Montreal: Sahith Theegala, who made a winning debut with Collin Morikawa as the partner on the opening day, suffered a big defeat in their second match as the International Team fought back brilliantly with a 5-0 sweep to tie the U.S. 5-5 in President’s Cup golf contest.
Theegala and Morikawa were outplayed 5&4 by Australian veteran Adam Scott and his partner Taylor Pendrith. Scott made more history by earning his 22nd point in what is an unprecedented 11th International Team appearance.
A day after the U.S. Team claimed all five Four-ball matches, the International Team won all five Foursome matches, the first time in Presidents Cup history with multiple session sweeps.
Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im sparked a stunning International Team fightback with a record-tying 7 & 6 rout over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in the first match of Friday’s Foursomes session before Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An put the bow on a 5-0 reversal over the star-studded U.S. Team to leave the Presidents Cup all tied at 5-5 at Royal Montreal, Canada on Friday.
Following the American demolition job in Thursday’s four-ball session where the title holders won all five matches, Mike Weir’s International Team showed up in full force to put life back into the biennial team competition.
Kim, a captain’s pick, rolled in a pressure-packed 15-foot par putt on the final green of the last match in front of his team and a raucous home crowd as he and An produced a 1-up victory over World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.
Canadian stars Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes also enjoyed a 6 & 5 win over Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau while Jason Day and Christiaan Bezuidenhout edged out Max Homa and Brian Harman 1-up as the International Team bounced back brilliantly from Thursday’s setback as they chase only a second Presidents Cup victory.
Matsuyama, a 10-time PGA Tour winner, and Im dovetailed brilliantly in the alternate-shot format as they closed out Cantlay and Schauffele, who until Friday, was undefeated as a pair in Foursomes at the event. The Asian stars didn’t allow their opponents to win a single hole, missing only two fairways and two greens through 12 holes, and brilliantly made seven straight birdies to close out their match.
“Five losses (on Thursday) wasn’t the result we wanted. But we knew we could come back from this,” said Matsuyama, who qualified for his sixth International Team as the top-ranked player.
Im, who won three points in his debut at Royal Melbourne in 2019, has been a livewire all week for the International Team where he mimicked the famous Gangnam dance during a practice round, and also outside the team room on Thursday evening to lift his teammates’ spirits.
Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An fought gallantly against Scheffler and Henley in a match which was never more than a 1-up lead before holding on to a win, thanks to a clutch 15-foot par save at the last hole which sparked wild celebrations reminiscent of the scenes at Quail Hollow two years ago when Tom Kim holed a big putt to earn a point for the International Team.
Mike Weir was proud of how his men fought back after the opening session shutout. “We’re all in this together. We all had a great belief. I was just so proud of the guys, and how they fought, as I told you guys that yesterday. The guys fought. That message was loud and clear to the guys,” said the Canadian.
The International Team won three matches by at least a five-hole margin. It was the first time in Presidents Cup history a team has won more than two matches by at least a five-hole margin in either a Four-ball or Foursomes session.
Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im (INT) defeated Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (U.S.), 7 and 6, tying the largest margin of victory in Presidents Cup history.
–IANS