Presidents Cup: Internationals show some fight at Quail Hollow but United States retain control
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Updated 24/09/2022 at 17:07 GMT
The United States held a commanding position after the opening two days of the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow. There is no doubt the Internationals have been weakened by the defections to LIV Golf, but whether the likes of Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann could have stemmed the tide is debateable as Davis Love III's side are on the brink of victory after Saturday's foursomes.
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The United States maintained their grip on the Presidents Cup, but the Internationals showed some fight during the Saturday foursomes to ensure the match will go into a final day.
Davis Love III’s USA dominated the opening two days to eke out an 8-2 advantage, and at one stage on Saturday morning there was the prospect of the match being wrapped up before Sunday’s singles.
Trevor Immelman’s Internationals showed some fight to share the session, meaning the USA will take a 10-4 lead into the afternoon fourballs.
Internationals captain Immelman was up against it after a raft of his stars - Cameron Smith, Abraham Ancer and Joaquin Niemann among them - were made ineligible after joining LIV Golf.
The team spirit in the Internationals camp is strong, as was emphasised by the scenes on 18 on Friday when the watching players celebrated wildly after Taylor Pendrith drained a putt.
Team spirit will only get you so far, and the Internationals have been outclassed so far at Quail Hollow.
Day 3 Foursomes - USA 2 (10) - 2 (4) Internationals
- Jordan Spieth / Justin Thomas 4&3 Sungjae Im / Corey Conners
- Cameron Young / Collin Morikawa 3&2 Adam Scott / Hideki Matsuyama
- Scottie Scheffler / Sam Burns 2&1 KH Lee / Tom Kim
- Tony Finau / Max Homa 4&3 Si Woo Kim / Cam Davis
Putting was a problem for the Internationals for the first two days, and that theme continued on Saturday morning.
Corey Conners had a chance to win the opening hole in the top match, but a putt from seven feet slipped by on the low side.
Connors and Sungjae Im started well, but the lead they gained on the third was turned around by the fifth and Connors found the water with his second shot on seven - which is a cardinal sin in foursomes - and it allowed Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas to extend their lead to two holes.
For the third day in a row, the scoreboard was a sea of red on Saturday morning. With the top match on the 11th, the USA were up in all four games.
Spieth and Thomas have dovetailed superbly all week and they closed out a 4&3 win on 15th - this was in spite of finding the water off the tee.
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After securing their third win from as many matches, Thomas said: “All of us have a good mindset, and we are very fortunate where we have such an experienced team where these guys have won and won on very big stages."
As in the top match, Adam Scott missed a makeable putt to secure the opening hole. Immelman paired his star men together in the foursomes once again, despite Scott and Hideki Matsuyama being thrashed on Thursday.
It looked grim for the pair on Saturday morning after slipping two down after five holes, but they found form and reeled off four holes on the spin to secure a 3&2 win over Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa.
Max Homa spent a long time before securing a spot on a United States team. He is making up for lost time, as he followed up his wins on Thursday and Friday by securing a 4&3 victory alongside Tony Finau against Si Woo Kim and Cam Davis.
"It is easy where I hit from after where Tony hits it to," Homa said. "This week has been a dream come true. My partners have been awesome and it is so much fun."
Tom Kim is going to be a star of the future for the Internationals, and the 20-year-old showed his hunger for the environment with an inspired display alongside KH Lee.
Kim made a string of superb putts, which came with some pretty impressive celebrations, and they helped secure a 2&1 win over Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.
The USA hold a commanding lead, but there is finally a bit of momentum with the Internationals going into Saturday afternoon's fourballs.
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