MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — Capsules of the foursomes matches Friday at the Presidents Cup:
The opening foursomes match had the feel of one that was going the distance when the Canadians twice responded to early deficits. The Internationals took their first lead when Taylor clipped a beautiful pitch over the bunker to 4 feet on the par-5 sixth. The Americans squared the match on the 10th, the only hole won with a par. The Internationals went 1 up when Conners
hit wedge to 5 feet for birdie on No. 12. It came down to the 18th and it looked like the Americans would escape with a halve when Taylor drove into the trees and Conners hit back to the fairway. Taylor hit 9-iron from 151 yards to a foot to secure par, and Burns’ birdie attempt lipped out.
Bridgeman made his Presidents Cup debut by rolling in a 7-foot birdie putt for an early lead. That was the Americans’ only lead in the match. The Internationals won the next four holes, including the fourth with a par when Henley missed a 6-foot putt. The Internationals gave away the 10th and 11th holes with poor tee shots that led to bogeys, and their lead was only 1 up. But Matsuyama made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 12th to go 2 up, and he closed out the match on the par-3 16th when he made a 20-foot par putt and Bridgeman missed a 6-foot par putt.
The opening five holes were halved until Fox made an 18-foot birdie on the sixth for the Internationals' first lead. The Americans tied it two holes later and took the lead on the 12th when Clark made a 12-foot birdie putt. The Americans were 1 up with four holes to play when Fox made birdie putts from 15 feet on the 15th and 20 feet on the par-3 16th. Morikawa missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th that would have squared the match, and Morikawa put his approach in the bunker to take away a birdie chance they needed for a half.
Scott broke the Presidents Cup record by playing in his 56th match, one more than Phil Mickelson. And then the Australian delivered on the greens, winning the third hole with a 30-foot birdie putt, the fourth with a 5-foot birdie putt and the seventh with a 45-foot birdie putt. They closed out the front nine when the South African hit his tee shot to 3 feet on the par-3 ninth. The only birdie on the U.S. card was conceded after Bezuidenhout ended the match with a 30-foot birdie.
Even though the Internationals never trailed, this match stayed close until Si Woo Kim made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth to go 2 up. By then, the scorecard was filled with gold as the Internationals led every match. The first four holes on the back nine were halved with par, and the Americans found themselves in a big hole on the 14th when Schauffele couldn’t get a shot out of the bunker and they made bogey to fall 3 down. Tom Kim missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 15th that would ended it. No matter. Schauffele followed by missing a 3-footer for par.
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