US grabs 11-7 lead over International team at Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup is tight going into the final day of competition after a long Saturday at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

The U.S. team regained the lead, holding an 11-7 margin on the International team.

“Getting the momentum going into singles tomorrow, the team is going to sleep well tonight, and we’ll come out tomorrow firing,” U.S. golfer Patrick Cantlay said.

The U.S. won the final three afternoon foursome matches. The first team to 15 1/2 points wins.

The U.S. secured the day’s final three points when par for Collin Morikawa and Sam Burns was enough on No. 18, so they won 1 up on the Canadian combination of Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners followed by victories for Scottie Scheffler / Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

“Really the matches were close today,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said. “I know what the score looks like. I think the same thing you saw on Thursday, the score looked bad at 5-0, but man, those matches were all really, really tight. They just happened to go our way.”

Australia’s Adam Scott and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith bounced back from a rough morning session to win 2 up on Brian Harmon and Max Homa for the first point in the afternoon session.

Then the U.S. team took over.

“We’re going to have to be tenacious out there tomorrow and heroic, actually,” said Scott, who is in his 11th Presidents Cup without a victory.

Scheffler and Henley recovered from a 3-0 deficit through five holes to defeat Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korea’s Sungjae Im 3 & 2.

Scheffler struggled with the putter at times, missing from inside 6 feet on the fourth hole and from less than 4 feet on the fifth, with Matsuyama/Im winning both holes. He missed from less than 9 feet on a birdie attempt on No. 11, leaving the U.S. pair a hole behind. Scheffler and Henley won three of the next four holes, with Im’s putt to extend the match lipping out.

“For him to bounce back and play great and execute shots when we needed them (was big),” Scheffler said of Henley. “I think the way we finished off the match was really special and hopefully was some good momentum for our team.”

Cantlay and Schauffele won 1 up on South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim.

Tom Kim’s 38-foot putt on the ninth hole pulled the International team within 3-2 in that matchup. The match was all even after Si Woo Kim chipped in from the rough with a difficult stance after his ball was finally located on No. 16.

The U.S. team won three of four matches in four-ball to regain the lead in the morning. The U.S. led 8-6 on the International team going into afternoon foursomes.

Play Saturday was behind schedule due to a weather-related delay of 1 hour, 37 minutes. After the first group completed the first hole and the next group teed off, there was an extended break at 7:23 a.m. because of fog.

Scheffler and Morikawa assured the U.S. would go back ahead by winning 2 & 1 against Scott and Pendrith. Scheffler’s birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 sealed the point. Scott had tied the match with a 26-foot birdie putt on No. 14 after Pendrith’s tee shot was in the water.

That helped offset a strong stretch for Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, who won 4 & 3 against Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark. Tom Kim had a strong outing when the International duo claimed three of four holes to lead 5-2 through 10 holes. Si Woo Kim’s 17-foot birdie putt on No. 15 clinched the point.

Earlier, Tony Finau and Schauffele collected momentum for the U.S. side with a 3 & 2 triumph on Canadians Mackenzie Hughes and Conners.

Just as they did on Thursday, Cantlay and Burns wrapped up the final point of four-ball by winning 2 & 1, this time against Matsuyama and Im. Cantlay had one of the highlights with a 49-foot, chip-in eagle on the par-5 12th, putting the U.S. ahead 4-2, and the sides halved the rest of the holes.

The first two days were marked by sweeps. The U.S. went up 5-0 with Thursday’s four-ball matches before the International team pulled even with Friday’s domination in foursomes.