MONTREAL — You can be forgiven for thinking—not to sound overly nihilistic here—that nothing really matters. Not after that 5-0 start, and not with a loaded American team now fully loaded for bear and smelling blood. Things can’t get worse, necessarily, but they can still get bad as the U.S. boa constrictor tightens. Still, the Internationals have a sliver of a chance, at least for another day. Somehow, 0-5 is less insurmountable than something like 1.5—8.5, because you have a puncher’s chance at a total reversal.
With that grudging optimism in mind, let’s take a look at the five foursomes (alternate shot) matches going down on Friday, and what we can expect from each.
Match 1
Patrick Cantlay-Xander Schauffele (U.S.) vs. Hideki Matsuyama-Sungjae Im (INT)
For the U.S., this represents one great mystery solved, which is whether Cantlay and Schauffele were truly broken up. Furyk joked on Wednesday that they were no longer friends, but this proves they were just waiting for the right time to re-launch one of America’s most successful pairings. It’s a great move by Furyk to throw them out there first, and more than a little devastating for the Internationals as they’re trying to mount a miracle comeback. Matsuyama and Im were fine on Thursday, but they’re taking one on of the harder tasks in match play golf on Friday. If they’re looking for something to hang onto, it’s that despite years of success, the American duo was defeated twice in this very format in Rome.
Outlook: How can you bet against Cantlay and Schauffele at the Presidents Cup?
Match 2
Sahith Theegala-Collin Morikawa (U.S.) vs. Adam Scott-Taylor Pendrith (INT)
The home team has absolutely slaughtered the visitors in foursomes at the last few Ryder Cups, but the difference there is that because the home side controls the course set up, they can use their analytics team to exert a massive influence on this particular format. At the Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour handles setup, so you have to do the best you can with what you know. Mike Weir trotting out Scott and Pendrith likely has a lot to do with what his stat team is feeding him, but it’s an open question how they’ll actually perform. It’s worth noting that even for all his experience, Scott doesn’t have a great record at the Presidents Cup, and that yet again on Thursday, he was beaten by the same duo he’ll face here—Theegala and Morikawa. It was a close match, but the Americans were clutch at the end.
Outlook: Fair warning, this is going to start feeling repetitive, but even though Pendrith had a strong back nine Thursday and almost pulled out a half, the Americans should still be favored.
Match 3
Max Homa-Brian Harman (U.S.) vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout-Jason Day (INT)
Bezuidenhout’s missed birdie on 17 after a tremendous tee shot was one of the more disheartening moments of a disheartening day for the Internationals, and he’ll team with Day, another player who came up just short. Their opponents, Homa and Harman, both rested on Thursday, but Homa in particular has a brilliant team match play pedigree early in his career. It’s interesting to wonder what it’s like to sit out the first session and then to get the feeling that the match is already over; the Americans will want to make sure they can preserve the fire despite the big lead, but a passionate personality like Harman paired with a competitive force like Homa should quell any doubts; these guys will want to win badly, no matter what the larger score might be.
Outlook: America. Sorry, Captain Weir.
Match 4
Wyndham Clark-Tony Finau (U.S.) vs. Corey Conners-Mackenzie Hughes (INT)
Hey, an all Canadian pair! It felt like a mistake for Weir not to put at least one Canadian into his first pairing on Thursday, if for nothing else than to get some enthusiasm spreading in the home crowd. Those fans were at least slightly disappointing all day, behaving more like an enthusiastic but relatively neutral spectators instead of the partisan hooligans you see at the Ryder Cup. Maybe this gets them fired up, although yet again you find yourself wishing Weir was putting them out first, and wondering if the failure to do indicates at least a slight lack of confidence. Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau feels like one of the more vulnerable American pairings of the session, and this is quite plainly a must win for the Internationals.
Outlook: I’m going to give the Canadians a little credit despite their abysmal record in the last Presidents Cup and say they pull out a close one here.
Match 5
Scottie Scheffler-Russell Henley (U.S.) vs. Si Woo Kim-Byeong Hun An (INT)
The Scheffler/Henley pairing worked out really, really well for Furyk, and you ahve to think if Henley can get a win or two more with the world no. 1 golfer, it gives him a great chance to be a captain’s pick in the future—you know Scheffler’s going to be there, and Henley did Thursday what nobody since Bryson DeChambeau has been able to do with the world no. 1, namely, to win a pairs match. Plus, they did it against some stern opposition in Tom Kim, with some hairy moments and some great pressure play from both. Si Woo Kim is getting his first start paired with Ben An, who lost Thursday, and to me this represents a great opportunity for the Americans to consolidate a great opening win. You have to wonder, by the time this match concludes, whether the Internationals will be waving the white flag.
Outlook: I love this American pair, and winning this match almost seems more about establishing confidence and chemistry for Bethpage.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
