Corey Conners and Nick Taylor’s recovery from three down after 10 holes gave the International Team the final point of Saturday’s foursomes and a 10.5-7.5 Presidents Cup lead over the United States at Medinah Country Club.
The Canadian pair beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 1up after winning four of the next five holes, ensuring the afternoon session finished level at 2-2. That left Geoff Ogilvy’s visitors needing five points from Sunday’s 12 singles matches to reach the 15.5 points required for victory.
The United States need 7.5 points to retain the trophy, or eight to win it outright. They therefore require a substantial response in the final session, while the International Team can secure only their second Presidents Cup success and their first since 1998.
The scale of the opportunity is underlined by the competition’s record. The PGA Tour reported that this is only the fourth occasion in 16 editions on which the International Team have held an overall lead before singles. It also said they have never won or tied the event on US soil.
The visitors began Saturday with a 7-3 advantage after their 5-0 Friday foursomes sweep. The Americans cut into that margin by winning the morning fourballs 2.5-1.5, but could not turn their early afternoon positions into the session sweep they had threatened.
Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee, having fallen behind early, beat Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark 3&2. Conners and Taylor then completed their comeback in the final match, preserving the three-point overall advantage before the one-on-one programme.
Conners and Taylor provide a pivotal finish
Conners made a five-foot par putt at the 18th to finish the match against Henley and Bridgeman. The PGA Tour said the Canadians had lost the first three holes and were three down after 10, before their run over the next five holes reversed the contest.
The result mattered beyond one point because it prevented the hosts from reducing the overall gap again after their Saturday-morning progress. Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup won 6&4 against Adam Scott and Sungjae Im, while Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele defeated Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim 2&1 in the afternoon.
Ogilvy’s side had also resisted American starts in the morning fourballs. Sky Sports reported that the United States had led all four matches early in that session, but the International Team emerged having conceded only a one-point session deficit.
That resilience has placed the visitors in a position that their recent record has rarely offered. Sky Sports said the United States have won 13 of the previous 15 Presidents Cup editions, while the International Team are chasing their first away victory in the competition.
Snedeker accepts responsibility for US decisions
United States captain Brandt Snedeker said he did not believe he had met his own standards in arranging his side’s pairings, match-ups and situations for players with different personalities and games. He said the players had nevertheless done everything he had asked of them.
His assessment puts added attention on his decision to rest world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for Saturday afternoon’s foursomes after Scheffler had played the first three sessions. Snedeker said it had been a difficult choice, but that he wanted Scheffler rested for a singles match he regarded as important against Nico Echavarria.
That match is fourth in the order, following Cameron Young against Ryo Hisatsune, Wyndham Clark against Tom Kim and Justin Thomas against Conners. The latter is an early chance for the Americans to halt a player whose Saturday contribution helped preserve the International lead.
Other notable matches include Collin Morikawa against Hideki Matsuyama, Cantlay against Scott and Schauffele against Fox in the final contest. Snedeker has placed Young, Clark, Thomas and Scheffler first for the hosts, while Ogilvy has left several established International players for later matches.
It does not remove the arithmetic: the International Team still need five points, and the United States must make up three points merely to retain the trophy.