After they went the distance to earn a point in the opening match of the Presidents Cup, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and longtime friend Sam Burns will lead off Day 2 of the competition for the United States team on Friday.
Scheffler and Burns will begin the first foursomes (alternate) session of the week against Canadians Corey Conners and Nick Taylor. They beat Australia’s Min Woo Lee and South Korea’s Sungjae Im 1 up on Thursday, with Scheffler converting all-important pars on the final two holes to take the lead and finalize the match.
The U.S. leads the International team 3-2 after one session of four-ball (best ball) at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. Next comes the more difficult of the two formats, and the one that has given the U.S. fits in recent Ryder Cups against Team Europe.
“I was kind of expecting the unexpected at some point today. But I’m super proud of the guys,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “I was super proud of the way they hung in there, super proud of Scottie and Sam getting that last point there for us.”
After Scheffler and Burns, Im and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama will face Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman, the two players who sat out the opening session for the U.S.
The third match keeps Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa together to face Lee and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. Clark and Morikawa were 3-and-2 winners against Fox and Australian Adam Scott on Thursday. The match will feature the reigning U.S. Open winner (Clark) and the defending Open champion (Fox).
Scott and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout will face Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, and in the final match, the longtime Ryder Cup tandem of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele will reunite for the U.S. against South Korea’s Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim. The Kims won a point together Thursday, 3 and 2 over Cantlay and Chris Gotterup.
The United States has won the past 10 Presidents Cups and only needs 12 more points (15 total) to retain. The competition lasts four days, with two sessions on Saturday before 12 singles matches Sunday.