Sept 24 (Reuters) – The United States began their bid for an 11th consecutive Presidents Cup title by taking a 3-2 lead over the International Team after Thursday’s opening fourball session at Medinah Country Club in Chicago.
Justin Thomas and 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun put the first point on the board for the Americans with a 4&3 victory over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria.
Koivun birdied the third hole to put the Americans ahead and added another birdie at the sixth as they took control of the match. They never relinquished the lead, with the Internationals conceding the 15th hole.
“It was fun to be out there with Jackson and watch him do his thing. He’s really impressive to watch, and I’m really happy he’s on my team,” Thomas said.
The victory extended Thomas’ unbeaten record in Presidents Cup fourballs to 7-0-0.
The Internationals quickly answered through Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune, who beat Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele 3&1 to level the session at 1-1.
The all-Japanese pairing moved 2-up after nine and held the advantage despite Young’s birdie at the 15th, with Hisatsune answering immediately. Young then missed a 10-foot birdie chance at the 16th after Hisatsune found water, and the Internationals closed out the match two holes later.
Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns restored the US lead with a 1-up victory over Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im in the day’s closest match.
The Americans won the first four holes but saw their lead erased by the fifth, and Im put the Internationals 1-up at the 13th before Burns squared the match with a birdie at the 14th. Scheffler then produced a superb recovery from the bunker at the last to leave the Americans inches from the hole, and Im missed a long birdie attempt to extend the match.
“We did our best to stay in it. Both teams got off to pretty hot starts today and we cooled off after that a little bit,” Scheffler said.
Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa then extended the US advantage with a dominant 3&2 victory over Adam Scott and Ryan Fox.
Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim cut the deficit to 3-2 with a 3&2 win over Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay in the final match.
Tom Kim nearly produced a hole-in-one at the 16th when his tee shot on the 165-yard par-three headed straight for the cup, bounced once and spun backward off the lip before the Internationals closed out the match.
The biennial team event features 30 matches over four days, with the first team to reach 15.5 points winning the Presidents Cup. Friday’s schedule features five foursomes matches.
The US has an all-time Presidents Cup record of 13-1-1, with its only loss coming in 1998 and its lone tie in 2003.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese)
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