Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im tie Presidents Cup record with 7-and-6 Foursomes win

MONTREAL – The International Team needed a quick start to Friday’s Foursomes session after getting swept a day earlier. It got it, with its leadoff team scoring a record-tying victory over one of the United States’ stalwart pairings to start Friday’s Foursomes session.

Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im beat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, 7 and 6, to tie the Presidents Cup record for shortest match in the competition’s 30-year history. It was an emphatic way for the home team to earn its first point of the week, and the start of the Internationals’ fervent rally in a format where they have traditionally struggled.

When Im and Matsuyama completed their win, the International Team was at least 2-up in three other matches and tied in the other. It seemed poised to rapidly undo the damage had been done a day earlier, when the U.S. jumped out to a 5-0 lead in Thursday’s opening Four-ball round.

This was just the third time in Presidents Cup history that a match was won by a 7-and-6 margin.

David Frost beat Kenny Perry, 7 and 6, in a Singles match in the second Presidents Cup, in 1996. Adam Scott and K.J. Choi beat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker by the same margin in a Foursomes match at the 2011 Presidents Cup, as well.

The victory also offered a modicum of revenge for Matsuyama. He and Adam Scott lost, 6 and 5, to Cantlay and Schauffele in a Foursomes match just two years ago.

Cantlay and Schauffele didn’t win a single hole Friday, while the International side was never in serious trouble, missing just two fairways and two greens in the match.

The U.S. pair lost Friday’s opening hole with a three-putt, and the International Team won No. 2 after Im hit a wedge shot to 6 feet for birdie. The International Team ended the match with seven consecutive birdies thanks to accurate ballstriking from both players.

Im hit his 250-yard second shot onto the green at the par-5 sixth hole, then hit his tee shot on the par-3 seventh to 9 feet. He wedged to 16 feet at No. 8 and sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the next hole after Matsuyama hit a 140-yard approach to 10 feet. Im hit his 150-yard approach at the 10th hole to 12 feet, and Matsuyama followed by hitting a 200-yard approach at the 11th hole to 8 feet. The match ended after Matsuyama blasted a greenside bunker shot to 3 feet on the par-5 12th and Im made the putt.

"Today from the beginning, our vibe was vibing and we were trying to win the match," said Im. "With Hideki, our teamwork was amazing. When I would hit the shot, he would finish with the putt, so it was a great job."

Cantlay and Schauffele had been undefeated in Foursomes at this event, going 3-0 before this record-tying defeat. They’ve been a consistent pairing for the U.S. after debuting together at the 2019 Presidents Cup, as well. This was the eighth time they were paired in the Presidents Cup, tying Fred Couples and Davis Love III for most appearances as a team in Presidents Cup history.

This also marks the second consecutive year where a U.S. team had a record defeat in Foursomes. At last year’s Ryder Cup, Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka lost a Foursomes match to Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland, 9 and 7. It is the shortest 18-hole match in Ryder Cup history.