Adam Scott, never a trophy winner in 10 Presidents Cup appearances, was overjoyed at the Internationals’ stunning fightback on Friday to pull level with the United States at 5-5.
Australian Scott and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith won 5 & 4 over Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala as part of a 5-0 foursomes sweep after dropping all five Thursday four-ball matches.
“Incredible day for us,” Scott said. “To come back and show everyone what this team is made of after a tough day out there is just incredible.
“We’ve got a big day tomorrow and a bigger day Sunday. I think we can enjoy this and then come out incredibly focused. But this team knows what it’s capable of now.”
The Americans lead the all-time rivalry 12-1-1 and seek a 10th consecutive triumph, having lost only in 1998. Four four-ball and foursomes matches are set for Saturday before 12 final singles on Sunday.
“This team is very capable of pushing the US team all the way this week and today was a good step for us to make it a big fight this weekend,” Scott said.
“We’ve got a bit of momentum going. Hopefully we can keep it rolling. We’re going to have to be on it, be focused and keep our levels high because that team’s no joke. We’re going to have to fight really hard if we want to be in there on Sunday afternoon.”
REPORT: Internationals sweep foursomes to equal USA
Scott and Pendrith will reunite in Saturday’s morning four-ball opener against top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa.
Other four-ball matches send Tony Finau and second-ranked Xander Schauffele against Canadians Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes, South Koreans Tom Kim and Kim Si-woo against Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark, and Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns against Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korean Im Sung-jae.
Scott, who became the all-time Internationals point leader with 22, passing Ernie Els, has never hoisted the hardware but has confidence this team can get him there at age 44.
“We were coming out to play with our pride on the line. We got kicked pretty badly. There’s a confidence amongst this group, but we got brought down to earth and we came out today and all lifted our levels.
“I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is but there’s a confidence. Maybe it’s the personalities. I felt very confident in this team.
“It feels pretty special. I’m just so proud of all the guys for sticking in, coming out with a great attitude and lifting their games. It puts us right back in this tournament.”
A cheering Canadian crowd inspired by the global greats lifted the players in turn.
“The crowd carried us through the day,” Scott said. “Hearing those cheers, knowing it was for our team on other holes across the golf course, that’s got to be motivation for us for the rest of the week.”
Added Hughes: “It felt like the crowd really pulled us through those matches. We need more of that the rest of the week.”
It wasn’t lost on Scheffler, the reigning Masters and Paris Olympic champion who pushed his match to the 18th hole before losing on Friday.
“The crowd did a great job, got into it, gave the guys some good energy, and they fed off of it,” Scheffler said. “It’s our job to go out there tomorrow and do our best and hopefully keep them a little bit quieter.”
Hughes said the team was not down after being swept on Thursday, pep talks starting on the bus ride home.
“The main message was keep your head high, spirits high, and we all believed,” he said. “Today was a great day but it started with us believing. We just knew we had to focus, heads held high, and we got the job done.”
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
