[PHOTO: Keyur Khamar]
After American Xander Schauffele opened Day 2 of the 15th Presidents Cup with a drive into the heavy right rough of the first hole at Royal Montreal, South Korean Sungjae Im stepped up, took his stance, and then waved his arms, encouraging the crowd to make some noise. Then he rifled a 272-metre drive into the short grass.
The US in trouble. The Internationals in perfect shape. That’s the way it would play out all day on Friday in Canada as the hosts charged back in foursomes from Day 1’s 5-nil American rout in four-ball, and no meeting exemplified the turnaround more than the first one on the course.
Schauffele and partner Patrick Cantlay, considered to be one of the top American pairs in these team competitions, lost the first hole with a three-putt bogey, and then the Internationals of Im and Hideki Matsuyama simply rolled over them with a remarkable seven straight birdies in a 7&6 pasting that gave the Internationals their first point of the event.
How big was the win? Not only did it set the tone for the day, which wound up as a 5-nil sweep to leave the overall scoreline at 5-all, but it also gave the Internationals confidence that their play could be strong enough to not just overcome more highly ranked players on the US side, but deliver heavy knockout blows.
The margin of the win was the best ever for an International duo, and according to the PGA Tour, only eight matches in the 30-year history of the Presidents Cup have ended in 13 holes or fewer. Matsuyama – the top-ranked player on the Internationals at No.7 – must have felt especially good, considering he and Adam Scott were beaten 6&5 by Cantlay and Schauffele in Thursday foursomes at the 2022 Presidents Cup.
On Day 1, Matsuyama and partner, Canadian Corey Conners, lost 2&1 to Cantlay and Sam Burns. Im and Tom Kim, who served in cheerleading duties on Friday, were beaten by Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.
“We had a tough start the first match [on Thursday]. Five losses wasn’t the result we wanted to have. But we knew that we could come back from this,” Matsuyama said. “Sungjae hit a perfect shot on the first hole, so I think that really brought the momentum. So really happy.”
Im set up Matsuyama for a six-foot birdie at the second hole; they won the par-5 sixth by hitting the green in two to go 4 up; Matsuyama drained a 16-foot birdie putt at the eighth; the Japanese made another birdie, from 12 feet, at the 10th; Im converted an eight-foot birdie putt at 11; and the Internationals matched a US birdie to wrap up the match on the 12th.
“With Hideki our teamwork was amazing,” Im said. “When I would hit the shot, he would finish with the putt, so it was a great job.”
The entire International contingent would say the same.
