MONTREAL – What a difference a day makes.
After the U.S. side swept the first five matches Thursday at Royal Montreal, International Team Captain Mike Weir, Canadian through and through, described the shutout in hockey terms as only the first period.
“There’s a long way to go,” Weir pointed out. “Still significant sessions left. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”
On Friday, his team delivered the equivalent of a hat trick, bouncing back with a clean sweep of its own in foursomes. After two sessions, the match is tied at 5-5. Sungjae Im, who teamed with Hideki Matsuyama, to earn the International Team’s first point summed up the valiant comeback as only he can.
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“Our vibe was vibing,” Im said through a translator.
Weir couldn’t ignore that his team had a nightmare start but he stuck to his plan and it worked. Im and Matsuyama boat-raced the pairing of Patrick Cantlay-Xander Schauffele in the first foursomes (alternate shot) match, 7 and 6, tying the largest margin of victory in a foursomes match.
A day after Im was cold with the putter and managed just one birdie, Im and Matsuyama were 8-under through 12 holes and ran the tables with seven straight birdies beginning at No. 6.
“We knew that we could come back from this,” Matsuyama said. “Sungjae hit a perfect shot on the 1st hole, so I think that really brought the momentum.”
The second match proved to be another beat down with Adam Scott and Canadian Taylor Pendrith routing the American side of Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala, 5 and 4. The International Team reeled off three straight holes in a row starting at the fourth and never looked back.
“We just needed to find a little something extra,” Scott said.
International Team coming in hot! 😤
L’équipe internationale arrive en force! #PresidentsCuppic.twitter.com/w6VhgbX4vn
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 27, 2024
It was the first point earned by Pendrith, who was winless in his first five career Presidents Cup matches, and the 22nd for Scott, who became the all-time leader for most points won in the team competition.
Captain Weir finally teamed up a pair of his Canadians, and Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes delivered another resounding victory, trouncing Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau, 6 and 5.
Hughes, who was on the bench Thursday…
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