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.


Desert Vipers hold nerve to edge Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in ILT20 thriller

Updated 06 December 2025
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Desert Vipers hold nerve to edge Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in ILT20 thriller

  • Key contributions from Shimron Hetmyer and Khuzaima Tanveer prove decisive as the Vipers weather tense finish to overhaul target of 171
  • Knight Riders start well, reaching 87 in 10 overs, but momentum shifts in second half of their inning as the Vipers’ spinners struck back

SHARJAH: Desert Vipers made it two wins out of two in the DP World International League T20, as they held their nerve to secure a dramatic two-wicket victory over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Shimron Hetmyer’s counterattacking 48 off 25 balls, and a late-order cameo from Khuzaima Tanveer, who hit 31 off just 12 deliveries, proved decisive as the Vipers weathered a tense finish to overhaul a target of 171.

Sent in to bat, the Knight Riders made a confident start through Phil Salt and Alex Hales, with the latter anchoring the inning to top-score with 53 off 37 balls.

Despite reaching 87 in 10 overs, however, the momentum shifted in the second half of the inning as the Vipers’ spinners began to strike regularly. Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad led the middle-overs fightback, dismissing Hales and triggering a collapse as the Knight Riders lost five wickets.

Andre Russell’s unbeaten 36, and useful contributions from Alishan Sharafu and Unmukt Chand, at least helped Abu Dhabi reach a competitive total, but they were unable to fully capitalize on the side’s strong opening.

The Vipers began explosively in reply, smashing a tournament-record 19 runs from the first over. However, early wickets then left them wobbling on 44/3. Sam Curran and Dan Lawrence rebuilt the attack before the latter combined with Hetmyer for a crucial 68-run stand that swung the contest back in the their favor.

Late strikes from Ajay Kumar and Russell, the latter dismissing Hetmyer for his 500th T20 wicket, set up a tense finish, but Tanveer delivered under pressure. Needing eight runs off the final over, he sealed victory with a six and a boundary.

“It was, in many ways, a fortunate escape but an outstanding result for us,” said Curran, the Vipers’ stand-in captain.

“ADKR possess a very powerful batting lineup, and I believe our bowlers performed exceptionally well throughout the innings. The dismissals of Hetmyer and Dan introduced an unexpected twist but the team showed commendable composure in the crucial moments.”

Knight Riders’ stand-in skipper Sunil Narine felt his side had been lacking with the bat: “We were 15-20 runs short. We began well in the powerplay and that phase was crucial for us.

“The conditions eventually worked in their favor and the dew made it challenging for our spinners. But at the end of the day that’s part of the game.”

The result leaves the Vipers well placed at this early stage of the tournament, while the Knight Riders were left to reflect on missed opportunities after such a strong start.