United States takes 3-2 Presidents Cup lead over Internationals at Medinah

Opening session lead

The United States took a 3-2 lead over the International team on Thursday after the opening four-ball matches of the 16th Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. The American side, captained by Brandt Snedeker, began its pursuit of an 11th consecutive victory in the biennial competition. Justin Thomas and 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun secured the first point of the tournament, defeating Corey Conners of Canada and Nico Echavarria of Colombia 4&3. Thomas won the fifth hole with a 22-foot birdie putt to go 2-up, later adding birdie putts from 12 feet on the 14th and 16 feet on the 15th to seal the win and improve his career Presidents Cup four-ball record to 7-0.

Match play is such a bizarre thing. I've played great with some great partners. Happy we got a point today.

Scheffler and Burns secure tight victory

World number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns delivered a 1-up victory over South Korea's Sungjae Im and Australian Min Woo Lee in the opening match off the tee. Scheffler and Burns had previously held a 0-3-1 record together in team competitions before Snedeker paired them together at Medinah. Im converted a 10-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole to take the lead, but Burns answered with a tap-in birdie on the 14th to level the match. On the par-5 17th hole, Scheffler played from a greenside bunker while Im missed a birdie attempt that bounced off the cup, allowing the Americans to take the lead with par before halving the 18th hole.

We just did our best to stay in it. We stepped up when we needed to.

International responses and American control

The International side responded through Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and debutant Ryo Hisatsune, who defeated Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele 3&1. Matsuyama gave his pairing the lead on the eighth hole with a six-foot par putt, birdied the ninth from inside 10 feet to go 2-up, and closed the match with a 10-foot birdie on the 17th. Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa extended the American advantage with a 3&2 victory over Australia's Adam Scott and reigning Open champion Ryan Fox, establishing a 3-up lead within six holes and answering an Australian push on the 13th with a Clark birdie on the 15th. In the final match of the day, South Koreans Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim beat Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup 3&2 to pull the Internationals within one point.

A session win is a session win; we're going to take it any way we can get it.

Schedule and format ahead

Geoff Ogilvy's International team enters Friday aiming to close the deficit in alternate-shot foursomes as they pursue their second tournament victory since 1998. The competition continues with five foursome matches on Friday, followed by two separate sessions on Saturday consisting of four four-ball matches in the morning and four foursomes in the afternoon. All 12 players from each roster will compete in 12 individual singles matches on Sunday. A total of 15.5 points is required to secure the Presidents Cup trophy.