2024 Presidents Cup Day 1 recap: Team USA take a commanding 5-shot lead over International Team
The 2024 Presidents Cup got underway on Thursday 26 September at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Canada. The Americans made history with five wins in five matches.
It is only the fifth time in Presidents Cup history that one of the two teams has gone scoreless in a round. It is also the first time since 1994 that the USA have swept the four-balls in one session.
Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele opened the day for the US team, beating Byeong Hun An and Jason Day 1 up. The Internationals took the lead on the first hole, but the Americans controlled the match from then on.
In the second match, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott were leading Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala until 11, but the Americans staged a spectacular comeback to win the match 1 up.
Russell Henley and Scottie Scheffler beat Sungjae Im and Tom Kim 3&2 in 16 holes to take their biggest lead of the day. Meanwhile, Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark beat Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Taylor Pendrith 1 up.
Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama also led early in their match against Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns. But the Americans drew level on the fifth and took the lead on the sixth to win the match 2&1 in 17 holes.
Jim Furyk on the first day of the Presidents Cup: "Tough matches"
After the results of the first round of the 2024 Presidents Cup were made official, US team captain Jim Furyk had this to say (via Aol):
"Tough matches. A lot of them were 1up, even the whole day. Our guys played great on the back nine. I would say, I hate to say it at times, it came down to a lot of putts."
He added:
"Our guys probably got the benefit of the doubt on that side of it, and I think that was the difference in a lot of matches. I think it was definitely a lot closer than 5-0."
Both Jim Furyk and International Team Captain Mike Weir announced the five duos that will play in the foursomes format this Friday. The pairings are as follows:
- Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele vs. Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im
- Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa vs. Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith
- Max Homa and Brian Harman vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Jason Day
- Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau vs. Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes
- Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley vs. Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An.
Notably, Weir benched both Tom Kim and Min Woo Lee, two players who have proven to be particularly motivated for the Presidents Cup.
Presidents Cup's second day will begin at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Time, with television coverage starting at 1:00 p.m. on Golf Channel.