Saturday at the Presidents Cup was incredibly tight.
While the Internationals looked like they were going to be in a spot to repeat Friday’s sweep, it was the U.S. Team that took advantage down the stretch to get in position to retain the Cup come Sunday night.
Entering the day tied 5-5, the United States took the lead with a strong morning session, and then fended off the International Team push in the afternoon to grab a 11-7 lead headed into the final day. The International Team now needs a big day in the singles matches in order to secure what would be their first win in the event in more than two decades. No team has ever rallied from more than two points down to win the Presidents Cup in event history.
U.S. Team pushes ahead in morning session
A fog delay paused the action for more than an hour and a half early Saturday, but when the fairways cleared, both teams came out firing. The gallery, scorched on Thursday for their passivity, kept the fire going from Friday, engaging with both squads and, in particular, cheering on International icon-in-the-making Tom Kim.
Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa began the day against Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith, in a match that was tied for 12 of its 17 holes. The United States won, 2&1, but until the 17th hole never held more than a one-hole lead.
Best putt of the day: Adam Scott’s clutch 27-footer to stay alive and salvage a hole:
Next to finish: The devastating duo of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, who posted a 4&3 victory over Wyndham Clark and future Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. The International duo won the first hole and would never trail, winning six of the 15 holes and tying seven.
Si Woo Kim closed out the match with a classic hat-off-before-the-putt-dropped move:
Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele of the United States took down Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes, 3&2. Neither side won a hole until the sixth of 16, when the United States took charge and would never surrender the lead.
In the final match of the morning, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns faced off against Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im. The Internationals took an early lead, winning the second hole, but the Americans quickly fought back, forcing a tie two holes later and taking a lead two holes after that. The Internationals managed to wrangle the match back to a tie at the 10th, but the U.S. immediately retook the lead on the 11th and wouldn’t surrender it, finally winning 2&1.
The U.S. led 8-6 headed into the afternoon session.
U.S. hangs on in late wave
The biggest surprise outing of the afternoon looked like it was going to come from Matsuyama and Im. The duo flew past Russell Henley and Scheffler, winning three of the first five holes of the match. Scheffler’s putter went cold, too, and he missed a number of very makeable par putts.
But Scheffler and Henley won four of the last five holes of the match to steal a 3&2 win after what looked like a surefire win for the Internationals.
Pendrith and Scott jumped ahead late in their battle with Brian Harman and Max Homa to grab a 2 Up win. Neither Harman nor Homa played in the morning wave and, despite jumping 1 Up briefly on the front nine, the pair lost three of five holes around the turn to drop their match.
Burns and Morikawa looked like they were going to handle Conners and Hughes in their afternoon match after they rallied out of an early hole. But the Canadian duo recovered on the back side, thanks in part to a wild chip-in eagle from the bunker by Hughes.
Hughes then tied the match up again with a deep birdie at the 16th, but Morikawa sank a par putt at the last to win 1 Up and get another point for the United States.
After trailing the entire front nine, the Kims finally tied their match with Cantlay and Schauffele at the turn and then tied it again after a ridiculous chip-in birdie at the 16th that sparked an incredible moment on the green. The shot from Si Woo Kim, which came after a long search for the ball in the deep rough, led to a Stephen Curry-esque celebration.
That, however, wasn’t enough in the end. Cantlay sank a deep birdie putt on the 18th as darkness hit the course to edge out the 1 Up win for the Americans. That pushed them to a four-point lead entering the singles matches, and got them that much closer to retaining the cup.
