Friday at Medinah was supposed to be a chance for the United States to tighten their grip on the Presidents Cup. Instead, the International team turned the whole script on its head, winning every single one of the five foursomes matches to storm into a 7-3 lead and ignite genuine belief that they can achieve something they have not managed since 1998.
From Behind to In Front: How the Day Unfolded
Going into Friday’s action, the US held a 3-2 edge from Thursday’s fourballs. It was a slender advantage, but it was something. By the time the sun dipped over the Illinois skyline, that cushion was gone, replaced by a four-point deficit and a mounting sense of crisis in the American camp.
The alternate-shot format, always a tactical chess match, became something closer to a rout. Geoff Ogilvy’s side, carrying the weight of a long winless run in this competition, produced golf that was cohesive, clinical, and at times breathtaking. According to BBC Sport’s coverage of the day’s play, not a single point escaped the International side across all five matches on Friday.
The Results That Defined the Day
The opening point of the day set the tone. Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama, two of the most technically polished ball-strikers in world golf, dispatched Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2. It was controlled, confident, and it announced clearly that the International team had arrived with a purpose.
What followed was arguably the result of the entire tournament so far. Canadian pairing Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, neither of them household names in the way their opponents are, stood toe to toe with world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. They held their nerve at every turn, and when Burns’s 20-foot putt at the 18th lipped out rather than dropping, the Canadians had their extraordinary one-hole victory. It was the kind of moment that galvanises a team and deflates another in equal measure.
Fox and Lee Edge a Thriller
Open champion Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee then delivered another one-hole result, this time over Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark. A see-saw contest that swung back and forth all afternoon finally tipped the International way, adding another layer of drama to an already extraordinary afternoon at Medinah.
Scott and Bezuidenhout, Then Kim and Kim
Adam Scott, one of the elder statesmen of this team and a man who has carried the International cause for many years, combined with Christiaan Bezuidenhout to beat Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3&2. Scott’s experience and Bezuidenhout’s precision were a potent combination.
The final match of the day was the most emphatic. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, two South Korean stars who have rapidly become must-watch names on the PGA Tour, closed things out in style with a 4&3 demolition of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. The margin told its own story.
The Weight of History
The Presidents Cup has been contested since 1994, and in that time the International team’s record is not one that inspires confidence going into a weekend. Their lone victory came in 1998, and a competition that was designed to provide a global alternative to the Ryder Cup has too often felt lopsided in America’s favour.
That context makes what happened on Friday all the more significant. A 7-3 lead heading into the weekend is substantial. It is not insurmountable, given the US talent pool, but it demands a response of historic proportions from a team that, right now, looks rattled.
What Comes Next
Saturday brings four more foursomes matches and four additional fourballs, before Sunday’s 12 singles contests decide the final outcome. Historically, the singles have been a strong suit for the US, whose depth of individual talent tends to shine brightest in head-to-head formats. But momentum is a powerful thing in team golf, and right now every ounce of it belongs to the International side.
Ogilvy’s players will need to protect their advantage through Saturday and enter Sunday with enough of a buffer to absorb whatever the Americans throw at them. If they can manage that, a second Presidents Cup victory, and a first in 28 years, becomes a very real possibility.
The US, for their part, cannot afford another day like Friday. Their stars, Scheffler, Morikawa, Cantlay, Schauffele, Thomas, all came up short when it mattered. The weight of expectation in this competition has always sat with America. On Saturday, they need to start carrying it rather than being crushed by it.
Golf’s most underrated team competition just became its most compelling story. Can the International side hold their nerve and complete the kind of comeback that would rewrite everything we thought we knew about the Presidents Cup, or will the US find a way to roar back? Let us know where you think this one is heading in the comments below.
