GOLF
Presidents Cup 2024: what are the scores after Thursday, Day 1?
The United States are hoping to bag a tenth consecutive Presidents Cup with a solid start to the first day’s action at the Royal Montreal Golf Club.
Thursday’s opening day at the 2024 Presidents Cup was not one that Canadian Mike Weir’s International Team will want to recall in the future as the United States team made a clean sweep at the opening day fourballs session at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
The U.S. Team are in the hunt for a 10th consecutive Presidents Cup and got off to a dream start with Jim Furyk’s team needing to reach 15-1/2 points at the Montreal course this weekend to retain the trophy.
The perfect start marked the fifth time in Presidents Cup history that a team swept a round, and the first time since the Americans did it in the third round of the 2007 edition which was also at Royal Montreal.
Weir’s 12-man team cannot afford a similar result during Friday’s foursome matches when the U.S., a dominant group with five of the top 10 players in the world, will be eager to move closer to the 15-1/2 points needed to retain the trophy.
No panic for Weir
Weir is not about to panic and, apart from the results, is encouraged by the energy his players showed in matches that were mostly all within reach down the stretch.
“It didn’t go our way today, but the guys are positive. I saw a lot of great things,” said Weir. “The U.S. team played fantastic today. Doesn’t mean we’re not going to do that tomorrow. The energy is good in our room.”
U.S Team rampant on Day 1
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was one of the star players in action in Montreal and he showed plenty of composure and poise and that seemed to be a theme that carried the U.S. team on the opening day of the Presidents Cup.
The most dominant round came from (Match 3) Russell Henley and Scheffler as they secured a 3-and-2 victory over South Korea’s Tom Kim and Sungjae Im with the match also the most riveting encounter of the day.
Earlier on Thursday, Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele gave the U.S. its first point with a 1-up victory on South Korea’s Byeong Hun An and Australia’s Jason Day.
Finau’s chip-in of 30-plus feet from the greenside rough for a birdie on No. 14 allowed the U.S. team to halve the hole. Finau and Schauffele both missed putts from inside 6 feet on No. 16, keeping the match tied but Schauffele was solid from 3 feet on the last hole to clinch the point.
Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala, who’s in his first international team competition representing the U.S., topped Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee 1 up.
Bradley and Wyndham Clark never trailed and took the lead for good on the 13th hole to edge South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith 1 up. Bradley’s winding putt on the last hole assured the point for the U.S. pair.
Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns finished the sweep by winning 2 and 1 against Canada’s Corey Conners and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. A birdie from Burns at No. 13 gave the U.S. a 2-up lead, and that wrapped up the final action of Day one.