Hideki Matsuyama mentioned his taking part in accomplice Sungjae Im started their foursomes match with the right tee shot off the primary gap on Friday. It break up the quick grass whereas their American counterparts pushed to their tee photographs proper and missed the golf green.
The match was all however over proper then and there.
Matsuyama and Im defeated Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 7 & 6 in Foursomes, which matches the biggest margin of victory in Presidents Cup historical past.
The Internationals opened up a 3-up lead by means of the primary 5 holes. However Matsuyama and Im didn’t take their foot off the gasoline. Beginning on the par-5 sixth, they rattled off seven birdies in a row, with their final par-breaker being on the par-5 twelfth, the place they closed out the match.
“From the start, our vibe was vibing, and we have been attempting to win the match,” Im mentioned.
“With Hideki, our teamwork was superb. After I would hit the shot, he would end with the putt, so it was a fantastic job.”
Worldwide Captain Mike Weir despatched Matsuyama and Im out first on Friday, along with his staff dealing with a 5-0 deficit after Thursday’s Fourball matches. The People overwhelmed the Internationals on Day One, main many to ask about this competitors’s validity and future. The U.S. has gained the Presidents Cup 9 consecutive instances, relationship again to 2005. The Internationals, in the meantime, have solely gained this occasion as soon as, doing so in 1998.
“We had a troublesome begin to the primary day,” Matsuyama mentioned.
“5 losses wasn’t the consequence we wished to have. However we knew that we might come again from this.”
Certainly, they did.
Matsuyama and Im acquired the ball rolling for the Internationals, dominating Cantlay and Schauffele from begin to end. It appeared they supplied a wholesome dose of momentum to the opposite matches behind them. In match quantity two, Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Australian Adam Scott gave the Internationals their second level of the week, defeating Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa, 5 & 4. Then, the all-Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes defeated Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau 6 & 5 in match quantity 4, giving the Internationals a 3rd level.
However Matsuyama had tunnel imaginative and prescient, solely specializing in his match with Im. That’s the one technique you possibly can make use of when dealing with a 5-0 deficit going into day two.
“We knew it was going to be a troublesome problem right this moment,” Matsuyama mentioned.
“We have been simply actually targeted on our sport. That was actually necessary for us.”
But, Matsuyama and Im made issues look straightforward, waltzing their manner round Royal Montreal with ease. They mixed to shoot 8-under, a formidable rating in Alternate Shot, whereas Cantlay and Schauffele might solely muster 2-under. No marvel why the Internationals gained 7 & 6.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Make sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
