Despite some obvious hurdles facing the International Presidents Cup team on paper, there were reasons for optimism entering Thursday’s opening session at Royal Montreal.
After all, the last two cups contested on International turf went down to the wire, in 2015 in South Korea and five years ago at Royal Melbourne. The International side walloped the U.S. in four-ball in those two Cups, 12-6, steering captain Mike Weir to open with that format on Thursday. Crowds at the Canadian Open have been among the rowdiest in the game in recent years, promising a home course advantage for the black-and-gold.
Hope turned to outright despair in a matter of five matches. Here are the top numbers and notes to know from Thursday at the Presidents Cup:
1. The Americans swept the session, 5-0, rapidly building what might be an insurmountable lead. This is the third time in Presidents Cup history that one side has swept the opening session, with the Americans also doing it in 1994 and 2000. They went on to win those two cups by a combined 19 points.
It’s just the second time in Presidents Cup history that one side has swept a session while playing on opposing soil. Remarkably, the other instance also came at Royal Montreal. In Saturday morning foursomes in 2007, the United States turned a two-point lead into a seven-point advantage, with just one of those five matches reaching the 18th hole. Three matches got to the closing hole on Thursday.
2. While the five matches were mostly tight throughout, the International side never had consistent footing. The Americans led following 61 holes on Day 1. The Internationals led after 10. The United States was especially strong immediately after the turn, taking control of matches on holes 10-14. On that stretch of the course Thursday, the U.S. won seven holes and lost only one.
The United States was much better on the four par-3s at Royal Montreal on Thursday, winning six of those holes and losing just one.
Pure passion from @Keegan_Bradley 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gkkxUIGP2y
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 26, 2024
3. All this, and we haven’t even got to the format the United States has dominated in this event in recent years. Since 2007, the Americans have a plus-33 point differential in foursomes, which begin Friday. In that same span (well, before Thursday), the International side were just outscored by one point in four-ball.
Because there are just four matches in each two-man format being played on Saturday, this 5-0 result clinches four-ball for the USA this week. This is the first time in Presidents Cup history that the road team has outscored their opponent in four-ball. Before today, the home team had an all-time points advantage of 88-54 and a win-loss-tie mark of 11-0-3.
4. Statistically speaking, the Presidents Cup simply isn’t a fair fight. There have now been 65 matches held in this event since 2019. In 64 of them, the United States has held the advantage when it comes to world ranking. The only exception in that span was in singles in 2019, when Louis Oosthuizen (20th) was narrowly ahead of Matt Kuchar (24th).
When comparing the season averages of each roster to begin the week, the United States held the advantage in strokes gained off the tee, approach, around the green and putting. They also held the advantage in proximity to the hole from 50-125 yards, 100-125, 125-150, 150-175 and 175-200. There are eight players competing this week with a world rank of 26 or worse. All of them are on the International side.
Games, championships, matches and cups aren’t won on a spreadsheet. But sometimes the data is painfully predictive.
5. According to Data Golf, the United States had nine of the top 11 performers Thursday in terms of strokes gained tee-to-green. The best was Patrick Cantlay, who gained 2.5 strokes with his approach play alone. That’s another gloomy development for Weir and company: Cantlay is ranked 97th on the PGA Tour this season in that statistic, worst of any player on the American side.
The International side entered this week with few statistical advantages, but did boast five of the top eight players in the field when it came to strokes gained putting this season. That turned upside-down Thursday, as well, with six of the top eight putters representing the American side.
6. World No. 2 Xander Schauffele put finishing nails into the opening match, sticking back-to-back approaches at 17 and 18 inside 10 feet and converting both birdies. Schauffele has now won seven of his 10 career Presidents Cup matches and moves to 2-3-0 in four-ball. Schauffele and partner Tony Finau combined to make nine birdies on Thursday despite having negative strokes gained putting as a pair.
In Match 2, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala beat Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee, 1 up, on the strength of Theegala’s lone birdie of the day. In his Presidents Cup debut, Theegala hit his approach at the 18th inside 3 feet and rolled in the putt. Thursday was the 50th Presidents Cup match of Adam Scott’s career. He’s now lost 26 of those matches, eight more than any other player in the history of the event.
The U.S. Team is on the board 🙌
@XSchauffele | @PresidentsCup pic.twitter.com/WBZlaQkofE— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 26, 2024
7. While Tom Kim provided some electric moments during the day, he and partner Sungjae Im trailed following every hole in their loss to Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley. The win was the first in a team event for Scheffler since the 2021 Ryder Cup, as he went winless last year in Rome (0-2-2) and at Quail Hollow in 2022 (0-3-1). Henley, meanwhile, gave the Americans the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt at the first that they would never relinquish, a brilliant start for the 35-year-old in his first-ever Presidents or Ryder Cup match.
8. Playing his first Presidents Cup in 11 years, Keegan Bradley was a force alongside partner Wyndham Clark in their 1-up win over Taylor Pendrith and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. In ShotLink-measured tournaments this season, Bradley has made 1.8 putts of 10 feet or longer per round. He drained six of them Thursday, including a 19-footer at the last to secure a full point for the Americans.
Bezuidenhout, a top-20 putter on the PGA Tour this season, wasn’t nearly as successful Thursday. Trailing 1-down, the South African put his side in great position with approach shots at 16 and 17, each to 6 feet. He missed both of them – a disconcerting sight for a player ranked in the top 40 in make percentage from 4 to 8 feet away this season. Pendrith has lost all five of his career Presidents Cup matches.
9. Cantlay and Sam Burns denied Hideki Matsuyama and Corey Conners, 2 & 1, in the fifth match. The win improves Cantlay’s Presidents Cup record to 6-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the four-ball format. The American made five birdies on his own ball Thursday, leading all players for the day in strokes gained total.
Like his fellow Canadian Pendrith, Conners is now 0-5-0 in his Presidents Cup career. The affable two-time PGA Tour winner did not make a birdie Thursday after the second hole.
10. One side has led after the opening session of the Presidents Cup in 13 of the previous 14 editions. Of those 13, 11 went on to win or retain the Cup. When combining the Presidents, Solheim and modern era of the Ryder Cup, the side that leads after the first session goes on to win 72 percent of the time.
A five-point head start, however, is a monstrous mountain to scale. The largest deficit following the first session by a team that came back to win is three points, done by the Americans at Royal Melbourne in 2019.
If you’re looking for a Day 2 International target with precedent, the largest deficit overcome after two sessions is also three points by the Americans five years ago.
(Photo of Keegan Bradley: Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)
