Internationals flip script, Scott makes history, Day’s clutch chip - Presidents Cup wrap

The International team has roared back to life with a stunning clean sweep of Friday’s five foursomes matches to level up the overall score 5-5 at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

The International team have roared back to life with a stunning clean sweep of Friday’s five foursomes matches to level up the overall score 5-5 at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

The Americans flexed their muscles when it mattered most in several close Thursday four-ball matches, but the Internationals blew them away on the second day of competition with a sweep of their own which included a series of empathetic victories.

Watch the Presidents Cup LIVE & Exclusive to Fox Sports, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >

Australian veterans Adam Scott and Jason Day played a pivotal role in the fight back with Scott forming a formidable partnership with Canadian Taylor Pendrith in the alternate shot format, while Day pulled off a clutch shot at the last as an International pair matched history for the biggest winning margin ever.

SPARK THE EVENT NEEDED? 

Many golf commentators were quick to criticise the Presidents Cup for its historical American dominance, but the Internationals showed how much fighting spirit they have with a whirlwind performance.

Their stunning comeback into the contest made it the first time in Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup history that there have been back-to-back clean sweeps.

The turnaround from the Internationals has been hailed throughout the golf world with golf writer Dan Rapaport posting on X that “rumours of the Presidents Cup’s demise were greatly exaggerated”.

Golf Digest senior writer Joel Beall expressed similar sentiments on X.

“Extremely cool for the Internationals,” he said. “They’ve gotten their asses kicked for the better part of 30 years and yesterday might have been the low point. To answer like they did today takes trues gumption.

“We have a Presidents Cup!”

SCOTT MAKES MORE HISTORY 

In his record 11th Presidents Cup appearance for the Internationals, Adam Scott added yet another notch to his belt as he became the Interntional player with the most points in Presidents Cup history.

Scott overtook Ernie Els with 22 points, and he achieved the milestone by teaming up with Taylor Pendrith and they never trailed in their brilliant 5&4 win against Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa.

The veteran and local hero pairing was rock solid only losing one hole for the match and that came after they opened up a three-hole lead with a hat-trick of birdies at the fourth, fifth and sixth.

Another three-hole burst to start the back nine of birdie-par-birdie to take their lead to five effectively killed off the contest and Scott praised the lift in energy from the Canadian crowd after they were criticised for being too quiet on Thursday by International team member Tom Kim.

“I had a good feeling about this when we were up here a couple weeks ago scouting,” Scott said.

“We played a little bit, felt easy to me. I’ve played with lots of different guys, and I knew that we were going to be a good pairing, and the captains seemingly found a lot of good pairings in this format today. But felt easy.

“The momentum got going our way, and in this format, that’s a big advantage. Happy to close it out like we did.

“Yeah, we heard the crowd for sure. We got off to a good start, and the energy is there. We hear it again now.

“It’s a nice feeling because yesterday was flat. We didn’t give them too much to cheer about. But today hopefully this is the start of a great weekend.”

DAY COMES UP CLUTCH 

Jason Day and Christian Bezuidenhout looked like they were letting their match slip.

They led by three with six holes to play but found themselves on the 18th green with a one-up lead after Day sprayed his tee shot into the water on 16 and Bezuidenhout did the same on 17.

When the South African’s approach into the green on the final hole went long and left, and it left the pair needing a clutch up-and-down and thankfully for the Internationals, the former world number one was up for the occasion.

Day’s chip from the rough rolled to tap-in range to all-but guarantee a par and victory against Max Homa and Brian Harmon which was setup by birdies at the first, seventh, eighth and 12th holes.

The Australian let out a mighty roar in celebration as he ran up the hill to see where the ball ended up, and it was an out-pouring of emotion that showed how much it meant to Day to be playing in the Presidents Cup for the first time since 2017.

“Honestly not sure I’ve ever seen Jason Day as fired up as he was after that pitch on 18,” PGA Tour Radio commentator Jason Sobel said on X.

“Fun to watch.”

Post-round Day spoke about what was going through his mind as he stood over the ball.

“I was really honestly just trying to picture the flight and just throwing my awareness as far as I possibly could out towards the target,” he said.

“Once you get a little bit too technical and too internalized at the ball, that’s when you start to think too much, so I was trying to push it out as far as possible, think about the flight and where it was landing, and fortunate to hit a good shot there.”

Day also expressed his belief that the International team are well-aligned now and will be hard to stop across the weekend.

“Obviously we’re pumped. Everyone is pumped. We were out on the chipping green last night and singing and everything,” he said.

“Like I said, the leadership has been fantastic. Mike, all the vice captains, from the young guys to the old guys on the team, the veterans, we’ve kept our spirits high, and that’s what’s awesome to see.

“I haven’t seen a team like this with such gratitude, to be able to be here and play, and just share emotions. Everyone is pulling in the right direction now.”

MATSUYAMA AND IM MATCH HISTORIC WIN 

Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im matched the Presidents Cup record for the largest winning margin with a 7&6 demolition of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

The American pair have been superb together since they first formed their partnership at the 2019 Presidents Cup, but their reunion held no fears for Matsuyama and Im who started the Internationals run of momentum.

In the first match of the day, the International pairing won the first, second, fourth, sixth and eighth holes to be five-up at the turn.

They also won the 10th and 11th holes and then showed how invincible they were today by matching the American duo’s birdie at the 12th to end the match with a seventh consecutive birdie.

Their ball-striking was phenomenal, so too was their putting, and Im said post-round that it was a credit to the International team’s ability to pick themselves up after their opening day disappointment.

“Yesterday the beginning was not really a nice beginning, but today from the beginning our vibe was vibing and we were trying to win the match,” Im said.

“With Hideki our teamwork was amazing. When I would hit the shot, he would finish with the putt, so it was a great job.“

Originally published as Internationals flip script, Scott makes history, Day’s clutch chip - Presidents Cup wrap