The Internationals got themselves back into the 2024 Presidents Cup on Friday with a stunning 5-0 sweep to tie the score at 5-5 after two days – but a bold call from captain Mike Weir may have ended up hurting his side on Saturday.
The Internationals lost Saturday’s two sessions 6-2 to trail 11-7 heading into the Sunday singles, and the Canadian’s decision to play the exact same pairings for both sessions on day three ultimately returned them just two points.
It was the first time a Presidents Cup captain has gone with the exact same pairings for both sessions on day three, meaning that just eight of the 12 Internationals got a game on Saturday and all eight of them had to play 36 holes.
Jim Furyk played 11 of his 12 players on Saturday, with just five of his team playing 36 holes and only Sahith Theegala sitting out all day.
The afternoon foursomes was looking in the Internationals’ favor early and mid-way through the back nine but the fatigue was clear to see as they started to make errors to let the US back in.
Matsuyama and Im lost their last three holes to go down 3&2 to Scheffler and Henley, Conners and Hughes bogeyed 18 to lose to Morikawa and Burns while Si Woo and Tom Kim lost the 18th to lose to Cantlay and Schauffele 1-down.
Taylor Pendrith hit some loose shots coming down the stretch, too, but he and Adam Scott were able to get the Internationals’ only win in the afternoon.
“It was a little closer than I think we wanted coming down the stretch, and I hit some shaky shots, but we got the point, so that’s all that matters” he said.
Bezuidenhout and Day won their match together on Friday but neither played on Saturday
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Min Woo Lee, Ben An, Jason Day and Christiaan Bezuidenhout all sat out the entire day, and the stranger aspect is that An, Day and Bezuidenhout all won their matches on Friday. Those three were the Internationals’ weakest players on day two, however, in terms of strokes gained so that may well be why Weir chose to sit them.
It means that four Internationals are rested, and perhaps even lacking sharpness, heading into the singles, with Min Woo Lee having only played one session – and that was back on Thursday.
Min Woo Lee didn’t play on Friday or Saturday
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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