MEDINAH, Illinois, September 27 — The International Team will carry a 10.5-7.5 lead over Team USA into Sunday’s singles at the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club, chasing what would be a historic upset victory on American soil. The story begins with a Friday the Internationals will not forget. Geoff Ogilvy’s side swept the foursomes sessions — a result described as historic — and then added 1.5 points from four matches in a tight Saturday fourballs session to build their advantage.
Saturday afternoon brought the day’s sharpest turn. Team USA captain Brandt Snedeker benched world No 1 Scottie Scheffler for the foursomes, and the Americans threatened a session sweep of their own after grabbing the early lead in all four matches.
Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup thrashed Adam Scott and Sungjae Im 6&4. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele saw off Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim 2&1, and the deficit narrowed further. Then the Internationals answered.
Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee bounced back from falling behind early to defeat Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark 3&2 in the bottom match, guaranteeing the Internationals would start the Sunday singles ahead for just the fourth time ever. Their lead grew again through Canadian duo Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, who recovered from losing their first three holes and being three down with eight to play to beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 1up.
A shared foursomes session left the Internationals with an opportunity to end a run of 10 consecutive Presidents Cup defeats and claim a first victory since 1998 — just their second in the event’s history. The arithmetic is simple. The International Team require five more points from the 12 singles matches to complete the win.
Team USA need 7.5 points on the final day to avoid a home upset, or eight points for a comeback victory.
Morning drama at Medinah
The morning fourballs had already given the Internationals their cushion. Min Woo Lee and Im recovered from two down with four to play to tie the top match against Jackson Koivun and Justin Thomas, who said afterwards he felt he ‘let down’ his rookie team-mate. The Internationals had extended their overnight lead when Kim and Kim recovered from two down after eight holes to beat Collin Morikawa and Clark 2&1, only for Team USA to claim the other two matches.
Gotterup and Young won the first four holes against Taylor and Conners before the Canadians halved the lead around the turn, but Gotterup nailed three birdies of 30 feet or longer from the 13th to complete a 2&1 win. Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune came from one down to move one ahead in the bottom match, only for Scheffler to hole a 20-foot birdie at the 15th and flip momentum; Burns then claimed back-to-back holes to close a 2&1 win.
Snedeker was candid about the day. ‘I thought our guys battled hard. It was a tough day out there. This golf course got really tough this afternoon,’ he said.
He added that he had challenged his players to ‘be that team that we need them to be’ and got Scheffler ‘some much-needed rest’ for Sunday. ‘It’s going to be a long, hard day tomorrow.’ Ogilvy, for his part, allowed himself a moment. ‘What a day! They came out firing, as we knew they would,’ he said, adding his side ‘weathered the storm’ and that leading going into Sunday ‘was the goal at the start of the week’.
For those involved, the stakes could hardly be clearer. The final day is live on Sky Sports Golf from 4.30pm on Sunday, with the Internationals needing five points to end a drought stretching back to 1998 — and Team USA needing 7.5 to deny them.
