Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau had a ball throughout Thursday’s opening Fourball match on the Presidents Cup.
They even referred to as their 1 up victory over Byeong Hun An and Jason Day a “social gathering,” as Schauffele closed out the match with a spectacular birdie on the 18th gap.
“We knew what we had been purported to do,” Schauffele mentioned.
“Tony began the social gathering on the entrance 9, holding 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 bought dicey for the Individuals for a short second. After Schauffele discovered the green, Finau roped his ball left into the penalty space, giving the Internationals a sliver of hope. The match additionally grew to become 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 a terrific 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 enjoying companion.
“That’s all there was to it. He’s a significant champion for a purpose, and I undoubtedly noticed why at this time… he’s a dream companion. He’s bought my again, and I attempt to have his. We did an excellent job of that at this time. We deserved to win. I really feel like we performed so much higher than them. That’s the fantastic thing about match play. Momentum is a loopy factor, and so they had been in a position to swap some momentum on us main as much as the final couple of holes. You’ve bought a man like Xander in your staff; 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 due to 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 stunning growth 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 pink, 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 12 months’s Ryder Cup. The Europeans led 4-0 after final 12 months’s opening session, so the U.S. is aware of how the Internationals at present really feel. However at the least the Individuals didn’t face a large deficit on their dwelling soil, in contrast to the Internationals this 12 months, who wanted an excellent begin in Royal Montreal to place stress on the closely favored Individuals. However that mission failed, due to the Individuals’ superiority as a staff and partly as a result of Schauffele’s clutch genes.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
