After an historic counterpunch Friday from the beleaguered Worldwide Staff, the Individuals regained management of the Presidents Cup on Saturday at Royal Montreal.
America will carry a hefty four-point lead into Sunday singles after rattling off consecutive 3-1 session wins. The Worldwide aspect will want one other historic day to win the Presidents Cup for the primary time since 1998.
Listed below are the highest numbers and notes to know from Day 3 on the Presidents Cup.
1. A day after being swept in 5 foursomes matches, the Individuals asserted themselves shortly Saturday morning, sending out world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and two-time main champion Collin Morikawa within the first four-ball group. The duo by no means trailed in a decent match towards Aussie Adam Scott and Canadian Taylor Pendrith and gained the sixteenth and seventeenth holes to seal a full level, 2-up.
America completed the foursomes portion of the competitors outscoring the Internationals 8 to 1, essentially the most lopsided lead to that format in any single Presidents Cup all-time. The lone duo to win even half some extent within the format for the Internationals was Si Woo and Tom Kim, who blitzed Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark, 4 and three.
2. Contemplating each issue each present and historic at play, Friday’s Worldwide romp in alternate shot was one of the shocking periods within the historical past of worldwide workforce golf. With the day gone by’s profitable recipe in hand, Mike Weir went again within the kitchen with three of the identical pairings because the day prior – duos that gained their matches by scores of seven and 6, 6 and 5, and 5 and 4. The Kims, contemporary off their morning win, accomplished Weir’s Saturday afternoon lineup.
That alone in a vacuum looks as if a protected technique. However by doing so, the Worldwide captain performed the identical eight gamers – with their identical companions – because the morning session. It was the primary time in Presidents Cup historical past {that a} workforce used equivalent pairing units in two periods in the identical day.
GO DEEPER
‘Evening-night’ on this Presidents Cup? By no means
3. Name it regression to the imply, higher play by the Individuals or possibly even merely fatigue, however the leads to Saturday foursomes didn’t mirror the day prior.
On holes 13 by 18, the US gained 10 holes to the Worldwide aspect’s 5. Coming into the fourth session, there wasn’t a single match the place both aspect overcame a deficit bigger than 1 all the way down to win any match. Two did it in Saturday foursomes: Morikawa and Sam Burns (2 down) and Scheffler with Russell Henley (3 down). Scheffler and Henley gained 5 of the seven holes they performed on the again 9 of that match, by far the most important gap win differential on the again aspect all week.
In fact, no person is extra correct than the Monday morning quarterback. If Weir had restructured his alternate shot combine on Saturday and noticed the identical 3-1 output, that might have obtained equal, if not harsher, questioning. Regardless, the Worldwide workforce might want to overcome its second four-plus level deficit of the week Sunday to win the Presidents Cup for the primary time in 26 years.
.@Patrick_Cantlay comes up clutch in all the massive moments 😤
Patrick Cantlay guarantee toujours dans les moments décisifs.#PresidentsCuppic.twitter.com/W4wlDDNWIZ
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 28, 2024
4. Scheffler helped ship two full factors, the primary time he has had a day in both the Presidents or Ryder Cup with a number of match victories. Scheffler is the primary reigning world No. 1 to win a number of matches in the identical day at this occasion since Dustin Johnson did it on Saturday in 2017 at Liberty Nationwide. His 3 and a pair of win with Henley within the afternoon was his first in foursomes in both cup occasion, having misplaced every of his first 5 tries.
The highest-ranked Worldwide participant, Hideki Matsuyama, wasn’t as lucky. Matsuyama and Sungjae Im dropped each of their matches, with neither reaching the 18th gap. For the day, Matsuyama misplaced 6.75 strokes whole, per Information Golf. Hideki had the worst strokes gained tee-to-green variety of any participant within the Saturday afternoon session (-2.34).
5. The Individuals halted a daunting foursomes pattern with their sturdy play within the fourth session. They entered the day having misplaced 12 of their earlier 13 matches within the format relationship to final yr’s Ryder Cup in Rome, dropping 74 holes and profitable simply 34 in that stretch. The U.S. loved some much-needed sport management within the format: in these earlier three periods, they performed a grand whole of 10 holes with match leads. In 4 foursomes matches Saturday, that quantity was 24.
6. Via two days of workforce play, driving accuracy performed a major function in deciding holes gained within the foursomes format. In 9 foursomes matches, there have been 54 par 4s and 5s both gained or misplaced. Greater than 70 p.c of these holes had been gained by the aspect that discovered the golf green with their drive.
This was an particularly essential issue for the Worldwide workforce within the alternate shot. Within the 9 foursomes matches, there have been 24 cases the place the US missed the golf green on a par 4 or 5 whereas the Internationals hit theirs. The Worldwide aspect’s gap document when that occurred was a staggering 17-2-5.
7. The Individuals entered the week with a determined ball-striking benefit on paper. The common strokes gained strategy rank this season for the U.S. roster is sort of 40 spots higher than that of the Worldwide aspect.
There have been bursts of black-and-gold-clad heroism, however the exhausting numbers mirror that truth: per Information Golf, every of the highest 4 – and even of the highest eight – in strokes gained tee-to-green this week are enjoying for the US. 5 of the underside six in that statistic are on the Worldwide aspect.
8. Si Woo Kim produced an all-time Presidents Cup second on Saturday, holing a near-impossible flop from the tough to tie he and Tom Kim’s match with Cantlay and Schauffele. Si Woo has gained greater than 5 strokes on photographs across the inexperienced this week, simply essentially the most of any participant within the competitors.
Whereas he has struggled many of the season together with his placing, his quick sport is an unheralded ability set receiving loads of shine this week. On quick sport photographs from the tough, Si Woo has a mean proximity to the outlet of seven ft, 5 inches – greater than a foot higher than the PGA Tour common.
No phrases, simply Si Woo Kim 🤯
Rien à dire, tout simplement Si Woo Kim.#PresidentsCup | @IntlTeam pic.twitter.com/hc58b96ILk
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 28, 2024
9. No workforce has come from greater than two factors again coming into singles to win the Presidents Cup, however a four-point margin has been overcome within the Ryder Cup a number of occasions. In 1999, the Individuals began Sunday singles 4 factors behind at Brookline earlier than roaring again to win. 13 years later at Medinah, Staff Europe got here from 4 factors all the way down to stun the Individuals in one of many nice comebacks within the historical past of the game.
At Brookline, the U.S. put the primary seven singles factors on the board earlier than holding on to win. At Medinah, the Europeans obtained 5 of the primary six. American captain Jim Furyk undoubtedly is aware of that, in flip sending the world’s top-two gamers out early. Xander Schauffele will exit first towards Jason Day, whereas Scheffler and Matsuyama will sq. off within the third singles match.
10. In case you’re in search of cause to consider in an Worldwide Sunday cost, contemplate this: since 2007, they’ve really outscored the Individuals in singles, 48 1/2 to 47 1/2. In that span, either side has gained extra singles factors on three events, winding up even within the format twice. The most important margin the Internationals have ever loved in a singles session is plus-3 in 2013 and 2017.
The fifteenth Presidents Cup has been every week of experiencing the unprecedented. The Worldwide aspect hopes so as to add yet one more ‘first-ever’ to the checklist Sunday.
(High photograph of Scottie Scheffler, left, and Collin Morikawa: Harry How / Getty Photographs)
