Presidents Cup recap: U.S. takes opening fourball session, 3-2

Led by a leadoff point from Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, the Americans won Thursday’s fourballs, 3-2, to take the early lead at the Presidents Cup at Medinah.

“I saw those guys competing their asses off out there,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “I’m really proud of them. A session win is a session win; we’re going to take it any way we can get it. So happy for Scottie and Sam to go out there in that lead match and get that big win for us to lead us off. This is a long week. This is one session. We’ve got four more to go.”

This is the 12th time in 16 Presidents Cups that the U.S. has taken the first session. The team leading after one session has gone on to win a dozen times as well, while the trailing team after the first frame has rallied to win the Cup only twice.

“A long buildup, lots of planning, lots of strategizing, and just to get things going was a lot of fun,”
International skipper Geoff Ogilvy said. “First tee was exciting. I saw a lot of good golf out there. 2-3 their way is not too bad. ... The boys have got a round under their belt now. It sounds like the course played a little tougher today than they were expecting, a little bit firmer. So we’ll just get a plan for tomorrow and look forward to that.”

Here’s a match-by-match breakdown of how it all unfolded:

Match 1 – Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns def. Min Woo Lee/Sungjae Im, 1 up

How it happened: Scheffler and Burns entered this match with an 0-3-1 record in Cup team play and having not partnered since the 2023 Ryder Cup. But Data Golf’s Nos. 1 and 2 players, respectively, finally earned their first full point together, even if it wasn’t easy. Im’s tee shot at the par-4 second hit the wooden fence and kicked back into play, and he and Lee hung with the Americans for much of the way. But with the match tied with two holes to play, both Internationals three-putted the par-4 17th to give the U.S. pair the lead for good.

Turning point: With the Internationals having just taken their first lead of the match and Scheffler in trouble, Burns hit a 173-yard approach at the par-4 14th that rolled up to a few feet. The birdie re-tied the match.

Quotable: “We just did our best to stay in it. I felt like both teams got off to pretty hot starts today, and we cooled off a little bit after that. But Sam I felt like hit probably the shot of the match there on 14. We lost 13 to go 1-down, and then he hit one in there to a couple feet, and we were able to square the match up. I felt like that was really a big moment for us as a team, and he stepped up when we needed him to.” – Scheffler

Man of the match: Burns. Scheffler had a couple early birdies, but it was Burns who had the clutch shots late that helped them come away victorious.

Shot of the match: Burns’ approach into No. 14.

Match 2 – Hideki Matsuyama/Ryo Hisatsune def. Cameron Young/Xander Schauffele, 3 and 1

How it happened: This was one of the most anticipated International pairings, and it delivered. Per Data Golf’s strokes-gained table, Matsuyama and Hisatsune were among the visitors’ four best players. Hisatsune carried his countryman early before Matsuyama carded four birdies starting at the sixth hole, including a 9-footer at the par-3 ninth that doubled the lead to 2 up. The Americans birdied Nos. 12 and 15, but both were canceled out by International birdies. Matsuyama closed out the match with a 10-foot birdie on No. 17.

Turning point: With the Americans leading early, both Young and Schauffele missed birdie putts from around 10 feet to lose the par-5 third. Hisatsune then would match a Schauffele birdie at No. 4 by hooping a 16-footer to keep the match tied. A few holes later, the Internationals went ahead and never looked back.

Quotable: “It’s been a long time. I’ve been waiting for another guy from Japan to come play with me, and I was really happy today. It was kind of off to a slow start, but he picked up my slack and we were able to get the point today.” – Matsuyama

Man of the match: Hisatsune. Matsuyama improved to 10-13-5 overall, 4-6-2 in fourballs, and gained more strokes on the day, but Hisatsune’s strong play early was crucial.

Shot of the match: There is no video, but Hisatsune’s up-and-down birdie from the left rough at the par-4 fourth, which was capped by a 16-foot birdie conversion, was nice.

Match 3 – Justin Thomas/Jackson Koivun def. Corey Conners/Nico Echavarria, 4 and 3

How it happened: The Internationals’ weakest pairing by far when you consider birdie average put up little fight against Thomas and the rookie Koivun, who struggled off the tee in his debut. But Koivun’s putter kept him more than relevant, especially on a 15-foot par save to avoid losing the par-4 eighth, and Thomas added a few clutch birdies, including a 12-footer from just off the green at the par-4 14th that effectively ended any thought of a comeback by Conners and Echavarria, who combined for just three birdies and won one hole.

Turning point: Koivun shook off hitting his tee shot out of bounds at the par-4 second by draining a 20-footer for birdie at the par-5 third to give he and Thomas a lead they’d never relinquish.

Quotable: “First two holes definitely a little shaky, but after that kind of found a groove. Me and JT, we played really well out there. He picked me up when I didn’t play too hot, so thankful for that, but we had a fun time.” – Koivun

Man of the match: Thomas. Moved to 11-3-2 in this competition, including 7-0 in fourballs. Data Golf had him as the day’s top performer on either side, gaining over three-and-a-half shots on the field.

Shot of the match: Koivun’s par save at No. 8, which he walked in for extra effect.

Match 4 – Wyndham Clark/Collin Morikawa def. Ryan Fox/Adam Scott, 3 and 2

How it happened: This was the most lopsided match of the five as the Americans led for its entirety. Clark birdied four of the first eight holes to help he and Morikawa, whose score only factored twice on the front nine, take a 3-up lead at the turn.

Turning point: Clark’s 18-foot birdie make at the par-4 eighth came after the Internationals won the seventh hole to cut the deficit to 2 down. Scott and Fox only won one more hole the rest of the match.

Quotable: “Collin played really awesome kind of in the middle stretch and just didn’t have some putts fall. I kind of lost my groove a little bit and then finished strong. Yeah, it was a great day.” – Clark

Man of the match: Clark. The five birdies that were credited to him were the most of any player on Thursday.

Shot of the match: While in a losing effort, Scott’s tee shot from 198 yards to 3 feet at the par-3 13th was a highlight.

Match 5 – Tom Kim/Si Woo Kim def. Chris Gotterup/Patrick Cantlay, 3 and 2

How it happened: The electric Kim duo were the only pair to not count a bogey or worse on Thursday. They took the first hole with par and led nearly the entire match before Tom Kim sealed things with a near ace on the par-3 16th.

Turning point: Cantlay’s birdie at No. 6 tied the match, but Si Woo Kim responded by hitting his tee shot 215 yards to 4 feet at the par-3 seventh to put gold back on the board. Later, Si Woo drained a 30-foot dagger for birdie at the par-4 14th to stretch the lead to 3 up.

Quotable: “We don’t want to leave the door open. You really have to keep your foot down. ... We did a lot of good things late in the round to really give us a cushion. We never really let our guard down. We just kind of kept the foot on the gas. I would say relieved just to be able to finish without any stress.” – Tom Kim

Man of the match: Tom Kim. Si Woo had one more birdie to his name, but Tom was statistically the Internationals’ best player, gaining nearly three shots on the field.

Shot of the match: The only thing better than Tom Kim’s 165-yard dart at No. 16 was that it didn’t go in.