Well, the International team is back.
The Americans swept through the table on Friday at Medinah Antipolis in Chicago, and will now enter the weekend in an event dominated from the start with plenty of work to do if they are to retain the Presidents’ Cup.
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The international team dominated on Friday and found themselves jumping out of the first hole after Thursday’s four-ball session. All five foursomes matched on the second day of play at the Presidents Cup, and now hold a 7-3 lead entering the weekend.
It was the seventh time a team has swept a session in Presidents Cup history, and the first since the International’s 14th session in 2024. The four-point lead also tied for the longest International team lead held after two sessions, matching the 1998 result – the only one the Americans have ever lost.
The US team just couldn’t get anything going, even with great looks from Wyndham Clark and Scottie Scheffler down the stretch. Now, over the last two Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups, the Americans are 6-24-0 in foursomes matches, per Skratch’s Dan Rapaport.
“They went out there and played great. They made a ton of putts,” captain Brandt Snedeker said of the International team. “I feel like our guys hit a bunch of great putts and just couldn’t find the bottom of the hole.
“You’re going to have sessions like this in these things. I feel terrible for the guys because I know they got out there and gave me everything today, and it’s not meant to be.”
Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im had the easiest time at internationals. After two early falls, the duo picked up three birdies in the four-hole stretch to suddenly take a three-hole lead by six in their partnership with Russell Henley and James Bridgeman. One of those birdies also landed after the Im-putt off the green.
These are a bloody easy 3&2 to get a point on the board for the International team.
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The International team was walking in putts throughout the course as well. Adam Scott took the lead in the first lap with Christianaan Bezuidenhout and jumped into a two-to-three lead while Justin Thomas and Cameron Young dominated in turn. Thomas and Young did not make one bird all day, and they looked at each other for the whole world. Scott and Bezuidenhout won 3rd & 2nd.
Then Ryan Fox walked in on the same day on the seventh day with Min Woo Lee. The Foxes gave the birds the lead in four of the five matches, then dominated in the start.
Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim broke through on the ninth green after their high putt, which gave them a double lead over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. They end up taking a 4&3 win.
Scheffler and Sam Burns, who won their first international matches on Thursday, battled to pass Corey Conners and Nick Taylor in the first half of the day. Scheffler missed two big putts to tie the match back up, and even had a chance at the 18th after Taylor sent his putt far to the right of the fairway.
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But Taylor nailed the approach to 2 feet after Conner landed it from behind the trees to save par, which sealed the 1-up win.
“There was more redemption for that tee shot, but he’s lucky to walk away with a 4, and he’s lucky there because Sam’s two-handed,” Taylor said.
The only real bright spots for the Americans came from Clark and Morikawa. Clark returned his double for victory on Thursday, and Morikawa managed five birdies along with Fox and Lee. But Fox let out the lights, and in another time he walked 16 birds to put them on top, and finally seal the tie. That completed the five-match sweep and gave the International team a four-way lead entering the weekend.
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It is a long way to Medinah. Saturday’s doubleheader will consist of a four-ball morning and four-in-the-afternoon match before all fourteen golfers square off in each match on Sunday. But now the Americans must make a significant move if they want to avoid losing the U.S. group stage for the first time in nearly two decades.
“That’s 35, 40 percent over. It’s not even half a football game,” Snedeker said. “There’s a lot of golf left. … I’m lucky to have these guys in the closet because I know what they’ve become. I know what’s building. It’s going to be a long weekend, there’s still a lot left to play.”