ÎLE BIZARD, Que. – The mood on the first tee was ruckus and energized. Mike Weir spoke in French. Georges St-Pierre and Wayne Gretzky were there. Mackenzie Hughes chugged a beer and got the crowd on their feet as the opening of the 2024 Presidents Cup inched closer.
But unfortunately, the pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremony was the best part of the day for the International squad, as they head into Friday down a full five points to the powerhouse American side.
It was the first time since 2000 that the Americans swept an opening session. Ironically, the last time Team USA swept any session at the Presidents Cup was in 2007 – here at Royal Montreal.
The International team is firmly behind the eight-ball, losing all five matches on Thursday’s opening day.
If there is any silver lining, this was just the opening day.
There’s a lot of golf left to be played.
“It obviously didn’t go our way at all today,” said Adam Scott, who lost his match alongside Min Woo Lee 1-up to Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala. “We’re now in a really tough spot, but thankfully there’s tomorrow.
“We’ll start working at chipping away over the next four sessions to get right back in this.”
At one point on Thursday, there was a real chance that the International Team had an opportunity to flip some of the matches. There were some ties, some leads, and some one-hole deficits. But the American side was just too strong and had an answer for everything from the Internationals – and the air was sucked right out of Royal Montreal’s assembled crowds.
Tom Kim, a sparkplug for the International side who encouraged the crowd around the first tee to cheer while he was hitting his drive, commented that he felt it was “a little too quiet” for a Presidents Cup on home soil. Now, of course, it’s easier to cheer loud when there is something to cheer about. At the end of the day, the International Team led only 10 holes, while the Americans lead 61 holes.
“Definitely when the crowds are with us, it definitely helps when you can kind of get loud,” Kim said. “I wish (the fans) would have helped us out a bit more, especially being in Canada. I know how much they love golf. I’m definitely expecting more crowds to be louder and for them to be on our side.”
The Canadian contingent – save for Hughes’ takedown of a tin of Stella Artois – both suffered losses Thursday. Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama lost 2 & 1 to Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay while Taylor Pendrith and Christiaan Bezuidenhout lost 1-down to a fired-up Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark.
Pendrith, however, was a bright light for the International side – statistically, he was the best player of the bunch. Bezuidenhout missed three birdie tries of less than seven feet on the back nine, and the duo just couldn’t get anything going against a formidable opposing pair.
“Me and (Bezuidenhout) fought really hard, and we had a lot of chances coming down the stretch. He hit an unreal shot into 17 and thought we were going to flip them and have a chance on 18. Just the way it goes,” Pendrith said. “He hit some unbelievable shots down the stretch, and the U.S. guys just made a lot of putts.”
Making putts, knocking approach shots close, quieting the crowd – it was all done, and done right, by Team USA on Thursday. It will be a tough battle to fight over the next three days. It’s not impossible, of course, but the International side will need to get off to a fast start Friday, get the crowd on its side early, and keep the pedal down – a quote that is posted in the International team’s locker room.
“Our guys are just going to have to lift a little bit. We’re going to have to find another gear to beat a tough American team,” Scott said. “The best news is there’s tomorrow for us. It’s not over.
“We’re going to have to come out, fight really hard, find that gear, win a session and get going in the right direction.”
Here’s a breakdown of all of Thursday’s matches.
Tony Finau/Xander Schauffele def. Byeong Hun An/Jason Day 1-up
Despite two missed short putts on No. 16 for Finau and Schauffele, Schauffele proved why he had an incredible summertime run (winning two majors) knocking in two impressive birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to close the door.
Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala def. Min Woo Lee/Adam Scott 1-up
Adam Scott played his 50th match at the Presidents Cup but Morikawa and Theegala spoiled the party. Morikawa was his usual, impressive ball-striking self and rolled in four birdies on his own to dominate the veteran and the rookie, Lee. Theegala landed his approach on the final hole to just 18 inches and rolled in his first birdie of the day for the win.
Russell Henley/Scottie Scheffler def. Sungjae Im/Tom Kim 3 & 2
The No.1 player in the world finally broke an (odd) disappointing run in match play competitions and Scheffler – who spent a chunk of time through his match chirping back and forth with Kim – made three birdies at the mid-point of the round to help lift he and Henley over the South Korean duo. This was Scheffler’s first full point in his last nine international competition matches. Im did not make a birdie in the match.
Keegan Bradley/Wyndham Clark def. Christiaan Bezuidenhout/Taylor Pendrith 1-up
Bezuidenhout had chances to claw the International side back into the match – a trio of seven-foot attempts didn’t find the bottom of the cup – but in the end, the emotionally charged Bradley (who hasn’t played a team competition in a decade and said he had a lot of “pent up” energy to release) rolled in the closing dagger.
Sam Burns/Patrick Cantlay def. Corey Conners/Hideki Matsuyama 2 & 1
Both Matsuyama and Conners missed putts to extend the match on 18 (both less than 16 feet). Burns recorded his first point – in any format – at the Presidents Cup. Conners extends his Presidents Cup losing record to 0-5.