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The powerful U.S. team had looked poised for a sweep of the five
matches until the Internationals snatched an unexpected point
when South Korea's Kim Si-woo and Australian Cam Davis taking
down the all-star American pairing of world number one Scottie
Scheffler and Sam Burns 2-Up.
The United States, who have dominated the biennial competition
with an 11-1-1 record, came out with purpose having never lost
on home soil.
Things had looked very grim for the Internationals after the
hosts swept the opening three matches to power 3-0 ahead.
But salvaging a point ended a rough day on a positive note for
captain Trevor Immelman's men, limiting the damage heading into
Friday's fourballs although the challenge ahead remains a
daunting one.
"We're going to keep fighting," assured Immelman. "It's what we
do.
"Nobody here expects us to win. We've got to have that belief
deep down.
"We're up against maybe the strongest American team ever
assembled on paper.
"We've got our work cut out for us, but like I said, we'll keep
going, man.
"We'll keep going until they ring the bell."
The Internationals, with a record eight Presidents Cup debutants
in their 12-man team, started as massive underdogs against a
U.S. squad featuring nine of the top 15 in the world rankings.
With temperatures nudging towards 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius)
the event got off to a steamy and raucous start with chants of
"USA, USA" from the pro-American crowd echoing across the Quail
Hollow Club.
U.S. captain Davis Love III's squad did not waste any time
giving the crowd reasons to cheer as they quickly seized
control.
Immelman sent out his most experienced pair of Australian Adam
Scott, playing in his 10th Presidents Cup, and Japan's Hideki
Matsuyama first to face the U.S. duo of world numbers four and
five Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele hoping the two
veterans might set the tone for his young squad.
FIRST POINT
But the Internationals' two Masters champions failed to gel as
Cantlay and Schauffele steamrolled to a 6&5 win, needing just 13
holes to clinch their team's first point.
When it comes to foursomes, 2021 FedEx champion Cantlay and
Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Schauffele have been bankers for
the U.S., improving to 5-0-0 in the alternate shot format after
going unbeaten at the 2019 Presidents and 2021 Ryder Cups.
"We play so much golf together, we're so comfortable, we're good
friends," said Schauffele. "It's just a lot of fun for us to do
this.
"I told the guys last night we need to set the tone...and we
did."
The remaining four matches offered more drama and entertainment
but the pattern was the same.
Three-times major winner Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who
took the first of his two PGA Championship wins at Quail Hollow
in 2017, never trailed South Korea's Im Sung-jae and Canadian
Corey Connors on the way to a tidy 2&1 win.
Cameron Young, playing with Collin Morikawa, rolled in a long
putt at the 17th to give the U.S. another 2&1 victory over the
South Korean partnership of Kim Joo-hyung and K.H. Lee.
Just when the U.S. team appeared ready to end the first day of
the biennial event perfectly, however, the Internationals dug
in.
Leading 2-Up after 14 holes, Scheffler and Burns were poised to
add to the U.S. advantage but buckled as Kim and Davis won the
last four holes.
"It was brutal start of first front nine, and back nine, try to
keep it positive and keep it tight to, like, 17, 18," said Kim,
one of a record four Koreans on the International team. "So I
think that works.
"Then last five holes, we finally dropped some putt and
it works."
The Internationals nearly trimmed the deficit further in the
final match between Americans Tony Finau and Max Homa and
Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Chile's Mito Pereira, which was
tied heading to the 18th.
This time it was the International pair faltering, however, as
Homa and Finau secured the point.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Charlotte, Editing by Ed Osmond
and Lincoln Feast.)
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