Two years ago, the International Team needed every one of Friday’s five points just to get back to even.
At Medinah, five out of five bought something far more useful: room.
Geoff Ogilvy’s side began Friday one point behind and finished the session with a 7-3 advantage. One afternoon erased the American lead, then kept going. The United States had led after the opening day for the ninth time in the last 10 Presidents Cups. This time, the familiar part of the week lasted until alternate shot began.
The sweep ran through every version of U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker’s lineup.
Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns had won together Thursday. Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman were fresh after sitting the opening session. Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa stayed together. Justin Thomas moved from Jackson Koivun to Cameron Young. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, one of the Americans’ most familiar team combinations, waited in the anchor match.
Five different questions. Ogilvy’s team returned the same answer each time.
This Sweep Wasn’t Montreal
Royal Montreal is the unavoidable reference point because the number is identical.
The United States opened the 2024 Presidents Cup by sweeping Thursday four-ball 5-0. The International Team answered with its own 5-0 foursomes sweep Friday, one of the great single-session responses in the event’s history.
It also left the match tied 5-5.
The Americans eventually won 18.5-11.5. Friday had rescued the Internationals from the damage created Thursday, but it had not given them anything to protect.
Medinah is different.
Thursday’s 3-2 deficit was irritating because the Internationals had opportunities to leave the opening session with more. It was never damaging. They arrived Friday needing to win a session, not perform emergency repairs.
Then they took all five points.
The difference between 5-5 and 7-3 is more than four numbers on a board. A team playing from level still has to beat the other side over the remaining matches. A team leading by four has changed the arithmetic everyone carries to the first tee.
There are 20 points left at Medinah. The International Team needs 8.5 of them to reach the 15.5 required to win outright. The United States needs 12.5. Saturday alone offers eight points before all 12 players on each side go into singles Sunday.
That does not make Friday decisive. The same International players who remember Montreal should be the last people interested in pretending a spectacular second day guarantees anything.
It does make Friday valuable in a way Montreal never was.
Foursomes Made Every Partnership Accountable
Alternate shot is brutally honest about a partnership.
Four-ball gives two players separate chances at the same hole. One golfer can drive it into trouble, miss a green or lose touch with the putter and still watch a partner erase the mistake.
Foursomes removes the escape hatch.
The next shot begins wherever a partner leaves the ball. A poor drive becomes somebody else’s approach. A missed green hands the recovery to the other player. Decisions about targets, preferred yardages, tee-shot responsibilities and acceptable misses become shared problems.
Chemistry in that format is not about whether two players enjoy dinner together. It is whether their games can survive contact with each other for 18 holes.
That is what makes Friday’s International sweep so interesting.
Ogilvy did not get five points from five pairings arriving in the same condition.
Corey Conners came out of a 4-and-3 loss Thursday and was paired with Nick Taylor, who had not played. Hideki Matsuyama had already won a point, while Sungjae Im had lost a match that reached the 18th hole. Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee were both coming off losses. Adam Scott had lost Thursday, while Christiaan Bezuidenhout had sat. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim were the continuity play, having already supplied an International point together in four-ball.
Some of those players needed a reset. Others needed their good work left alone.
All five combinations worked.
That is a captaincy result as much as a golf result. Pairings always look more intelligent after they win, and there is danger in reverse-engineering genius into every decision. Still, Ogilvy put 10 players onto the golf course Friday and came back with every available point.
Snedeker was not sending out a collection of obvious weak links, either.
Scheffler and Burns had finally recorded their first team victory together Thursday. Clark and Morikawa had already delivered a point. Thomas entered Friday with a remarkable Presidents Cup record in the two team formats. Cantlay and Schauffele came with years of shared match-play experience.
Friday swallowed all of it.
| International Team | U.S. Team | Point |
|---|---|---|
| Corey Conners / Nick Taylor | Scottie Scheffler / Sam Burns | INTL |
| Sungjae Im / Hideki Matsuyama | Russell Henley / Jacob Bridgeman | INTL |
| Ryan Fox / Min Woo Lee | Collin Morikawa / Wyndham Clark | INTL |
| Adam Scott / Christiaan Bezuidenhout | Justin Thomas / Cameron Young | INTL |
| Tom Kim / Si Woo Kim | Patrick Cantlay / Xander Schauffele | INTL |
Now the Americans Own the Chase
The Presidents Cup has spent most of its existence making the International Team solve this problem.
The United States entered Medinah with a 13-1-1 record in the event and 10 consecutive victories. The International Team’s only outright win remains Royal Melbourne in 1998, with the 2003 match ending in a tie.
That history creates a familiar rhythm. The Internationals fall behind, fight to stay close enough for the weekend to matter, then face an American roster deep enough to keep sending accomplished players at them.
Medinah has finally disturbed that rhythm.
The U.S. does not need a 5-0 response Saturday morning. Trying to manufacture one would be the wrong way to view 20 remaining points. Snedeker’s players need to start taking pieces out of the four-point deficit and make the score feel different before Sunday.
Ogilvy’s side has a different challenge. Playing with a lead can alter decisions just as quickly as playing from behind. Four-ball arrives Saturday morning, then foursomes returns in the afternoon. Eight points can rearrange this event again before either captain writes a singles name on the board.
Friday provided no trophy and no guarantee.
It did provide the International Team with something this event has rarely allowed it to carry into a weekend on American soil.
An advantage.
When the first match goes out Saturday, Ogilvy’s team will not be searching Medinah for a route back into the Presidents Cup.
The Americans will.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on RG.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
