Latest / Best of: Features / International sweep puts Team USA in a 7-3 hole at the Presidents Cup
Transcript
- 0:05International sweep puts Team USA in a 7 3 hole at the
- 0:08President's Cup. This article is being read by an
- 0:14automated voice generated by Everlett. Medina, Illinois, the AP,
- 0:20Nick Taylor got his team into a mess with a bad drive
- 0:23and there was only one way to get out of it. The
- 0:26Canadian took stock of the wind and his adrenaline, took a little
- 0:29off a nine iron from one fifty one yards, and delivered a
- 0:32clutch shot a foot from the hole that led to a full
- 0:34point.
- 0:35Friday in the President's Cup. Not far behind him at Medina, British
- 0:39Open Champion Ryan Fox wasted no time, he never does, in making
- 0:43three big putts on the last four holes for another close win,
- 0:46another full point. It was like that all afternoon, and the result
- 0:50was familiar, but no less stunning. The International swept the foursome session
- 0:56for the second straight time, taking a seven three lead and putting
- 0:59the Americans in a hole they haven't seen in the President's Cup
- 1:03since nineteen ninety eight. That also happened to be the only time
- 1:07the international team won this competition. Adam Scott, who set a President's
- 1:12Cup record Friday by playing in this fifty sixth match, recalls the
- 1:16sweep at Royal Montreal in twenty twenty four, and what followed, the
- 1:20Americans won six of
- 1:21the eight matches on Saturday and rolled to another victory. If we
- 1:25take something from Canada, it's not to celebrate too hard at this
- 1:28point, Scott said. But there was a confidence about this international team
- 1:33the Australian found inspiring, going into the double session of four balls
- 1:37and foursums on Saturday. From where I sit, if any of the
- 1:41guys were lacking belief, they should have it now, Scott said. Scott
- 1:46and Christian Bazudenhout never trailed in a three and two victory over
- 1:50Justin Thomas and Cameron Young. Hidiki Matsuyama hold two big putts as
- 1:54he and Sung Jai Im beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgman by
- 1:58the same margin. The fifth match was the first point of the
- 2:00day for the Internals, Tom Kim and Siwoo Kim beating Patrick Cantley
- 2:05and Xander Shaffalay four-three. US Captain Brant Snedeker kept reminding everyone there
- 2:11were twenty points still on the table, and if it were a
- 2:13football game, it wouldn't even be halftime. He also recognized his Americans
- 2:18have never faced a deficit this large in the Presidents Cup We're
- 2:23not going to be able to get it back in one session.
- 2:25We're not going to be able to get it back in one
- 2:27match. It's going to be a slow, steady process to try to
- 2:30turn this thing around, Snedeker said. From where we are right now,
- 2:34we need to do it session by session, point by point. Taylor,
- 2:38in his first President's Cup at age thirty right showed his clutch
- 2:42gene. This is the Canadian who chipped in for Eagle to set
- 2:45up a playoff win at the Sony Open, who won a playoff
- 2:48in the Phoenix Open, and who most famously holds 72 foot Eagle
- 2:52putt in a playoff at the Canadian Open. He and Cory Connors
- 2:56were one up against Scotty Scheffler and Sam Ermurns going down the
- 2:59eighteenth, where Taylor pushed his drive right into the rough and was
- 3:03blocked by trees. Connors could only get it back to the fairway,
- 3:07still farther away from the second shot for Sheffler. I wasn't sure
- 3:11if I could hit that close, to be honest, Taylor said. But
- 3:14it came out perfect. It was a nice feeling walking up that
- 3:17it was a kick in. Burns had a chance to make Birdie
- 3:21and halve the match, and he dropped to his knees, when the
- 3:24putt rimmed around the cup. Fox and Min Woo Lee were in
- 3:28an equally tight match, with the Americans taking their first lead on
- 3:31the twelfth hole. Fox holed a fifteen foot birdie putt on the
- 3:35par four fifteenth to square the match, and he made a birdie
- 3:38putt from twenty feet on the par three sixteenth to go one
- 3:41up. They have the last two holes, with Fox making a four
- 3:44footer for par on the eighteenth. I've holed a couple of good
- 3:48putts this year, I think, Fox said with a smile. I felt
- 3:52it pretty early to day with the putter. The other matches weren't
- 3:55close. Neither was the entire session. We obviously had a great day.
- 4:01Didn't expect that to happen, but I guess we've got experience from
- 4:04twenty twenty four having a Friday like that, International Captain Jeff Ogilvie
- 4:08said. It's obviously enjoyable to have a day like that on the
- 4:12golf course, but we reset tomorrow and start again. Saturday is pivotal
- 4:17in this format. After two days of one session each, there are
- 4:20four matches of four balls in the morning, and four matches of
- 4:23foursoms in the afternoon, and twelve singles to decide it on Sunday.
- 4:28There's no scenario where you ever want to get swept, Thomas said.
- 4:32But if we're going to do it, I would say Friday sounds
- 4:34a little bit better than any of the rounds tomorrow. See the
- 4:37AP's full golf coverage here.