MEDINAH, ILLINOIS | By the time Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim reached the par-3 16th tee late Thursday afternoon at Medinah Country Club, the first session of the Presidents Cup had already found its footing.
As expected, the Americans won three of the first four matches, the biggest being a grinding 1-up victory by Scottie Scheffler and his buddy Sam Burns over Sunjae Im and Min Woo Lee in the opening match that assured a U.S. lead after the first session.
But Kim and Kim, the International team’s most dynamic duo, were on the verge of closing out Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup in a match in which they never trailed and when Tom Kim rattled the flagstick with a 7-iron to close out the match, it had a lightning-crack quality to it for the International side.
While it may ultimately be a footnote to a familiar story, Kim’s near ace on 16 left the Americans with a 3-2 lead and the Internationals with a buzz heading into Friday’s foursomes session. It was redemption of sorts after losing the opening session 5-0 two years ago in Montreal.
“I think it’s definitely better than last time. It was a brutal start last time. I think we did really well,” Si Woo Kim said.
If the International team is to push the issue over the next three days against the heavily favored Americans, it needed to stay close and captain Geoff Ogilvy’s team accomplished that with Kim and Kim getting the crucial final point.
“It’s just the way that draw unfolded, but they love that situation. They clearly enjoy each other’s company, and they sort of thrive when they play with each other. … They just got off from where they took off last time,” Ogilvy said.
Next up are five foursomes matches, a format in which the International team went 5-0 on Friday two years ago. It was a different time and a different place but the Internationals are starting from a better spot.
“We would have loved to have won the session, but 2-3, we had a chat when we got back to the room, and I’m proud of the boys and I’m proud of how they played today.” – International team captain Geoff Ogilvy
“I thought it was decent. I mean, look, we obviously wanted to win the session, but I thought all the boys did really well. We got some rookies out there. This is not an easy thing to do the first time you play. I saw a lot of good golf out there,” Ogilvy said.
“We would have loved to have won the session, but 2-3, we had a chat when we got back to the room, and I’m proud of the boys and I’m proud of how they played today.”
There were no real surprises to the first day other than the 3-and-1 victory Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune posted over Cameron Young and Xander Schauffle.
American rookie Jackson Koivun picked up a victory with Justin Thomas, an ideal start given the attention focused on the 21-year-old.
“It was fun to be out there with him and doing his thing. He’s really impressive to watch, and I’m really happy he’s on my team,” said Thomas, who is now 7-0 in four-ball matches in the Presidents Cup.
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker indicated he is content with where things stand after one day.
“I think you have a game plan coming in, and then you kind of see how things unfold today and what kind of changes you need to make, if you need to make any changes at all,” Snedeker said.
“I keep saying, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Mike Tyson said that famously. We had a really good plan coming in, and we’re still sticking to it.”
The first day of the Presidents Cup doesn’t typically crackle and while this one had a few pulse-pushing moments, it had a workday quality to it.
It was a beautiful early fall afternoon, the temperature hovering around 70 degrees, and it was easy to hear acorns cracking underfoot as spectators made their way around the freshly shorn but still tree-rich Medinah layout.
The first day of the Presidents Cup doesn’t typically crackle and while this one had a few pulse-pushing moments, it had a workday quality to it. The golf course is long and difficult, rewarding persistence more than pizazz, muting some of the noise that might otherwise be created by birdie binges.
It was also still a workday for many in the crowd who could be seen and sometimes heard making work calls while waiting for the next group to arrive where they were waiting.
“It was kind of dead out there. I felt like the momentum could have been better, to be honest, because we weren’t really feeling the fans, I think, as much as normal,” Wyndham Clark said.
“There [were] a few shots – I mean, Collin [Morikawa] hit a 5-wood on 11 to like 10 feet, and we didn’t even know if it was on the green because no one clapped. It was a little surprising.”
Most importantly, what happened on Thursday made Friday more interesting. Ogilvy’s International team couldn’t afford to fall into a pit of despair on the opening afternoon.
It did not.
In the Friday foursomes, Scheffler and Burns will go out together against Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman will face Im and Matsuyama, Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee will meet Morikawa and Clark, Thomas and Young will face Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Cantlay and Schauffele will face Kim and Kim.
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