A fog delay got the third day of the 2024 Presidents Cup off to a somewhat sleepy start at Royal Montreal Golf Club, but by the time all eight matches across two sessions concluded, the United States was back on top with a significant 11 to 7 edge. The golf was subpar early — putts were rarely made by any players not named Si Woo Kim or Tom Kim — but the sluggishness quickly burned off leading to plenty of fireworks down the stretch.
The U.S. takes a lead into Sunday singles, the final round of the Presidents Cup, for the 11th time in 15 playings of the event. The Americans will be seeking a 10th straight and 13th overall victory come early Sunday evening.
After claiming the morning four-ball session 3 to 1 — improving to a Presidents Cup-record 8 to 1 in the format across the first three days of play — the U.S. was met with a flurry of International flags in the initial stages of the afternoon foursomes wave. The Americans took it on the chin in Friday foursomes, getting swept 5 to 0, but they were much better equipped to handle the International onslaught Saturday. Ultimately,
“Yesterday was yesterday,” Collin Morikawa said. “It’s not like we’ve never played bad golf, and it’s not like we’ve never lost before. Honestly, I think after we came in and got our frustrations out. We knew, once we got back home and got some rest, it was a brand-new day and we had to come out.”
Taylor Pendrith & Adam Scott improved to 2-0-0 in foursomes this week claiming a 2 UP victory over Max Homa & Brian Harman after falling down early in their match. It set a great tone for the home team, but no other points from the black and gold were added from there. Instead, the red, white and blue swept the final three matches.
Collin Morikawa & Sam Burns squeaked by the all-Canadian duo of Mackenzie Hughes & Corey Conners. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler & Russell Henley captured their match as well with Scheffler winning foursomes for the first time in his Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup career. That set the stage for the match of the week.
Jockeying back and forth all afternoon, the Kim duo battled Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele down to the final hole all square following an incredible chip-in to win the 17th by Si Woo Kim. In the balance was a crucial point that that could have ballooned the Americans’ lead to four or cut the Internationals’ deficit to two. Ultimately, an American flag was flown as Cantlay summoned another gear of clutch and buried an 18-footer to conclude play.
“You’ve heard me before at individual events talking about you’ve got to have some dog in you,” Xander Schauffele said. “When I look around my team room, I see a lot of dogs. We’ve proved that so far.”
2024 Presidents Cup standings, results
Score: United States 11 | Internationals 7
Round 3 (four-ball)
11 |
Scheffler & Morikawa |
2 & 1 |
Scott & Pendrith |
12 |
Schauffele & Finau |
3 & 2 |
Conners & Hughes |
13 |
Bradley & Clark |
4 & 3 |
S. Kim & T. Kim |
14 |
Cantlay & Burns |
2 & 1 |
Matsuyama & Im |
Round 4 (foursomes)
15 |
Harman & Homa |
2 UP |
Pendrith & Scott |
16 |
Morikawa & Burns |
1 UP |
Conners & Hughes |
17 |
Cantlay & Schauffele |
1 UP |
S. Kim & T. Kim |
18 |
Scheffler & Henley |
3 & 2 |
Matsuyama & Im |
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