Presidents Cup: Team U.S. stymies International momentum; dominates Day 1

Day 1 of the Presidents Cup is in the books as Team USA dominated at Royal Montreal Golf Club Thursday to lead 5-0.

It marked the third time in the event’s 30-year history that the Americans swept the International in the opening competition.

Day 1 of the contest proved to be quite memorable.

From Mackenzie Hughes shotgunning a beer on the opening tee to the chippiness between teams, it is easy to say Day 1 provided plenty of entertainment.

Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele took on Jason Day and Byeong Hun An in the day’s first match.

It came down to the 18th hole, and the Day/An pairing needed to win it to half the match.

An’s approach shot landed a little over four feet from the hole, but Schauffele’s hit his to two feet away. That shot set up the 1UP victory.

The second point came from the Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley versus Tom Kim and Sungjae Im match.

This matchup saw chirpiness from both the American and International players.

It all began on the seventh green when Scheffler and Kim trashed-talked each other. Kim made a massive birdie putt, but Scheffler responded with his long-distance putt and matched the energy.

The drama did not end there.

Kim made a clutch putt on the 8th. After, he and Im walked to the next tee box 60 yards away.

This gesture did not impress the Americans.

Kevin Kisner, one of the assistant captains for Team USA, did not like that move from the International Team. He let Camilo Villegas, an International assistant, know he did not appreciate the gesture, which caused the second dramatic moment of the match.

The gesture clearly did not bother Scheffler or Henley, as they could not recall it after winning the match.

“I didn’t see it,” Scheffler said. “He may have. I didn’t. They told me a few holes later.

“I didn’t notice it (laughter). Look, we’re all out here competing, trying to win points,” Henley added. “So, like Scottie said, it’s all good fun, and we’re just trying to win points.”

Scheffler continued with his comments, referencing the exchange of words between him and his good friend Kim.

“To be fair to them walking off, I did like scream at them on the hole (laughter),” Scheffler said. “I’m not going to say it was their fault, you know what I mean?”

Henley picked up the momentum after Kevin Kisner predicted he would on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The former Georgia Bulldog made a pair of birdies on the 14th and 15th, just minutes after Kisner posted his tweet.

Scheffler and Henley went on to win 3 & 2 over Kim and Im to give the Americans a 2-0 lead.

Team USA’s third point came from the Californian duo Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala. They took on the all-Australian team in Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee.

This match went all the way to the 18th hole. The Americans came back from being 1 down until the 12th hole. Morikawa tied it on 12 before they took the lead on 14.

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

From there, the duo held onto the lead and won 1UP, which gave Theegala, a Presidents Cup rookie, his first points in the event.

Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay played against Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama. They earned the fourth point of the day with a 2 & 1 victory.

The session came down to Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark against Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Taylor Pendrith.

They won 1 UP after the 2025 Ryder Cup Captain’s flat stick got hot. He made 34, 11, and 19-foot putts, with the last on the 18th to confirm the victory.

This week marks his first team start since the 2014 Ryder Cup, when he secured the point for the Americans to open the 2024 Presidents Cup at 5-0.

Friday’s session will be a foursome format, with the Americans looking to build on their hot start and the International players looking to bounce back after the rough start.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.