After 28 long years, the International team may finally have a genuine chance to win the Presidents Cup. The visitors swept Friday’s Foursomes session, dramatically shifting the momentum after Team USA took a 3-2 lead on Thursday. The setback, however, did not appear to rattle U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker, who addressed the situation in a post-session interview.
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“This thing is 35, 40 percent over. It’s not even halftime of a football game,” he said when asked what he would say to his players who might be disappointed. “There’s a lot of golf left. Come in with a great attitude, keep doing what you’re doing. I’ve said it all week. We have high-quality, high-character guys in that room. They are fierce competitors.”
That’s true. And it’s not as though Team USA hasn’t produced a dramatic turnaround of its own. At the 2024 Presidents Cup, the International team stunned the Americans with a 5-0 sweep in Friday’s Foursomes, leveling the contest at 5-5 at Royal Montreal. Team USA, however, responded by winning both Saturday sessions 3-1 to take an 11-7 lead before sealing its 10th consecutive Presidents Cup on Sunday. However, the Americans now face a much steeper challenge.
In Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, Ogilvy has found a winning formula. The pair is undefeated so far. On the other hand, Min Woo Lee proved to be a tough competitor on both days. On Thursday, they dragged the match against Scheffler and Burns till the 18th. On Friday, paired up with Ryan Fox, defeated Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark despite being 1-down through 12th.
As much as the International Team performed well, Team USA faltered in every aspect. Surprisingly, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young couldn’t produce a single birdie in their match. In total, Team USA made only 14 birdies, almost half of the Internationals. But Snedeker, like a true captain, wants his team to forget the debacle and arrive on Saturday with new vigor and gusto.
“We’re going to wash this off on the way home tonight, hit the reset button, and come out here totally refreshed tomorrow, ready to go. We’re not going to hang our heads. It’s not what we do. It’s not how these guys operate. I’m fortunate to have these guys in the team room because I know what they’re made of. I know what they’re built of. It’s going to be a long weekend, with a lot of golf still left to play.”
The last time the away team won the Presidents Cup was back in 1998, when it defeated the United States 20½–11½ at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. Since then, the U.S. has dominated the biennial event, with the Internationals’ only other result without a loss coming in 2003, when the two teams finished tied in South Africa. And Friday’s sweep was built on five International victories.
Corey Conners and Nick Taylor edged Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 1-up. Meanwhile, Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2. Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee defeated Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark 1-up. Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout downed Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3&2. Finally, Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim closed it out with a 4&3 win over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
But as the US Team captain said, there’s plenty of golf still to play. Saturday will feature four more Foursomes matches and four Four-Ball contests, before the competition concludes with 12 singles matches on Sunday. Meanwhile, International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy admitted that even he was surprised by the scale of Friday’s success.
“It’s hard to imagine,” Ogilvy said, reflecting on the 5-0 sweep. He praised his players for being in a “really good frame of mind” before joking that the team’s latest result might be becoming a familiar pattern.
“We did it in Montreal, so maybe it’s a pattern now,” Ogilvy quipped.