Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau had a ball throughout Thursday’s opening Fourball match on the Presidents Cup.
They even known as their 1 up victory over Byeong Hun An and Jason Day a “occasion,” as Schauffele closed out the match with a spectacular birdie on the 18th gap.
“We knew what we have been presupposed to do,” Schauffele mentioned.
“Tony began the occasion on the entrance 9, conserving it shut, after which we began to get that lead. He had my again all day. I figured it was my flip to have his again.”
The Individuals held a 1-up lead on the 18th tee, as Schauffele made a terrific birdie on the prior gap, the par-3 seventeenth. However issues obtained dicey for the Individuals for a short second. After Schauffele discovered the golf green, Finau roped his ball left into the penalty space, giving the Internationals a sliver of hope. The match additionally turned 2-on-1. However Schauffele flexed his clutch genes and caught his method to lower than three ft away, moments after An hit his second shot to about 5 ft, giving himself an amazing look to tie to the match.
“They closed the hole there after 16, and my man [Xander] proper right here clutched up,” Finau mentioned of his taking part in associate.
“That’s all there was to it. He’s a serious champion for a cause, and I positively noticed why at present… he’s a dream associate. He’s obtained my again, and I attempt to have his. We did a superb job of that at present. We deserved to win. I really feel like we performed loads higher than them. That’s the great thing about match play. Momentum is a loopy factor, and so they have been capable of swap some momentum on us main as much as the final couple of holes. You’ve obtained a man like Xander in your crew; he closes the door on the seventeenth and 18th. It’s enjoyable to be a part of a match like this, however particularly to win it.”
Schauffele and Finau’s 2-up lead fully evaporated because of An’s birdie on 15 and Day’s par on 16. The Individuals missed a pair of par putts from inside of 4 ft on the sixteenth inexperienced, a surprising improvement that gave the Internationals hope. However Schauffele killed their momentum with birdies on the seventeenth and 18th, placing up the primary level on the board for the purple, white, and blue.
The Individuals went on to win the following 4 matches and now maintain a commanding 5-0 lead —a stark departure from how the U.S. started final yr’s Ryder Cup. The Europeans led 4-0 after final yr’s opening session, so the U.S. is aware of how the Internationals at present really feel. However not less than the Individuals didn’t face a large deficit on their dwelling soil, not like the Internationals this yr, who wanted a superb begin in Royal Montreal to place strain on the closely favored Individuals. However that mission failed, because of the Individuals’ superiority as a crew and partly as a consequence of Schauffele’s clutch genes.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
