Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns finally won a match together on their fifth try, and it came at just the right time for an American team that hung on to win the opening session of fourballs Thursday in the Presidents Cup.
The Americans led 3-2, the ninth time in the last 10 Presidents Cup they won the opening session.
“A session win is a session win. We’re going to take it any way we can get it,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “So happy for Scottie and Sam to go out there in that lead match and get that big win to lead us off. This is a long week. This is one session. We’ve got four more to go.”
Five matches of foursomes are scheduled for Friday at Medinah Country Club.
Jackson Koivun also wasted little time getting a point on the board. The 21-year-old Koivun, who turned pro just over three months ago, teamed with Justin Thomas in a 4-and-3 victory over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria, who managed only three birdies in the easier better-ball format.
Burns hit his approach to 2 feet for birdie on the 14th hole to square the match. The Americans took a 1-up lead when Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im missed par putts on the 17th, and Scheffler hit a bunker shot to tap-in range to secure par and a full point on the 18th.
The Internationals picked up two wins behind Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune — the first time for two Japanese players in the Presidents Cup since 1998 — and Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim in the anchor match.
The Americans got their other win behind Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa, who never trailed against Adam Scott and Ryan Fox in a 3-and-2 win.
For so much of a cloudy afternoon at Medinah, two wins apiece looked certain for the Americans and the Internationals. Up for grabs was the opening match, which was tight the entire way.
Scheffler and Burns, close friends who were 0-3-1 as partners in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, birdied the opening four holes, and the match was all square when the International birdied their fourth straight hole on the par-4 fifth hole.
This was always going to be the swing match. The Internationals on three straight holes had putts in the 10-foot range to win and couldn’t convert. Im finally put them ahead on the par-3 13th with a shot into 10 feet for birdie, only for Burns to respond with an approach to 2 feet on the 14th.
“Sam hit probably the shot of the match there on 14,” Scheffler said. “We lost 13 to go 1 down, and then he hit one in there to a couple feet and we were able to square the match up. I felt like that was really a big moment for us as a team, and he stepped up when we needed him to.”
Im and Lee, whose putting hurt them along the back nine, took bogey on the 17th to fall behind. Lee went long of the green, and Im gassed his 40-foot birdie putt some 15 feet by the hole.
Scheffler and Burns both hit into bunkers on opposite sides of the 18th green. Scheffler blasted out to a foot to secure par. Im had the last chance, a 40-foot birdie putt to earn a halve, and it banged into the back of the cup and hopped out.
The Presidents Cup is a good idea — in theory
International captain Geoff Ogilvy came away pleased to be close after one day.
“Two-to-three their way is not too bad,” Ogilvy said. “We had a couple of really good, solid matches there, and we had a match go up to 18, which would have been nice if it went the other way. But 2-3, we’ll take that. The boys have got a round under their belt now.”
Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele won the par-4 second hole and didn’t win another. The Japanese duo won the last two holes on the front nine for a 2-up lead, and the Americans conceded birdie putts on the 17th to end it.
“It’s been a long time. I’ve been waiting for another guy from Japan to come play with me, and I was really happy today,” Matsuyama said.
Koivun is the first player to win a Walker Cup point and a Presidents Cup point just over a year apart. He was part of Auburn’s NCAA title team in June. He won his first PGA Tour title in the 3M Open in his third start. And now he’s part of a dominant American team that has won 10 in a row at the Presidents Cup.
He said he told Thomas that “once I get my first tee shot out of the way, I’m going to be good.” His second tee shot went out-of-bounds, though Thomas saved it with a beautiful bunker shot to halve the hole. Koivun’s wedge to seven feet for birdie on the par-5 sixth gave them a 3-up lead, and the Internationals never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Thomas improved to 7-0 in fourballs at the Presidents Cup.
“First two holes, definitely a little shaky,” Koivun said. “But after that kind of found a groove. Me and J.T., we played really well out there. He picked me up when I didn’t play too hot, so thankful for that, but we had a fun time.”
