Scottie Scheffler’s pars on the final two holes were enough to give the United States team an early boost on the first day of the Presidents Cup on Thursday outside Chicago.
That earned Scheffler and partner Sam Burns a 1-up victory against Australia’s Min Woo Lee and South Korea’s Sungjae Im in the first match at Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course, where five four-ball matches were contested.
The U.S. side won two of the other four matches for a 3-2 lead on the International team after the first of four days of competition.
The Scheffler/Burns match was the lone encounter to go to the 18th hole. Scheffler won the 17th hole and then the sides halved No. 18.
Justin Thomas and rookie Jackson Koivun won 4 and 3 against Canada’s Corey Conners and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria, and Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa were 3-and-2 winners against New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Australia’s Adam Scott.
The Japanese pair of Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune defeated Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele, 3 and 1.
The South Korean tandem of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim topped Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay, 3 and 2.
Scheffler has struggled in international competition despite being part of two winning Presidents Cup teams. His individual record at the Presidents Cup was 3-5-1 entering this week.
The Thomas/Koivun victory was clutch for the U.S. as both golfers were captain’s picks by Brandt Snedeker. Koivun’s birdies on Nos. 3 and 6 won those holes. Thomas was the closer with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.
Clark set the tone in Match 4 with birdies on three of the first four holes as he and Morikawa took an early two-hole edge.
Young/Schauffele claimed their only hole on No. 2 on Young’s birdie. Gotterup/Cantlay also won one hole, when Gotterup birdied No. 4.