Presidents Cup: Thursday Foursomes match recaps

The 14th Presidents Cup commenced Thursday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, with Day 1 of competition featuring five Foursomes matches (alternate shot). The Presidents Cup is contested across four days and 30 matches – five Foursomes matches on Thursday, five Four-ball (best ball) matches on Friday, four Foursomes and four Four-ball matches on Saturday, and 12 Singles matches on Sunday. The U.S. Team, captained by Davis Love III, entered the week undefeated in seven past Presidents Cups on American soil (7-0), with an 11-1-1 overall record. The International Team, captained by Trevor Immelman, aimed to rally around its underdog status with eight first-time President Cup participants. Here’s a match-by-match breakdown of how Day 1 unfolded at the Presidents Cup. PRESIDENTS CUP: Scoring | The five key clubs for the International Team at the Presidents Cup | The five key clubs for the U.S. Team at the Presidents Cup THURSDAY: FOURSOMES MATCH 1 Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (U.S.) def. Adam Scott/Hideki Matsuyama (Intl.), 6 and 5 The International side put its most experienced guns out first, but they were no match for Cantlay/Schauffele, the day’s lone bogey-free team. By the time this match reached the eighth tee, the U.S. owned a 4-up advantage. Scott struggled with the pace of the greens early, and the Internationals handed away the par-4 third with a three-putt. Cantlay would get hot with the putter, rolling in birdie putts on Nos. 5 (9-feet) and 6 (13-foot curler). Schauffele had but 167 yards left into the par-5 seventh after a 360-yard bomb off the tee by Cantlay, setting up another easy birdie. The U.S. was 4-up. The Internationals birdied No. 8, but Scott missed from 8 feet for birdie at 10, a putt that would have cut the deficit to 2-down. From there, the U.S. rolled, with Scott and Matsuyama finishing with three bogeys and the match ending on 13. They fell to 1-4-1 when teamed in the Presidents Cup. Cantlay/Schauffele are 5-0 in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup Foursomes. QUOTES: “With the wind picking up and that storm getting close to us, we felt like the wind was all over the place. We told ourselves to ballstrike the heck of out this place, and that’s what we did. – Xander Schauffele “We’ve played a lot of alternate-shot with each other, and I think we just feel very comfortable and confident. On a day like today, to make no bogeys, that was really good golf.” – Patrick Cantlay Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 1, International Team 0

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