Medinah (United States) (AFP) – The Internationals completed a sensational foursomes clean sweep Friday to surge into a commanding 7-3 lead over the United States at the Presidents Cup. Trailing 3-2 after Thursday’s opening four-ball matches, the Internationals won all five of day two’s foursomes to open up a four-point cushion heading into the weekend at Medinah Country Club.
Canadian duo Corey Conners and Nick Taylor produced one of the most notable victories, taking down world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 1-up in a tense battle. The Canadians edged into the lead on the 12th hole when Conners drilled his second shot to six feet for Taylor to tap in a birdie. Taylor then made sure of victory on the 18th with an extraordinary approach shot from the fairway that finished just two feet from the hole for an easy par. Burns had a chance to square the match, but his 17-foot birdie putt curled agonizingly around the cup as the Internationals claimed the win.
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Earlier, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae partnered to get the first point of the day with a 3&2 defeat of Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman. Former Masters champion Matsuyama rolled in a 19-foot par putt to clinch victory on the 16th. New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Australia’s Min Woo Lee dug deep to win a nervy duel with Collin Morikawa and Windham Clark 1-up to add another Internationals point. The sweep was completed with Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout scoring a 3&2 defeat of Justin Thomas and Cameron Young before Tom Kim and Kim Si-woo downed Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 4&3.
The win was only the third time the Internationals have swept a session since the Presidents Cup was first held in 1994. They are attempting to win the biennial team golf tournament for the first time since 1998 while the United States are chasing an 11th-straight victory in the Ryder Cup-style event.
“We just wanted to come out and win the session,” International captain Geoff Ogilvy said afterwards. “The guys were all in a great frame of mind, but you never imagine going five zip…but we’ve seen it in these events when you get some momentum, it inspires all the groups,” he said. “It was an incredible day for us.”
United States captain Brandt Snedeker paid tribute to the rivals’ performance, but insisted there was still all to play for with 20 points up for grabs over the weekend. “Hats off to the International team,” Snedeker said. “They went out there and played great and made a ton of putts. I feel terrible for our guys — they grinded out there and it just wasn’t meant to be. But that being said, there’s still 20 points out there. There’s still a lot of golf here left to play,” the captain added. “I’ve said it all week — we have high-quality, high-character guys. They are fierce competitors. We’re going to kind of wash this off on the way home tonight.” The United States has a 13-1-1 edge against the Internationals.
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