Australian Adam Scott and South Korean Im Sung-jae 6&4. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele also led from the front in handing a 2&1 loss to South Koreans Tom Kim and Kim Si-woo.
The Americans, swept in Friday foursomes to trail 7-3, went 2-1-1 in Saturday morning four-ball matches to trim the deficit. Kim and Kim defeated Clark and Collin Morikawa 2&1. Kim Si-woo sank a birdie putt from just beyond 12 feet at 16, then made a 16-foot birdie putt at 17 to seal victory. Lee and Im won two of the last four holes to tie Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun. “I’m gutted,” Thomas said. “I feel like I let (Koivun) down today and the team. I’m disappointed.” Young and Gotterup won the first four holes and never trailed in beating Taylor and Conners 2&1. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Burns beat Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune 2&1 after Scheffler sank a 21-foot birdie putt to win 15, and Burns made four-foot birdie putts to win 16 and 17.
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