International Team Leads in Presidents Cup on American Soil

For the first time on American soil, the International team leads going into the final day of the Presidents Cup. Under Geoff Ogilvy’s leadership, they came in as underdogs, with their average world ranking at 50.8 compared to the Americans’ 15.1. A strong performance on Friday gave them hope, and by Saturday, they had secured 10.5 points to the United States’ 7.5.

“Today, both sessions having all red on the board, down in every match, and to come back and get 1.5 points out of this morning, we felt like [that] was a little victory because we were down everywhere,” Ogilvy said. “Then this afternoon the same thing happened. The U.S. team played so well all day. They played some really high-level foursomes, especially this afternoon. For the boys to somehow come back and pinch 2 points out of that and split the session was amazing.”

The U.S. won Saturday morning fourballs, cutting into the lead, 8.5-5.5. The teams split Saturday’s afternoon foursomes, 2-2. The undefeated pairing of Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup earned a point by defeating Adam Scott and Sungjae Im. They ended with a dominant 6 and 4 win, the most decisive of the week.

Young noted, “Today it was as easy as you could have asked to make the transition. I had the same partner both rounds, and we played really well this morning and just kept going into the afternoon.”

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele then sought revenge against Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim after losing 4 and 3 on Friday. U.S. Captain Brandt Snedeker had faith in them, and they delivered by winning 2 and 1.

Next up was the pairing of Kiwi Ryan Fox and Aussie Min Woo Lee who defeated Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark 3 and 2. Fox and Lee excelled on par 3s, securing the win on the 16th hole.

“The thing that’s really nice and makes me proud of my team is how well they’ve played the last five, six holes, the last couple of putts, especially today,” Ogilvy said. “These are not easy things to close out when all your teammates turn up and the crowds get bigger and bigger on the last few holes.”

The Canadians, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, also took a point after a comeback from being 3 down. They ultimately overcame the Americans by taking the lead on the 15th hole. “What an experience to battle back from 3 down through 3, through 10,” Taylor said.

The International team has led going into Sunday three times before, but only won in 1998. The Americans need 8 points across 12 singles matches to win this time, while the International team only needs 5 points.

U.S. Captain Snedeker remarked, “I hold myself to a high standard. I don’t think I’ve done the best job for them in that room.” The U.S. team must perform well on Sunday, with matches kicking off at 12:02 p.m. ET. Scottie Scheffler, although world No. 1, has a 0-2-0 record in singles, indicating Sunday’s challenge.

In one critical match, Jackson Koivun will play against world No. 14 Si Woo Kim. Snedeker stressed, “You’ve got to show up ready to go. I think our guys are chomping at the bit to get out there tomorrow.”