MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — Capsules of Presidents Cup matches Saturday at Medinah:
UNITED STATES 2 1/2, INTERNATIONAL 1 1/2
Koivun came into his own in his second match of his Presidents Cup debut, making a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 8 and hitting his approach to 2 feet for a birdie on No. 11, giving the Americans a 2-up lead in match they controlled from the start. But Lee made a 15-foot birdie on the 15th, and both Americans barely cleared the water on the par-3
16th and made bogeys for the match to fall to all square. On the final hole, Thomas and Koivun were both short of the green, and Im had 45 feet for birdie. Thomas hit a superb chip to a foot, and Im hit a great lag for the first halve of the Presidents Cup.
Morikawa holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh for a 2-up lead in another match that was painted red for the entire front nine. And then Team Kim came to life. Si Woo Kim birdied from 10 feet on the 11th. Tom Kim matched the U.S. birdie on the 12th and placed a finger to his lips to shush the crowd before the ball even dropped. The Internationals took their first lead when Si Woo Kim made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and Si Woo Kim made a 17-foot birdie putt on the 17th, winning the match when Morikawa missed from 7 feet.
The Americans looked as if they would end this early when Young birdied the second and drove the par-4 fourth green and made a 30-foot eagle putt. The Canadians won two of three holes around the turn to close the gap to two holes, and then Gotterup took over in a big way. He holed a 50-foot birdie putt on the 14th, only for Taylor to make a 50-footer of his own. Gotterup made a 35-foot birdie on the 15th for a 3-up lead. Taylor answered with a 30-foot birdie on the 16th. Gotterup closed out the match with a 35-foot birdie putt from just off the 17th green.
The Americans never trailed but were never more than 1 up through the front nine when suddenly it changed. Matsuyama made a 35-foot birdie on the 10th and a 10-foot birdie on the par-3 13th, giving the Internationals a 1-up lead right as their side was flipping other matches. Scheffler had not contributed much until making a 20-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole to square the match. Burns followed with a 7-iron to 4 feet for birdie to win the 16th and go 1 up, and Burns closed out the match with an approach to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th.
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