The Presidents Cup matches were competitive, but the score after the first session was not.
The Americans maintained a 1-up lead in all five matches on Thursday as they delivered shot after shot and putt after putt, leading to a familiar outcome in this already one-sided series. United States 5, International 0.
The Americans swept the first day of fourballs matches at Royal Montreal, thanks to a spirited performance from Scottie Scheffler, some late heroics from Xander Schauffele, and struggles with putting from the International team.
This marked the third time they shut out the Internationals on the first day, the first occurrence since 2000, when the Americans went on to win by 11 points.
“We’re excited with our start — high fives, celebrate — and we’re going to keep the pressure on,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said.
International captain Mike Weir had a strategy for the first two days and did not see anything during the matches that would make him change his plan for the foursomes on Friday. Adam Scott, who has never been on a winning team since he started in 2003, remained hopeful.
“The best news is there’s tomorrow for us. It’s not over,” Scott said. “We’re going to have to come out, fight really hard, find that gear, win a session and get going in the right direction. The score line looks rough. But I don’t think there was that much difference in it today.”
Three matches reached the 18th green, and one ended on the 17th. The shortest match was Scheffler and Russell Henley, who won 3-and-2 against Tom Kim and Sungjae Im.
Scheffler and Henley never trailed in what was the most exciting match of a generally quiet day, with the Canadian crowd mostly silent after Mackenzie Hughes, who sat out the first session, tried to energize them by chugging a beer on the opening tee.
Scheffler and Kim are good friends who often play money games in Dallas. On the par-3 seventh hole, the 22-year-old Kim made a putt from just inside 30 feet and celebrated with a pirouette on the green, shouting, “Let’s Go!”
Scheffler matched Kim’s long birdie putt and then turned to Kim, shouting, “What was that?”
Things got a bit tense on the next hole when Kim made another long birdie, celebrated excitedly, and then he and Im walked to the ninth tee without watching Scheffler putt.
“It’s the same thing I would have done at home if he had made a putt… and he celebrated like that. So it’s all in good fun. We enjoy competing against each other,” Scheffler said.
“That’s what it’s like out here. It’s fun to compete and fun to represent our country, and at the end of the match you take your hat off and shake hands.
“We’re friends after, we’re not friends during, I guess.”
The Internationals never looked like they would win the session and were not expecting a shutout, either.
Taylor Pendrith, one of the two Canadians in the lineup, made a birdie on the 12th hole, helping him and Christiaan Bezuidenhout tie their match against Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark.
Schauffele and Tony Finau missed short par putts on the 16th, and their opening match against Jason Day and Byeong Hun An was tied.
It could have gone either way, but things only got worse for the Internationals.
Bezuidenhout missed three putts from 7 feet in just four holes, which kept his team from tying the match. Scott also missed two putts from around 12 feet. The Americans delivered strong performances.
Schauffele made up for his earlier missed putt by hitting his tee shot to 7 feet at the par-3 17th for a birdie, then followed it with a 3-foot approach on the 18th to finish off the match.
“Tony got the party started on the front nine and he had my back all day,” Schauffele said. “I figured it was my time to have his back.”
Bradley, who will be the Ryder Cup captain next year and hasn’t competed in the Cup for 10 years, made a 35-foot putt on the 13th and secured a 1-up win over Scott and Min Woo Lee with a 10-foot putt. Emotions were high for him.
“It was 10 years of pent-up energy of not playing these,” Bradley said. “I just had such a blast out there today.”
Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala came back from being 1 down after 11 holes when Morikawa birdied the 12th and 14 holes. Theegala sealed the win with an approach to just under 3 feet and made the putt, marking the first time he retrieved his ball from the cup all day.
In the final match, Patrick Cantlay was as steady as ever, and Sam Burns made a 10-foot birdie on the 13th hole, putting them 2 up. Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama were unable to close the gap.
The Americans also swept the opening session in 1994, and this marked the eighth time in the last nine Presidents Cups that they led after the first day.
On Friday, there will be five foursomes matches. Furyk is keeping two teams together, including Scheffler and Henley, while Cantlay and Schauffele aim to continue their strong record in foursomes.
“The last couple road games have been close,” Cantlay said. “I think it’s a huge statement. I think we need to build on that tomorrow.”
