Geoff Ogilvy’s International Team will carry a 10.5-7.5 lead into the final day of the Presidents Cup at Medinah after twice fighting back from all-red scoreboards on Saturday (US time). The Internationals need five points from the 12 singles matches to win the Cup for just the second time, and the first time since 1998. Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee are among the late starters when play begins early on Monday morning, Australian time.
How Saturday unfolded
The Americans led all four matches at some stage in the morning four-ball session and again in the afternoon foursomes, the Associated Press reported. Both times the Internationals clawed their way back.
The US won the morning session 2.5-1.5, according to the PGA Tour’s session recap. Lee and South Korea’s Sungjae Im were two down with four to play against Justin Thomas and rookie Jackson Koivun and escaped with a half after Thomas found water on the par-three 16th. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim then beat Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark 2 and 1.
The afternoon foursomes finished 2-2. Scott and Im were well beaten 6 and 4 by Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup in the shortest match of the week. Lee and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox fell behind early against Sam Burns and Clark but won 3 and 2. Canada’s Corey Conners then holed a par putt of about six feet on the 18th green to complete a comeback from three down after 10 holes with Nick Taylor, a 1-up win over Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman.
US captain Brandt Snedeker left world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler out of the afternoon session.
What Ogilvy said
The Australian captain said the plan all week had been to lead going into the singles.
“Both sessions having all red on the board, down in every match, and to come back and get 1.5 points out of this morning we felt like was a little victory,” Ogilvy said, as reported by AP.
He was also quick to point out that the job isn’t done.
“There’s still 12 points on the board, though, so we’ve seen in these team events all sorts of different things can happen,” he said. “We’ve got to put our heads down and play for a big opportunity tomorrow.”
How rare this is
The Internationals have beaten the US only once since the Presidents Cup began in 1994, at Royal Melbourne in 1998. The Americans have won the last 10 editions.
According to AP, this is only the fourth time the Internationals have led going into the singles. It is also their biggest lead since 2003 in South Africa, which ended in a tie. The last time they led going into the final day was at Royal Melbourne in 2019. They were 10-8 up, but the Americans, led by playing captain Tiger Woods, won the singles 8-4 to take the Cup.
That history is why nobody in the International camp is getting carried away. As AP noted, the singles session has usually suited the Americans.
The maths is simple. The Internationals need to win five of the 12 matches to reach 15.5 points and claim the Cup, while the US needs eight points to win outright and extend its winning streak to 11. A 15-15 tie would mean the teams share the Cup, under the event’s rules.
The Australians so far
Scott became the most capped player in Presidents Cup history this week, Nine reported, when he teed off in his 56th career match on Friday. He marked the occasion by beating Thomas and Young 3 and 2 with South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout, part of the Internationals’ 5-0 foursomes sweep. That was covered in our Day 2 report. His other two matches, with Fox on Thursday and with Im on Saturday, were losses.
Lee has been one of the Internationals’ most reliable players. He has two wins, a half and one loss from his four matches. Both wins came with Fox.
Both Australians qualified automatically for Ogilvy’s team, as we reported when the team was named.
Singles draw and Australian times
The first singles match tees off at 2:02am AEST on Monday, September 28, with matches going out 12 minutes apart until the last at 4:14am AEST, according to the official Presidents Cup tee times. Scott is out in the eighth match at 3:26am AEST against Patrick Cantlay, and Lee is in the 10th match at 3:50am AEST against American rookie Jacob Bridgeman.
The singles order (International player listed first):
- Ryo Hisatsune v Cameron Young
- Tom Kim v Wyndham Clark
- Corey Conners v Justin Thomas
- Nico Echavarria v Scottie Scheffler
- Sungjae Im v Sam Burns
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout v Chris Gotterup
- Hideki Matsuyama v Collin Morikawa
- Adam Scott v Patrick Cantlay
- Si Woo Kim v Jackson Koivun
- Min Woo Lee v Jacob Bridgeman
- Nick Taylor v Russell Henley
- Ryan Fox v Xander Schauffele
According to the PGA Tour, Bridgeman is still looking for his first point of the week after two foursomes losses with Henley.
Echavarria and Bezuidenhout both sat out all of Saturday, and AP noted Echavarria hadn’t played a meaningful shot since Thursday.
What the Americans are saying
Snedeker explained his decision to rest Scheffler in the afternoon, saying it would allow the world No. 1 to “go out there tomorrow and be the Scheffler that we know he is”.
“It’s going to be a long, hard day tomorrow,” he said, per Sky Sports. “I’ve got the right guys in that team room.”
Scheffler faces Echavarria in the fourth match out.
This story will be updated as the singles unfold.
