Presidents Cup: Day 3 match recaps

The International Team hasn’t slowed down Saturday at the Presidents Cup. They’re continuing to roll at Royal Melbourne in the first of the day’s two sessions. Here’s a closer look at how it happened: PRESIDENTS CUP: Scoring | Quiz: Which team should you support? DAY 3 FOUR-BALLS MATCH 1: U.S. WINS 3&2 Rickie Fowler/Justin Thomas (U.S.) def. Marc Leishman/Haotong Li (International) Holes won: U.S. 5, International 2 Holes led: U.S. 13, International 0 Recap: The U.S. Team never trailed, taking the lead for good with Rickie Fowler’s par at the fifth hole. The U.S. went 2-up with Thomas’ birdie at the par-4 eighth hole. It never got any closer. For the second straight match, Thomas ended it with a birdie putt, holing a 13-footer for birdie on 16. Thomas is 3-0 this week and now 6-1-1 in his Presidents Cup career. Fowler and Thomas are 3-0-1 as a Presidents Cup team. MATCH 2: INTERNATIONAL WINS 3&2 Abraham Ancer/Sungjae Im (International) def. Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (U.S.) Holes won: International 4, U.S. 1 Holes led: International 9, U.S. 0 Recap: The first seven holes of this match were halved. The International Team took the lead with pars at the eighth hole. It led the rest of the way. Im holed a 15-foot birdie putt to win the 10th hole and Ancer closed things out with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 14-16. These two International rookies are undefeated this week. Ancer is 3-0, while Im is 2-0-1. MATCH 3: INTERNATIONAL WINS, 5&3 Hideki Matsuyama/C.T. Pan (International) def. Patrick Reed/Webb Simpson (U.S.) Holes won: International 7, U.S. 2 Holes led: International 15, U.S. 0 Recap: The International Team never trailed, taking the lead with Pan’s 13-foot birdie on the first hole. He added an eagle at the drivable par-4 sixth and a birdie at the seventh hole to give his team a 3-up lead. He wasn’t done. His approach on the par-4 12th hit the stick and stopped inches from the hole for another birdie. Matsuyama holed a 17-footer for birdie on the next hole to give his team a 4-up lead. Pan closed it out with a birdie on 15. Reed and Simpson dropped to 0-3 this week. MATCH 4 Adam Scott/Byeong Hun An (International) vs. Matt Kuchar/Tony Finau (U.S.)

Click here to read the full article…