The President’s Cup got off to a windy start Thursday at Liberty National. By late afternoon, the winds were whipping 20-25 miles per hour. But it wasn’t enough to stop the American juggernaut. Here’s how things played out in the alternate shot format:
Justin Thomas/Rickie Fowler 6-and-4 over Charl Schwartzel/Hideki Matsuyama:
This was one of the two strongest teams that went out Thursday for the Internationals and they simply got run over by the PGA champion and Rickie. The young Americans took control early and never let their opponents in the match.
Matt Kuchar/Dustin Johnson 1-up over Jhonny Vegas/Adam Scott:
“We were bogey-free all day and only won 1-up, that’s a heckuva match,” said Kuchar after their victory on the 18th hole. “It’s windy enough where you had to play the wind on your putts,” said Johnson. Putting is what did in the Internationals, it’s particularly a weakness with Scott, the team’s most veteran star.
Patrick Reed/Jordan Spieth 5-and-4 over Emiliano Grillo/Si Woo Kim:
No contest, none whatsoever. It was the strongest U.S. team against a pair of International rookies and they got run over. Why is the Reed-Spieth team so successful? “I think it’s because we want to beat each other. We have a competition within the competition. We both want to make that big putt,” said Spieth.
Brandon Grace/Louis Oosthuizen 3-and-1 over Daniel Berger/Brooks Koepka:
U.S. Presidents Cup first times Berger and Koepka simply weren’t up to the task, particularly Berger, who couldn’t come up with any good shots down the stretch of this match. East point for the Internationals, their only win.
Phil Mickelson/Kevin Kisner HALVED Marc Leishman/Jason Day:
Mickelson had a putt from inside eight feet at the 18th hole to win the match outright. Perhaps a younger Mickelson would have made it but the elder statesman of the U.S. team didn’t. Still, it was like a win because this was the International squad’s strongest pairing.
It all added up to a comfortable first day for the U.S. with a 3 1/2 to 1 1/2 lead.
