\n
\nCHARLOTTE, N.C.: American red numbers filled the electronic scoreboards Thursday in the Presidents Cup, an outcome that surprised no one for these one-sided matches.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSomebody came on the radio and said, \u2018Yeah, but we\u2019re 1 up in three matches and those can flip real quick,\u2019\u201d US captain Davis Love III said.<\/p>\n
\nWhen it was over, the International team was happy it wasn\u2019t shut out.<\/p>\n
\nPatrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele set the tone with the shortest foursomes match in the Presidents Cup since 2011, dispatching Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott in 13 holes as the American duo improved to 5-0 in this alternate-shot format.<\/p>\n
\nRight behind them were Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, coming up with big moments after bad shots in a 2-and-1 win over Sungjae Im and Corey Conners.<\/p>\n
\nAnother strong American team from top to bottom played at a high level on a hot day at Quail Hollow and walked off with a 4-1 lead after the first session.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI told the guys last night we need to set the tone \u2014 us and J.T. and Jordan\u2019s match \u2014 and we did,\u201d Schauffele said. \u201cPlaying this format on a day like today and not making any bogeys, it\u2019s exactly what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nEven the breaks fell the Americans\u2019 way.<\/p>\n
\nMax Homa and Tony Finau were all square with four holes to play when Homa\u2019s shot from a fairway bunker on the 15th hole \u2014 typically the 18th at Quail Hollow \u2014 was headed for the middle of the stream when it caromed off the rocks and into the rough. Finau pitched to 8 feet and Homa made the putt to halve the hole.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThat tie felt like a win,\u201d Homa said, and they wound up winning the match with a par on the 18th hole.<\/p>\n
\nThe lone bright spot for the International team was Cameron Davis and Si Woo Kim, who won the last four holes to take out Sam Burns and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIf we got whitewashed today, it would have been a tough pill to swallow,\u201d International captain Trevor Immelman said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got our work cut out for us, but like I said, we\u2019ll keep going, man. We\u2019ll keep going until they ring the bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe International team, already an underdog in these matches, was hurt more than the Americans by players leaving the PGA Tour for Saudi-backed LIV Golf, including British Open champion Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNobody here expects us to win. We\u2019ve got to have that belief deep down,\u201d Immelman said. \u201cGo out there and fight. We\u2019re up against maybe the strongest American team ever assembled on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTwo of the eight rookies for the International team, Taylor Pendrith and Mito Pereira, nearly picked up another point. They were all square going to the tough par-4 closing hole when Pereira hit a wild tee shot, Pendrith could only manage the right bunker and they made bogey. Finau and Homa walked away with a 1-up win and a point.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe did what we were supposed to do,\u201d Finau said.<\/p>\n
\nThe other US point came from Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young, the PGA Tour rookie of the year, who soaked up the environment before a full house at Quail Hollow and produced a winning moment of his own.<\/p>\n
\nThey were in a tight match with against 20-year-old Tom Kim and K.H. Lee, all square with six holes to play. At the time, the last three matches could have gone either way.<\/p>\n
\nThe Americans had a 1-up lead and appeared to be headed toward the 18th when Young slammed in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th to end the match.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThat moment there is about all I can ask for,\u201d Young said. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s the first day, but every point we get is important. And that\u2019s a feeling I\u2019ve been waiting to have for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCantlay and Schauffele first hooked up on the long flight over to Australia for the Presidents Cup in 2019, the first team matches for both. They have become fast friends off the course and are a tough team to beat inside the ropes, particularly in foursomes.<\/p>\n
\nThey got plenty of help from Scott and Matsuyama \u2014 the two most experienced players on the International team \u2014 who missed plenty of putts that could have won or halved holes along the way. Matsuyama missed from 4 feet on the third hole, and the Americans took the lead and ran with it.<\/p>\n
\nThomas, who won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in 2017, had a wild day. He chunked a 9-iron so badly on the par-3 fourth that it came up 40 yards short of the green. He hit a shank from the bunker on the par-5 16th. He and Spieth didn\u2019t lose either hole.<\/p>\n
\nThe match turned on the 15th when Spieth\u2019s drive landed on the left side of a creek, Thomas did well to get to the back of the green, and Spieth ran his downhill putt some 25 feet by the hole.<\/p>\n
\nConners and Im were in position to win the hole \u2014 7 feet away for par \u2014 and square the match. Thomas holed the par putt, Conners missed and the Americans were 2 up and headed for another point.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou win when you pick up your partner, and he did that,\u201d Spieth said. \u201cThat switch we had on the 15th was unreal there. Looking at going to even and instead we leave that green 2 up. It was the difference in the match.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nNext up were five matches Friday in fourballs, and each point moves the Americans closer to a ninth straight victory in these one-sided matches. They have never lost on home soil since the Presidents Cup began in 1994.<\/p>\n
\nWith such a dominant start, the Americans need only 11 1\/2 points from the 25 matches remaining to retain the cup.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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