28 Sep 2024 | Professional golf |
PresCup: Internationals roar back
by Martin Blake
Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day played their part and secured wins in a remarkable International team comeback on day two of the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal today.
With captain Mike Weir pulling the levers and deploying a bunch of different pairings, the Internationals swept the USA in Friday foursomes matches before a raucous and partisan crowd in Canada.
It was 5-0 on the day when South Korea’s Si Woo Kim nailed a 15-foot par-saver at the 18th giving he and Ben An a 1-up win over Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley. It is the first time ever that Presidents Cup matches have been swept two days in a row.
After a disastrous start on Thursday where the USA swept the four-ball matches 5-0, Weir’s team is now level at 5-5 overall with two days to play.
Scott partnered Canadian Taylor Pendrith in a 5&4 demolition of Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa. Day and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout defeated Max Homa and Brian Harman 1 up.
“We didn’t get defeated,” said Scott. “There’s a lot of fight in this team. We’re not gonna go away.”
Min Woo Lee sat out the day’s contests on his Presidents Cup debut.
It was the veteran Scott’s 22nd point in Presidents Cup matches, making him the ‘winningest’ International player in the history of the event ahead of Ernie Els. This is his 10th appearance, and the Australian closed out the match with a nice putt in close from the fringe at the 14th hole.
Scott and Pendrith made five birdies and never trailed in the match.
Day and Bezuidenhout had a tougher time against Max Homa and Brian Harman with their match going to the 18th hole where Day hit a superb lob shot from the left rough to effectively finish the match.
The Internationals set the tone early with Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im beating Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 7&6, rolling in seven consecutive birdies to stop the match at the twelfth green. It was the shortest match in Presidents Cup history.
“I had a good feeling about this when we were up here a couple weeks ago scouting,” said Scott. “We played a little bit, felt easy to me. I've played with lots of different guys, and I knew that we were going to be a good pairing, and the captains seemingly found a lot of good pairings in this format today.
“But (it) felt easy. The momentum got going our way, and in this format, that's a big advantage. Happy to close it out like we did.”
The Montreal crowd was a factor today as local heroes Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners smashed Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau 6&5.
On Saturday there are eight matches in four-ball and foursomes format followed by 12 singles clashes to close out the contest on Sunday, local time.
The USA is protecting a 12-1 record with one tie, and is chasing a 10th consecutive Presidents Cup win.
Join our newsletter
Get weekly updates on news, golf tips and access to partner promotions.