Presidents Cup: International team bounces back, sweeps foursomes matches to take lead at Medinah as U.S. struggles

Well, the International team bounced back.

The Americans struggled across the board on Friday at Medinah Country Club in Chicago, and will now have to enter the weekend at an event they've dominated since the beginning with plenty of work to do if they're going to retain the Presidents Cup.

The International team dominated on Friday to jump out of the early hole they found themselves in after Thursday's four-ball session. They won all five foursomes matches during the second day of play at the Presidents Cup, and now hold a 7-3 lead entering the weekend.

It was the seventh time that a team has swept a session in Presidents Cup history, and the first since the Internationals swept the foursomes session in 2024. The four-point lead also ties the largest lead the International team has held after two sessions, matching the 1998 event — the only one that the Americans have ever lost.

The U.S. team just couldn't get anything going, even with great looks from Wyndham Clark and Scottie Scheffler down the stretch. Now, over the last two Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups, the Americans are a combined 6-24-0 in foursomes matches, via Skratch's Dan Rapaport .

"They went out there and played great. They made a ton of putts," U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said of the International team. "I feel like our guys hit a bunch of great putts and just couldn't find the bottom of the hole. "You're going to have sessions like this in these things. I feel terrible for the guys because I know they grinded out there and gave me everything they had today, and it wasn't meant to be."

"They went out there and played great. They made a ton of putts," U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said of the International team. "I feel like our guys hit a bunch of great putts and just couldn't find the bottom of the hole.

"You're going to have sessions like this in these things. I feel terrible for the guys because I know they grinded out there and gave me everything they had today, and it wasn't meant to be."

Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im had the easiest time for the Internationals. After falling behind early, the duo carded three birdies in a four-hole stretch to suddenly take a three-hole lead through six in their matchup with Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman. One of those birdies even came after Im sank a putt from off the green.

They cruised to an easy 3&2 win to get a point on the board for the International team.

The International team was walking in putts throughout the course, too. Adam Scott drained a deep one himself early in his match alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout, and the pair jumped to a three-hole lead at the turn while dominating Justin Thomas and Cameron Young. Thomas and Young didn't make a single birdie all day, and just looked off with each other throughout the round. Scott and Bezuidenhout won 3&2.

Then Ryan Fox walked one in too on the seventh with Min Woo Lee. Fox's birdie gave the International team the lead in four of the five matches at the time in a stunningly dominant start.

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim erupted on the ninth green after a deep putt of their own, which gave them a two-shot lead at the turn over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. They ended up taking a 4&3 win.

Scheffler and Sam Burns, who picked up their first international match play win together on Thursday, struggled to get past Corey Conners and Nick Taylor in the first group of the day. Scheffler had two great looks down the stretch to tie the match back up, and even had a golden opportunity at the 18th after Taylor sent his drive way off to the right of the fairway.

But Taylor stuck his approach to 2 feet after Conners pitched it out from behind the trees to save par, which sealed their 1-up win.

"It was more so redemption for that tee shot, but happy to walk away with a 4, and fortunate there that Sam's lipped out," Taylor said.

The only real bright side for the Americans came from Clark and Morikawa. Clark carried his pairing on Thursday to a win, and Morikawa managed five birdies together to keep pace with Fox and Lee. But Fox kept putting lights out, and walked in another long birdie at the 16th to put them back on top and eventually seal the 1-up win. That completed the five-match sweep, and gave the International team a four-point lead entering the weekend.

There is still a long way to go at Medinah. Saturday will feature a doubleheader with four-ball matches in the morning and foursomes matches in the afternoon before all 24 golfers will square off in singles matches on Sunday. But for now, the Americans have to make a significant move if they want to avoid being the first U.S. group to lose the cup in nearly two decades.

"This thing is 35, 40 percent over. It's not even halftime of a football game," Snedeker said. "There's a lot of golf left. … I'm fortunate to have these guys in the team room because I know what they're made of. I know what they're built of. It's going to be a long weekend, a lot of golf still left to play."