Considering how the last Thursday went for the International Team at the Presidents Cup, despite the fact that they trail 3-2 heading into the second day in 2026, any points on the board was going to be better than the 5-0 drubbing at Royal Montreal two years ago.
“I mean, look, we obviously wanted to win the session, but I thought all the boys did really well,” International captain Geoff Ogilvy said. “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.”
Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim were the expected sparkplug stars for the International side, winning the final match of the day 3 and 2 over Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup after Kim, the latter, nearly jarred his tee shot on the par-3 16th — his wedge from 165 yards knocking the flagstick.
Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune — a young Japanese star-in-waiting who calls Matsuyama his idol — put the first points on the board for the Internationals, defeating Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele 3 and 1.
“Their dynamic is amazing. Imagine for a 24-year-old Ryo to play with Hideki Matsuyama. It's his seventh Presidents Cup. He's clearly a massive hero of all young Japanese golfers. To get a chance to go do that on the first day of the Presidents Cup, it's a pretty special occasion,” Ogilvy said.
Matsuyama has never had a countryman to play alongside in any of his seven Presidents Cup appearances, so this particular pairing paid off in spades on the opening day at Medinah Country Club.
“Just very happy to get the first win in the International Team. Just so lucky,” said Hisatsune with a big smile.
Canadian Corey Conners didn’t fare that well Thursday but, in his defence, he ran into the buzzsaw that is Justin Thomas who, while paired with 21-year-old Jackson Koivun, defeated Conners and Nico Echavarria 4 and 3. Thomas is now 7-0-0 in fourball competition at the Presidents Cup and while Conners certainly had some opportunities of his own to convert birdie efforts from 12 feet, his partner did him no favours. Echavarria was, statistically, the worst golfer on the course on Thursday.
The other wins by the American side came from Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler in the opening match of the day, as the duo defeated Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im 1-up. This pairing, for the Internationals, would certainly be one they would have liked to have had something more from, as Lee and Im were 1 up with five holes remaining. That duo had a chance to go further up on the three holes after making the turn and failed to make a birdie on the penultimate hole, even with both Scheffler and Burns finding bunkers on No. 17.
Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa also defeated Ryan Fox and Adam Scott 3 and 2. Thursday marked Scott’s 55th Presidents Cup match, tying him for the most all time with Phil Mickelson.
Interestingly enough, Clark said he felt it was “kind of dead” on the property Thursday and is eager for the American fans to make their voices heard more through the second day.
The U.S. lead after the first day of the Presidents Cup for the ninth time in the last 10 iterations, but Clark said on No. 11, for example, Morikawa, his partner, hit his approach to just 10 feet with a 5 wood and said “no one” clapped.
“It was a little surprising… I'm saying this more as a challenge that hopefully tomorrow and the weekend the fans are out there really rooting us on, and regardless of what happens, we have the momentum,” Clark said. “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.”
A similar thing unfolded in Montreal two years ago where the Thursday crowd was awfully quiet before a raucous Friday unfolded through the afternoon. And that particular session was won 5-0 by the Internationals as they stormed back into a tie heading into the weekend.
There will need to be no such aggressive comeback this time around, but Ogilvy said he’s pleased with the score, and with his players, heading into the second day.
“We would have loved to have won the session but… 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,” Ogilvy said. “They’re all pretty excited to get out there tomorrow.”
DAY 2 MATCHES (FOURSOMES)
2:05 p.m. E.T. – Sam Burns/Scottie Scheffler vs. Corey Conners/Nick Taylor
2:19 p.m. – Russell Henley/Jacob Bridgeman vs. Sungjae Im/Hideki Matsuyama
2:33 p.m. – Collin Morikawa/Wyndham Clark vs. Ryan Fox/Min Woo Lee
2:47 p.m. – Justin Thomas/Cameron Young vs. Adam Scott/Christiaan Bezuidenhout
3:01 p.m. – Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele vs. Tom Kim/Si Woo Kim
