Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay put the Americans back in control at Presidents Cup

US team member Patrick Cantlay reacts after making the winning putt on the 18th hole during their fourth round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club Saturday in Montreal. (AP)
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Updated 29 September 2024
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Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay put the Americans back in control at Presidents Cup

  • Scottie Scheffler delivered big moments late in both of his matches, and Cantlay’s putt from just inside 17 feet in the dark gave the Americans another win, another point
  • International need to win eight of the 12 singles matches Sunday for a tie, and halve another if they want to win for the first time since 1998

MONTREAL: Patrick Cantlay couldn’t have hit the putt — he might not have seen the hole — without lights from a video board and the headlamps from golf carts surrounding the 18th green in the final match of the longest day at the Presidents Cup.

And then he delivered another “Patty Ice” moment that might have been enough to turn the lights out on the International team Saturday.

Scottie Scheffler delivered big moments late in both of his matches, and Cantlay’s putt from just inside 17 feet in the dark gave the Americans another win, another point, moving them one session closer to another Presidents Cup victory.

“Huge putt,” US captain Jim Furyk said. “If you had to hand select someone to hit a big putt on your team, I think Pat would come to a lot of people’s minds.”

They won the fourballs and foursomes sessions by a 3-1 margin. Cantlay and Xander Schauffele won on the 18th over Tom Kim and Si Wood Kim, the high-charged South Korean duo, that gave the Americans an 11-7 lead at Royal Montreal.

“Xander helped me read it,” Cantlay said of his match winner in near darkness. “It was like a cup out with some speed, and a putt like that will make me sleep a little better tonight.”

It was Si Woo Kim who chipped in from deep rough below the 16th green that gave his side hope, and he leaned his cheek into his hands the “Good Night” gesture made famous from Stephen Curry in the Paris Olympics this summer.

That turned out to be an early call.

Tom Kim said he could hear some American players cursing at them, though it wasn’t corroborated and Schauffele said he didn’t know to what the 22-year-old was referring. Most of the matches have been tight all week. The crowd has been loud. It has gotten chippy at times, expected in these team competitions.

What hasn’t changed is the Internationals face a big deficit.

They need to win eight of the 12 singles matches Sunday for a tie, and halve another if they want to win for the first time since 1998 — four years before Tom Kim was born — and only the second time since the Presidents Cup began in 1994.

International captain Mike Weir sat out four players all of Saturday, wanting to ride the teams that helped get his side back into the match with that 5-0 shutout on Friday.

One of them was Jason Day, who will be first out Sunday against Schauffele.

It’s the same deficit from two years ago, and Weir recalls the Internationals — a team facing distractions in 2022 of losing players who defected to Saudi-backed LIV Golf — making the Quail Hollow crowd quiet and the Americans sweat.

“We just have tremendous belief in our guys,” Weir said. “Might feel similar to what it was in Charlotte, but I’m just telling you, maybe there’s an upgrade in belief for our team.”

Tom Kim sounded even more determined, bordering on angry.

“I am so motivated to go out tomorrow ... because we’ve lost so many times, there’s going to be one day where it’s just going to be our day,” he said. “I believe it’s tomorrow.

“If we fall short, we’ll try again. That’s what we are. We’ll keep trying. There’s going to be one time when we’re going to hold the Cup, and it’s going to be sometime soon.”

Scheffler finished off a tight fourballs match with two late birdies in a morning session delayed 90 minutes by fog, and then he gave the Americans their first lead in foursomes with a wedge into a foot on the 14th hole that led to another point.

Scheffler started both matches slowly. Collin Morikawa kept them in the game in fourballs until Scheffler hit a dart from 195 yards to 8 feet for birdie on the 16th, and rolled in a 15-foot putt from off the green on the 17th for the win.

Russell Henley carried him in foursomes, especially after Scheffler missed par putts from 6 feet and 3 feet as they fell 3 down after five holes. But the world’s No. 1 player delivered late with a wedge into a foot on the 14th for their first lead and a 12-foot birdie on the next to take control.

“I have the best player in the world on my team, and we just kind of hung in there,” Henley said.

