The International Team moved another step closer to a historic Presidents Cup win on American soil by taking a 10.5-7.5 lead over Team USA into the Sunday singles.
Geoff Ogilvy’s side held a four-point advantage after the first two days at Medinah Country Club, following their historic foursomes sessions sweep on Friday, then added 1.5 points from four matches during a tight Saturday fourballs session.
Team USA captain Brandt Snedeker benched world No 1 Scottie Scheffler for the afternoon foursomes, where they threatened their own session sweep after grabbing the early lead in all four matches.
Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup thrashed Adam Scott and Sungjae Im 6&4, before Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele saw off Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim 2&1 to reduce the deficit further, only for the Internationals to fight back in an impressive finish.
Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee bounced back from falling behind early to defeat Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark 3&2 in the bottom match, guaranteeing the Internationals would start the Sunday singles ahead for just the fourth time ever.
Their shock lead then increased further via Canadian duo Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, who recovered from losing their first three holes and being three down with eight to play to beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 1up.
A shared foursomes session leaves the Internationals with a glorious opportunity to end their run of 10 consecutive Presidents Cup defeats and claim a famous victory, which would be their first since 1998 and just their second in the event’s history.
The International Team require five more points from the 12 singles matches to complete their unlikely success, while Team USA need 7.5 points on the final day to avoid an embarrassing home upset or eight points for a comeback victory.
More to follow…
What happened in the morning fourballs?
Min Woo Lee and Im recovered from being two down with four to play to tie the top match against American duo Jackson Koivun and Justin Thomas, who said post-match that he felt like he ‘let down’ his rookie team-mate.
The Internationals had already extended their overnight lead when Kim and Kim recovered from being two down after eight holes to beat Collin Morikawa and Clark 2&1, shushing the crowd in celebration, only for Team USA to claim the other two matches.
Gotterup and Young won the first four holes against Taylor and Conners before the Canadians halved their lead around the turn, but Gotterup nailed three huge birdies – of 30 feet of longer – from the 13th to complete a 2&1 win.
Gotterup and Young formed an impressive partnership for Team USA
Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune came from one down to move one ahead in the bottom match, only for Scheffler to nail a 20-foot birdie at the 15th and flip momentum. Scheffler then watched on as Burns claimed back-to-back holes to close a 2&1 win, cutting the International Team’s overnight lead.
“The hole felt small for a while, but it opened up there on 15,” Scheffler said. “It was an important one there, because Ryo [Hisatsune] was on basically the same line as me. It was nice to be able to hole that one and put some pressure on them.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
