No one can legitimately question how good of a director Scottie Scheffler is. He is the top ranked golfer in the world and has absolutely dominated the PGA Tour for several years.
But Scheffler’s struggles on the international stage, a trend he can’t shake, continued Thursday at Medinah Antipolis in Chicago.
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Scheffler was in the circle ahead of the 2026 Presidents’ Cup on Thursday, playing alongside Sam Burns in the first five of four games against the International team. The two sneaked 1-up wins over Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im, thanks to a huge 17th pass, to get the United States on the board. Also the first Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup match that Burn and Scheffler won playing together.
At the end of the day, the U.S. held a 3-2 lead over the International team heading into Friday’s combined foursome. After the opening session, 12 of the 16 Presidents of the Cup were led.
“We just did our best to stay in it,” Scheffler said. “I felt like both teams started a hot war today and we cooled it down a little bit.”
Scheffler opened the day with a birdie walk. But it is almost in the light. Lee and Im quickly tied the pair back up as Scheffler struggled to get much of anything going. He missed the par-3 7th green short and hit it into the crowd off the tee, for example, and couldn’t fall much the rest of the way.
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That left most of Burns to try and hold it all together. He sank a big birdie putt on the 9th to tie the match with the reverse, and Lee and Im missed three straight birdies of their own that would have given them their first lead of the day. Eventually, Burns and Scheffler chipped in for a 3-footer on the 13th, though Burns made a birdie putt on the 14th to even things up.
Scheffler got to sink a 4-foot par putt on 17 when Im missed a similar look on a rough mistake to finally put the Americans in the lead for good. Scheffler was to save par when he landed on the fence at the 18th, however, to avoid splitting the point.
Scheffler’s writing on the international stage followed other techniques. He has a 3-6-3 record at the Ryder Cup, and enters this week with a 3-5-1 record at the Presidents Cup. Scheffler has never won a Presidents Cup singles match, either, despite going 2-0-1 in those at the Ryder Cup.
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Scheffler and Burns, who are close friends on the Internet, were a combined 0-3-1 when winning between the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup earlier Thursday. Not great.
Fortunately for Scheffler and the Americans, they are now in the lead after the first day in Chicago. Not much.
“I saw those guys fight their asses out there,” US captain Brandt Snedeker said. “I’m really proud of them. To win a session is to win a session, we’re going to get it in any way we can. I’m so happy Scottie and Sam are going out there to lead the pack in that and it’s a big win for us to take us away.
“This is a long week. This is one session. We need four more to go. Just proud of the way these guys started us.”
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Thomas-Koivun, Clark-Morikawa cruise
While the Scheffler-Burns group was the slowest, the two pairs of Americans wasted no time in their matches behind them.
Justin Thomas and rookie Jackson Koivun went on to win 4&3 over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria in the third match of the day. Koivun made three birdies on the front to grab the lead almost immediately, and Koivun — who only made his PGA Tour debut before midseason this year — looked more comfortable there.
Thomas then sank his birdie from the 14th green to bring it back to three, which was enough to take the win early. Thomas has now won his seventh four-ball game at the Presidents Cup, which is tied for all-time. And at 21, Koivun is now the second-youngest American behind only Jordan Spieth to win a pair of Presidents Cups.
Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa cruised to a similar 3&2 win over Ryan Fox and Adam Scott. Clark continues to be 4-under on the front nine himself, which was more than enough to keep Fox and Scott at bay. Clark then pushed his lead to three with a birdie on the 15th, which allowed him to end the match on the next hole.
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Scott is playing in 12 career Presidents Cups, and Thursday was his 55th overall, both of which tied Phil Mickelson’s all-time record.
Matsuyama-Hisatsune, Kim-Kim lead the Internationals
While on the last and slowest day of the group, Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim had little offspring Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay, 3&2 to win an easy point of the International.
They go 2-2 in the first two holes to take control of the match almost immediately. While Cantlay and Gotterup got together briefly, they made three birdies into the square hole to tie things up, which was all they could do. Cantlay became a non-factor the rest of the way while Kim and Kim easily pushed their lead to three before taking the win. If Woo’s birdie at the 14th was from a distance, it was even and perfect.
Tom nearly had a hole one on the 16th and put his ball back on the flag stick. That would be his third ace in Presidents Cup history.
Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune, meanwhile, took out the back nine to win 3&1. After hanging on the line on the front nine, they won two back-to-back holes before taking the turn to get par while Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young tried to drop putts. Finally, after Young missed a birdie at the 17th, Matsuyama and Hisatsune were able to put themselves on the board for the first time all day.
Medinah’s two teams will return on Friday in five foursomes or alternate shot matches.