Adam Scott, playing in his 11th Presidents Cup without ever being on the winning side, carried Taylor Pendrith to a 2-and-1 victory in the afternoon foursomes over Brian Harman and Max Homa, the only International point in foursomes.

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim won big over Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in morning fourballs for the lone International victory.

They were all square or leading in all the afternoon matches at one point until the Americans took control, as they often do. Morikawa and Burns dug out of an early hole and beat the Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes on the 18th hole when when Hughes hit a poor chip and Conners never came close on the 12-foot par putt.

In the anchor match in the morning, Im three times matched birdies against Cantlay and Burns to keep the match from getting out of hand. Cantlay chipped in for eagle on the 12th for a 2-up lead and he twice kept the Internationals from coming back by making putts from 25 feet and 18 feet when they were in tight.

“The guy’s an absolute assassin,” Burns said about Cantlay.


Al-Fateh grab second win on the trot, Al-Taawoun keep up pressure in title race

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Al-Fateh grab second win on the trot, Al-Taawoun keep up pressure in title race

  • Al-Fateh win 2 consecutive games for the first time this season and move to 11 points
  • Al-Taawoun grab late winner against last-placed Al-Najma to stay within 4 points of Al-Nassr

RIYADH: Matchday 12 of the Saudi Pro League got underway on Monday with Al-Khaleej hosting Al-Fateh in the first of the evening’s three fixtures.

Despite producing a strong display in a 3-2 loss to Al-Hilal last week, Al-Khaleej lost 1-0 to Al-Fateh, with Matias Vargas scoring the decisive goal.

Al-Fateh’s strategy was clear: Moroccan midfielder Sofiane Bendebka would be flanked by Mourad Batna and Vargas in a fluid attacking set-up, allowing him to drift between a second-striker role and deeper midfield positions.

The free-flowing forwards enabled Al-Fateh to take control of the final third, with Batna cutting in from the right flank proving to be a dangerous asset in Al-Fateh’s arsenal.

That combination paid dividends in the 41st minute, when Batna delivered a diagonal ball across the pitch to find Vargas, who calmly chipped the ball over Anthony Moris to open the scoring.

It marked the Argentinian’s fourth goal in three matches, with his recent form directly contributing six points — more than half of Al-Fateh’s total this season.

Al-Khaleej were unable to replicate the same intensity shown against Al-Hilal, despite the introduction of club top scorer Joshua King after the break and Pedro Rebocho’s marauding role down the left.

Their clearest opportunity came in the 68th minute, when Rebocho squared the ball to Giorgos Masouras only for his effort to hit the post.

Al-Fateh then adopted a more cautious approach, looking to exploit Al-Khaleej on the counter. They nearly doubled their lead in the 88th minute when Vargas teed up Bendebka, but the midfielder’s powerful backheel crashed against the woodwork.

The defeat marks a slowdown for Al-Khaleej after an encouraging start to the campaign, with this being their third consecutive loss, now leaving them on just 14 points from 11 matches.

Elsewhere, Al-Hazem travelled to the capital to face Al-Riyadh, securing a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Nawaf Al-Habashi and Omar Al-Somah.

The Syrian striker netted his 157th Saudi Pro League goal, extending his lead over Abderazzak Hamedallah at the top of the all-time scoring charts and helping Al-Hazem move further clear of the relegation zone.

In Qassim, third-placed Al-Taawoun edged bottom side Al-Najma in a tightly contested encounter. A late strike from Roger Martinez in the 85th minute sealed a 1-0 win, Al-Taawoun’s ninth of the season, keeping them firmly in the title race.

Pericles Chamusca’s side have exceeded expectations with their stellar start to the season. The Wolves move into second with 28 points, two ahead of Al-Hilal in third and two behind league leaders Al-Nassr, with both sides still holding a game in hand.

It marks the best start to a Saudi Pro League season in Al-Taawoun’s history, a run that continues to surprise in a league filled with established stars.

Matchday 12 on Tuesday starts with Al-Ahli vs. Al-Fayha, followed by Al-Ettifaq vs. Al-Nassr and Al-Okhdood vs. Damac later in the evening.