The international team overcame a 5-point deficit to tie for the President's Cup on Friday.
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Maybe you thought the President's Cup was over. You'd be forgiven for thinking that, considering that favorite Team USA jumped out to a 5-0 lead after Day 1. But what if the international side starts making putts? What if the international side did all of them the putt?
That's what happened Friday at Royal Montreal.
It started with Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im, who made seven straight birdies in one shot, and cruised to a 7-6 victory over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Matsuyama was the best putter of the entire session, and it wasn't very close.
In the next game came Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith, two players who struggled with the putter in their career. Not Friday, when Scott was the third-best putter of the session, thanks in part to a 40-footer for birdie on the 5th hole to take a 2-over lead. They will cover Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala 5 and 4.
Mackenzie Hughes was named captain by fellow Canadian Mike Weir for this reason: his putting. But he was not ruled out of Thursday's opening session. Instead, Weir held off Hughes — and his 5th-best putter, Tour-wide this season — until Friday's foursomes. The idea of pairing Hughes with another Canadian in Corey Conners — one of his best friends and former college teammates — who struggles a bit with his flat stick, made a lot of sense. It was only Conners who caught everything, finishing the session as the fourth best player. His former Kent State teammates beat Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau 6-4 when Hughes hit a 5-foot putt for the win.
It looked like a day full of international magic might end with a semi-final between Si Woo Kim and Ben An against Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley. But Kim played as calmly as any golfer all day, facing the best golfer in the world in Scheffler. He stood over a 15-footer for par on the 18th hole, played his left stroke perfectly, and threw his putter handle into the ground as the ball dove into the middle of the cup for a 1-up win.
It's amazing what a hot putter can do to a match play, especially in a match play, where golfers are able to unify their games as one. The Internationals appeared to do that overnight, turning a 5-point deficit by 16 strokes over the Americans on the green alone on Friday.
By the end of the return session that defined the trophy – which they won 5-0 – the Internationals had started 10 players and finished with the top eight putters. The Americans finished the session with eight of the nine worst putters. Ironically, the best putter entering the week at the Internationals, Hughes, finished as the second worst putter in that group on Friday. That's how you change the situation. Almost every player on your squad makes the best putter on your team.
It is officially played in Montreal.
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