(L’Île-Bizard – Sainte-Geneviève) Fatigue began to be felt in both camps on Saturday morning, although the American team managed to limit errors to take an 8-6 lead against the international team at the Presidents Cup.
It must be said that the night was short since the two teams were back on the Blue course of the Royal Montreal golf club at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, a dozen hours after the end of the previous session. Play was even interrupted for nearly an hour early in the morning due to fog, which cleared with the appearance of the sun and the accompanying rise in temperature.
The international team seemed flat for most of the session, as did the crowd, imposing but rather calm. Perhaps it’s because of the emotional upsurge from the day before, when captain Mike Weir’s team overcame a five-point deficit with a sweep of the United States to level the score at 5-5 ?
To avoid a similar scenario to the day before, the captain of the American team Jim Furyk had also chosen to shuffle his cards in view of the four matches played on Saturday morning. For his part, Weir opted for pairs similar to those on Friday.
Three Canadians were therefore again in action in the morning. Taylor Pendrith was again paired with Australian Adam Scott, while Corey Conners played with his compatriot Mackenzie Hughes.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners
Conners, of Listowel, Ont., and Hughes, of Hamilton, appeared the most affected of the group. They also suffered the most scathing defeat of the session on the international side, three and two, against the Americans Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.
For their part, Pendrith and Scott fell two and one against the No. 1 golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, and his playing partner Collin Morikawa.
Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im, who had hosted the show the day before and set the tone for the comeback, were also much more beige. The Americans Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns took advantage, especially on the back nine, to beat them two and one.
Only South Korean Tom Kim, possibly the most colorful and expressive golfer on the international team, was inserted into the lineup in place of his compatriot Byeong Hun An. He was paired with another South Korean golfer , Si Woo Kim.
Perhaps it is the result of chance, but the fact remains that the South Korean duo is the only one to have managed to snatch a point from the Americans Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark, four and three.
Despite the morning’s results, Weir decided to return with the same pairs in the afternoon.
Thus, Pendrith and Scott will face Brian Harman and Max Homa, Conners and Hughes will face Morikawa and Burns, Kim and Kim will cross swords with Cantlay and Schauffele, while Matsuyama and Im will face Scheffler and Henley.
The two teams will return to the field from 2:20 p.m., and they will compete for the occasion in four matches played according to the four-player format (alternating shots).
The first team to score 15.5 points is crowned champion of this prestigious team competition.
Follow the results live