Tom Kim led the charge, but the American team won the war.
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A day after sitting out the historic international meet on Friday for the Presidents Cup, Tom Kim's efforts were again delayed on Saturday.
Heavy fog enveloped Royal Montreal at the start of the 36-hole Presidents Cup on Saturday, halting play for more than an hour during the morning's four-ball matches. Kim's game was his third to go, but his return to the Cup on Saturday morning required an hour and 37 minute wait.
But then, finally, Tom Kim's round started – and well, it was worth the wait.
On the 1st, Tom's partner, Si Woo Kim, birdied the putt to quickly take 1 Up over Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark. Tom Kim returned to the Canadian faithful, pumping his fist before completing a spin and high-fiving his teammate.
On the 2nd, it was Tom's turn as he drained a 12-foot birdie putt from the edge of the green and immediately turned back to the crowd and threw both fists into the air.
That set the tone for the match, which ended as a 4-3 victory for the international side.
“It's nice to be able to make putts for the team,” Tom Kim said later. “There were definitely a few moments where the momentum could have changed, but he held on and did really well.”
But that was the only bright spot in the Internationals morning session. The Americans took three more games, taking a narrow 8-6 lead heading into the afternoon shootout.
In the first match, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler took some time to get going as he and Collin Morikawa tied for eight holes in a row against Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith. But the World No. 1 showed up late, making birdies on both 16 and 17, his first two of the day, to go 2-1 up.
Scheffler credited Morikawa's seven-foot par putt on the 15th, after Scheffler had already made bogey, with giving him the boost he needed.
“I was getting impatient there and I was standing there on the 15th green thinking to myself, what am I doing, and hoping Collin can knock that in, and that was huge for our team there,” Scheffler said. . “I was able to make a few birdies when my partner needed me because he was out there a little bit today, so I was proud to step up when I needed to.”
In the second game, Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau held off Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners with three birdies on the back nine to win 3 and 2.
The last game took the longest to finish – it led to the 17th green. I dragged the game out for as long as possible, matching Cantlay with three straight birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th before the American eventually won 2 and 1 with a par on the 17th.
Four more games are back on the course on Saturday afternoon. We'll have updates throughout the afternoon on GOLF.com.
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