International Team Complete Defeat... '5 Matches 5 Losses'

Presidents Cup First Day Foursomes Points '0'
Im Sungjae-Kim Juhyung Taste Defeat Against Scheffler-Henley
Ahn Byunghun-Day, Lee Minwoo-Scott Also in Tears

The International team suffered a complete defeat on the first day of the Presidents Cup.

International team’s Kim Juhyung (left) shakes hands after losing to the U.S. team’s Scottie Scheffler in the four-ball match on the first day of the Presidents Cup. Kim Juhyung and Im Sungjae were defeated by Scheffler and Russell Henley by 3 holes. [Montreal=AFP·Yonhap News]

On the 26th (local time), at the Royal Montreal Golf Club (par 70, 7,413 yards) in Montreal, Canada, the International team, representing continents excluding the United States and Europe, lost all five matches in the first day’s four-ball format (where each player plays their own ball and the better score on each hole counts for the team) of the Presidents Cup. The International team has now suffered nine consecutive losses since their victory at the 1998 Melbourne, Australia tournament. Their head-to-head record against the U.S. team stands at 1 win, 1 draw, and 12 losses. They aim for a turnaround in the five foursomes matches (where two players alternate shots with one ball) on the second day.

In the first match, Byeong-Hun An and Jason Day (Australia) lost by one hole to Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau. Trailing by two holes after 14 holes, Byeong-Hun An made a birdie on the 15th hole (par 4) to reduce the deficit to one hole, but they could not overturn the result. In the second match, Min-Woo Lee and Adam Scott (both from Australia) were also defeated by one hole by Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.

In the third match, which had raised expectations, Sungjae Im and Juhyung Kim were soundly defeated by world number one Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley by three holes. In the fourth match, Taylor Pendrith (Canada) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa) lost by one hole to Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley. In the final fifth match, Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Corey Conners (Canada) were defeated by Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns by two holes, shedding tears.