ÎLE BIZARD, Que. — The morning session on Saturday at the 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal is now completed.
The American side won three matches while the International side, led by a spirited duo of Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, won one.
The standings heading into Saturday afternoon is 8-6 for Team USA.
Saturday morning’s fourballs session was delayed by about 90 minutes due to fog, causing a trickle-down delay for the afternoon foursomes (alternate shot).
Of note, for the first time in Presidents Cup history, all of the golfers who played in the morning session for the International side will also play in the afternoon session.
“We like the matchups, we like the pairings, and we’re rolling with it,” team captain Mike Weir said.
Here’s what happened in the morning matches.
Scottie Scheffler/Collin Morikawa def. Adam Scott/Taylor Pendrith 2&1
The Americans made just one birdie across the first 11 holes and the match was tied through 15. Scheffler, the world No. 1, then made his first birdie of the day on No. 16 before closing out the match on the next hole with a 16-foot putt after Pendrith had hit his tee shot into the water.
Tony Finau/Xander Schauffele def. Corey Conners/Mackenzie Hughes 3&2
The American side was 2-up after nine holes and the Canadians just couldn’t rekindle their magic from Friday. Hughes and Conners made just one birdie apiece, but the Americans made birdies on Nos. 12, 14, and 15 to effectively seal the match.
Si Woo Kim/Tom Kim def. Keegan Bradley/Wyndham Clark 4&3
An everlasting image from this Presidents Cup will be Si Woo Kim taking off his cap early — with the ball still about a foot away from finding the bottom of the cup on the 15th hole — indicating he knew the match was over. The spirited International duo combined for nine birdies in 15 holes.
Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns def. Hideki Matsuyama/Sungjae Im 2&1
This was a back-and-forth match that could have gone either way before some stellar shot-making from Team USA. At No. 11, Matsuyama had an 8-foot birdie look but three-putted. Cantlay chipped in for eagle from 49 feet on the very next hole, extending the Americans’ lead to 2-up — a lead that was too much for the Internationals to climb back from.
