Ryan Fox and Nick Taylor each delivered clutch moments Friday that carried the Internationals to another stunning sweep in foursomes at the Presidents Cup, giving them a 7-3 lead going into the weekend as they look to end more than two decades of losing.
“It was an incredible day for us,” International captain Geoff Ogilvy said from Medinah Country Club in Illinois.
It was the second straight time the Americans were shut out in foursomes. Unlike two years ago at Royal Montreal, they had swept the opening session and could afford to get blanked.
Now the Internationals have their largest lead after two sessions since Royal Melbourne in 1998, the only year they won the Presidents Cup.
Taylor and Corey Conners were 1 up over Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns going to the 18th hole at Medinah when Taylor went into the trees and Conners could only punch back to the fairway. The Canadian duo was playing their third shot before Scheffler hit his second.
Taylor hit a cut 9-iron from 151 yards that plopped down a foot from the cup for a par, and Burns’s birdie putt to halve the match rimmed out.
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“Maybe I bailed myself out after that drive,” Taylor said.
“Yeah, when it mattered most, it was nice to hit a close one in there and apply the pressure back to them.”
Canadian duo Conners and Taylor upset world no. 1 Scheffler and Burns at Presidents Cup
Fox and Min Woo Lee were in match equally tight with the Americans taking their first lead on the 12th hole. Fox holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th to square the match, and he made a birdie putt from 20 feet on the par-3 16th to go 1 up. They halved the last two holes, with Fox making a four-footer for par on the 18th.
The other matches weren’t close. Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im won four straight holes on the front nine to build a 3-up lead, and after Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman narrowed the deficit to 1 down, Matsuyama made a 20-foot birdie that carried them to a 3-and-2 win.
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Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout never trailed in a 3-and-2 victory over Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, while Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim had an easy time against the once formidable duo of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, winning 4 and 3.
“You’re going to have sessions like this in these things,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “I feel terrible for the guys because I know they grinded out there and gave me everything they had today, and it wasn’t meant to be. That being said, there’s still 20 points out there.
“There’s a lot of golf left to play.”
Saturday is pivotal in this format. After two days of one session each, there are four matches of fourballs in the morning and four matches of foursomes in the afternoon. Two years ago in Canada, the Americans won six out of eight and sailed to another win.
“There’s a lot of golf left,” Scott said. “Tomorrow is a big day. I think we had a similar situation two years ago in Canada. Hopefully we learned from that, and we can back a great day up tomorrow.”
