Team USA delivered a day one-thrashing of the International side to make a dominant start to their attempt to win a 10th successive Presidents Cup.
For just the third time in the 15th staging of the biennial teams competition, the USA produced a round-one clean-sweep to establish a commanding 5-0 lead in the fourballs going in to Friday’s foursomes.
It marks a dream start for US captain Jim Furyk’s bid to retain the title at Canada’s Royal Montreal Golf Club and already leaves Mike Weir’s International team with a huge task to turn the match around over the next three days.
Despite Thursday’s one-sided overall scoreline, three of the five fourball matches did go down to the 18th hole with the International side left to rue a succession of missed opportunities and gilt-edged birdie putts on the back nine.
Xander Schauffele and debutant Tony Finau – who chipped in brilliantly from the fringe at the 14th for one of the round’s standout shots – were paired together in the opening match and delivered the USA its first point to set the winning tone, despite a late wobble against Jason Day and Byeong Hun An.
‘We’re friends after, we’re not friends during’ – Scheffler and Kim’s flashpoint
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler and playing partner Russell Henley delivered the day’s most comprehensive win, beating South Korean pair Tom Kim and Sungjae Im 3&2, yet the match still contained the round’s main point of intrigue.
Kim and Scheffler are known to be good friends away from the course but their match appeared to briefly get heated on the seventh and eighth holes.
Already two down by the seventh, a jubilant Kim shouted ‘let’s go!” in delight after rolling in a 21-foot birdie putt before Scheffler then roared ‘what was that?’ towards his friend in response moments later after sinking his own similar putt to halve the hole.
Kim then celebrated strongly again when he sunk an even-longer putt to birdie the eighth before, controversially, he and Im left the hole to head to the adjacent ninth tee box before Scheffler had completed his own attempt at birdie.
Scheffler subsequently missed his putt to give the International side the hole win, bringing their deficit at the time back to just one. Kim and Im failed to win another hole thereafter as the International pair’s challenge faded, with a half on the 16th ultimately confirming the US pairing’s comfortable win.
On Kim and Im leaving the eighth hole early, Sky Sports Golf’s Paul McGinley said: “That’s bordering on bad behaviour there. That’s disrespectful in my opinion. I know it’s competitive out there but it certainly shows you there’s an underlying edge here. It’s not all fun and games.”
Scheffler played down the tension with Kim after completing the round.
“That was a bit of fun,” said the American.
“It was the same thing I would have done at home if he had made a putt and we were playing ‘wolf’ and he celebrated like that. So it’s all in good fun, we enjoy competing against each other, and that’s what it’s like out here.
“It’s fun to compete and fun to represent our country, then at the end of the match take your hat off and shake hands. We’re friends after, we’re not friends during, I guess!”
Scheffler’s point was his first in the Presidents Cup having suffered three loses and one draw on his tournament debut at Quail Hollow Club in 2022.