How relaxed was the U.S. Presidents Cup team on Thursday?
Well, consider this: One of its assistant captains was busy live tweeting as the matches came down the stretch at Royal Montreal.
The heavily favored Americans grabbed leads, albeit slim ones, in all five four-ball matches early on the back nine, silencing a home crowd that seemingly was already docile from the get-go, and then sealed the deal in each of them. The 5-0 U.S. sweep was not only the third for the Americans in this biennial event, it was another crushing blow to the Internationals, who lost by eight or more points in the two previous instances in which they opened with a zero-spot.
The high-powered visitors were throwing darts throughout a rain-softened layout, and unlike the home side, they made big putts down the stretch, too.
“I’m happy for the guys,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said. “Right now, all smiles. … I hate to say it, but at times, it came down to a lot of putts. I saw the Internationals lip out a bunch of putts, a bunch of really good putts that coulda, shoulda, didn’t go in. Our guys probably got the benefit of the doubt on that side of it, and I think that was the difference.”
Here were the most pivotal moments in each match:
X gives it to ‘em
Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau (U.S.) def. Ben An/Jason Day (Int.), 1 up
After two short lip-outs by Schauffele and Finau to drop the 16th hole and tie the match back up, Schauffele clutched up on the tee at the par-3 17th hole, sticking his 162-yard tee shot to 8 feet. He rolled in the putt to get that dropped hole right back.
And with Finau finding the penalty area with his drive at the par-4 finishing hole, Schauffele delivered again by wedging inside of An, who was in tight. An sank his 5-footer, but it didn’t matter as Schauffele rolled in his shortie.
“We knew what we were supposed to do,” Schauffele said. “Tony got the party started on the front nine and keeping it close and then getting that lead. He had my back all day, so I figured it was my turn to have his back.”
Collin carries, Sahith closes
Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala (U.S.) def. Min Woo Lee/Adam Scott (Int.), 1 up
Morikawa racked up fairways and greens in regulation all day, and his four birdies all came a crucial times. He birdied the first to give he and Theegala the early lead, and his birdies at Nos. 7 and 12 both brought the match back to tied. Finally, Morikawa threw a dart into the green at the par-4 14th hole and converted the 5-footer for birdie and the 1-up lead, which the Americans never relinquished.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen Theegala’s ball go in the bottom of the cup today,” Golf Channel on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman said on the 18th hole.
That changed as Theegala fired his approach from 167 yards to a couple feet to tie the hole and secure the full point.
“I was really, really nervous,” Theegala said. “… Collin was great at just reminding me to stay in the moment and keep doing what we do best.”
Russ knocks ‘em down
Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley (U.S.) def. Tom Kim/Sungjae Im (Int.), 3 and 2
Call American assistant captain Kevin Kisner prophetic if you want.
While the U.S. was taking the lead in all five matches on the back nine, Kisner fired off a tweet, saying, “My boy Russ about to start knocking em down.” Almost on cue, Henley flagged his approach at the par-4 14th hole for a conceded birdie.
Im and Kim then missed putts of 8 feet and 4 feet, respectively, allowing the Americans to go 2 up with four holes to play.
“Tried to tell y’all,” Kisner said in a follow-up tweet.
Henley hooped a 20-footer at the next to push he and Scheffler to 3 up, effectively ending this one.
“Russell stepped up in a big way there,” Scheffler said.
Bezuiden-ouch
Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley (U.S.) def. Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Int.), 1 up
Bezuidenhout is known for his flatstick, ranking 19th in strokes gained putting last season on the PGA Tour. However, the South African, a captain’s pick playing his second straight Presidents Cup, missed several important putts over the final few holes that would’ve tied the match:
No. 14 – 6 feet, 11 inches
No. 16 – 6 feet, 7 inches
No. 17 – 6 feet, 10 inches
None was bigger than the one at the penultimate hole, where Clark and Bradley both had to lag birdie putts over a big ridge. Clark got his 6-footer down the hill to drop for par, but Bez again couldn’t take advantage.
And to top it all off: Bezuidenhout drove it into the water at the last, where Bradley delivered the dagger from 19 feet, his sixth putt made of over 10 feet in the match.
“It was 10 years of pent-up energy, it looks like, of not playing these,” said Bradley, playing his first Presidents Cup since 2013. “I just had such a blast out there today. It’s really fun for me to be out here with these guys. I told Wyndham on 18 just how much I missed being out here and doing this.”
Clutch Cantlay, and a Burns exclamation
Sam Burns/Patrick Cantlay (U.S.) def. Corey Conners/Hideki Matsuyama (Int.), 2 and 1
Hats off to Cantlay, who kept the Internationals from grabbing serious momentum right before the turn.
When Matsuyama drained a 22-foot birdie putt to win the seventh hole and tie the match back up, Cantlay responded with back-to-back birdies, from 6 feet and 4 feet, respectively. Later, at No. 12, Cantlay matched another Matsuyama birdie to maintain a 1-up lead.
Then Burns doubled the lead with a 10-foot birdie make at the par-3 13th hole.
“Typically, this format is going to come down to making a birdie on a really hard hole,” Burns said. “Fortunately for us, we did that there.”
