The International Team overturned an opening-session deficit to take a 7-3 lead over the United States at the Presidents Cup after winning all five of Friday’s foursomes matches at Medinah Country Club.
The Americans had led 3-2 after Thursday’s four-balls, but Geoff Ogilvy’s side completed a 5-0 alternate-shot session. It was the International Team’s second successive Friday-foursomes sweep, following the 2024 contest at Royal Montreal, and only its third session sweep in Presidents Cup history.
The result gives the visitors a four-point cushion before Saturday’s eight matches, with 20 points still available. The first team to reach 15.5 points wins the competition, while the United States require 15 points to retain the trophy.
According to the PGA Tour, the 7-3 score ties the International Team’s largest lead through two sessions in Presidents Cup history. It is also only the fourth occasion on which the International side has held the lead after the second day, underlining the scale of a reversal from Thursday’s narrow defeat.
Conners and Taylor deny Scheffler and Burns
Corey Conners and Nick Taylor added a 1-up victory over Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns in the top match.
Scheffler and Burns had held an early advantage, but Conners and Taylor responded and remained one ahead playing the last. After Conners had to pitch out from heavy rough at the 18th, Taylor struck the side’s next shot close to the hole from the fairway. Burns then missed a birdie attempt from around 20 feet which would have halved the match.
Conners said the Canadian pair had sought to stay relentless, while identifying Taylor’s late approach as a decisive shot. The victory was especially valuable in a session in which the International Team needed to turn Thursday’s narrow loss into a meaningful overall advantage.
Every International pairing contributes
Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2. The pair won four consecutive holes from the third to build their advantage, having moved from one down to three up in that stretch. Matsuyama’s par at the 16th closed the match after Bridgeman missed his own par effort.
The run from the third through the sixth gave Im and Matsuyama control of their match, although Henley and Bridgeman won the 10th and 11th to reduce the deficit. Matsuyama then made a birdie at the 12th before Im won the 15th, and the pair completed their point at the next hole.
Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout also won 3&2. Bezuidenhout ended the contest with a birdie at the 16th, while Scott’s experience offered a note of restraint after the session. He referred to the International Team’s similar Friday sweep in 2024, when the United States recovered over the weekend, and said Saturday would be a major day.
Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee added another 1-up win over Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark. They had been one down with four holes remaining, but Fox made birdies at the 15th and 16th to reverse the match. Morikawa then missed a short birdie putt at the 17th, and the Internationals secured the point by halving the final hole.
Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim completed the clean sweep with a 4&3 victory over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. The Korean partnership made six birdies in alternate shot, according to Sky Sports, and Schauffele’s miss from three feet at the 15th confirmed the final result.
A lead, not a finished contest
Ogilvy said his team had entered Friday aiming simply to win the session after playing well in defeat on Thursday, and described the five-match return as beyond what they could reasonably have expected. He said the side would reset for Saturday, rather than treat Friday’s result as an end in itself.
United States captain Brandt Snedeker credited the International side’s putting but stressed that substantial points remained. His assessment, alongside Scott’s warning from the 2024 contest, reflected the importance of Saturday’s programme before the 12 singles matches on Sunday.
Saturday features four four-balls and four foursomes before Sunday’s 12 singles matches. The scale of the turnaround is clear against the event’s recent record: the United States have won 13 of the previous 15 Presidents Cups, are pursuing an 11th consecutive victory and have never been beaten on home soil. The International Team are seeking their first overall win since 1998.
Friday has therefore created a genuine opportunity for the visitors, but not a decisive one. Their task is to extend a lead which, as Scott’s 2024 reference illustrates, can still be challenged across the competition’s remaining two days.