The Presidents Cup gets underway in Montreal on Thursday and it does so with one session of fourball play as the two teams send out five pairings against each other to play their own ball with each pair looking for a point for their side.
Both teams will be looking for a massive start to the week to ease the pressure on them as we go along. The matches come along at a relentless rate the longer the week goes on so both teams will be eyeing up a day one lead.
Jason Day & Byeong-hun An vs Xander Schauffele & Tony Finau
Match tees off at 16.35 BST
The opening match of the 2024 Presidents Cup sees two veteran players in this competition out alongside a pair of less experienced players as Jason Day and Byeong-hun An go out for the Internationals when they face Xander Schauffele who surprisingly goes out with Tony Finau rather than Patrick Cantlay.
The American pairing in theory should be very good here. Schauffele is a player who is solid and is unlikely to take himself out of many holes so Finau can play his really aggressive game and you would imagine they will pile the pressure on Day and An. An is a very good driver of the ball but he’ll need the rest of his game to come good. Mind you, if Day keeps it in play off the tee the rest of his game should be nicely suited to this test. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot of golf in this match and while I would give the edge to the Americans here I’m not wading in at odds on.
Adam Scott & Min Woo Lee vs Collin Morikawa & Sahith Theegala
Match tees off at 16.53 BST
We have a clash of two teams putting out an experienced player alongside a rookie in the second match of the day when the Australian pair of Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee face off against Collin Morikawa and the rookie Sahith Theegala in another good looking matchup.
When you look at the American duo statistically they could be a formidable pairing because both sit inside the top 10 in strokes gained total this season so their all-round games are very good. That said, Theegala has an element of the wild about him which isn’t what you need around this place while the Morikawa putter is never to be trusted. The same can be said of Scott’s putter but he has been putting pretty well over the last six weeks or so and if he can putt well here then I think this is an Internationals point for the taking. Scott will be assigned the task of always being in play and very rarely does he let the team down in that regard. If he is in play then Min Woo can go and attack the course and that makes me think the Australians could be tough to beat, especially if Theegala starts spraying it to all parts.
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Sungjae Im & Tom Kim vs Scottie Scheffler & Russell Henley
Match tees off at 17.11 BST
The middle match of the opening session of the tournament sees a predictable pairing out alongside a pair which few would have seen coming before the practice rounds as Sungjae Im and Tom Kim, familiar partners and an obvious duo, go up against Scottie Scheffler and his partner Russell Henley which is a surprise as many had Scheffler alongside Sam Burns in their projections.
All eyes will be on the Korean pairing here. Im is as solid as they come and he should be a perfect partner for Kim who was the X-Factor in a tough week for the Internationals in Charlotte a couple of years ago and who will want to impress in much the same way here. Scheffler is rock solid and I would imagine the Americans would have been queuing up to partner him this week and rookie Russell Henley has got the nod. If he is solid then the Americans could be tough to break down but he probably will need to be because Im isn’t going to give a lot away and if Kim has licence to go on the attack we saw two years ago how impactful that can be. I like the Koreans here but betting against the world number one isn’t a profitable strategy.
Taylor Pendrith & Christiaan Bezuidenhout vs Wyndham Clark & Keegan Bradley
Match tees off at 17.29 BST
The crowds will be raucous for the penultimate match on the opening day as the first Canadian takes to the course when Taylor Pendrith, a hugely improved player since he debuted in Charlotte in 2022, goes out alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout to take on major winners Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley, the latter in good nick having won the BMW Championship just over a month ago.
This should be a great match. There will be a real edge to this one with Bradley pretty feisty and Pendrith supported by the home crowd. I’m a little surprised this Internationals pair wasn’t out earlier to really fire up the crowds but they look to have landed a good spot in the schedule. I really like the Pendrith and Bezuidenhout combination. I’m a sucker for fire and ice in my fourball pairings and we have that here. Bezuidenhout will be assigned the accurate tee to green role while Pendrith can go after this course. Clark would have the Pendrith role for the opposition but his form is incredibly patchy and if he has a bad day then I think this is a great chance for a home win on the first day.
Hideki Matsuyama & Corey Conners vs Patrick Cantlay & Sam Burns
Match tees off at 17.47 BST
The final match of the day looks like an intriguing one as you could easily make the case that the Internationals have saved their best for last as Hideki Matsuyama and Corey Conners go out for them. They face off against a Patrick Cantlay who will look quite weird not having Xander Schauffele alongside him. Sam Burns will be the man partnering ‘Patty Ice’.
This one is interesting because there isn’t a ‘bomber’ on either side so we are going to see a lot of shots into the green from similar yardages so there is going to be pressure on the approach shots. That might well suit the Internationals because they have two of their best ball strikers partnering each other but what might let that duo down is that neither are reliably good putters. If the Americans do lose an ounce with the irons they can more than make up for it with the putter and if both can gel alongside a player they wouldn’t have expected to be partnering then I expect an American win here even if they do have to take on the home crowds. We saw that Cantlay doesn’t really care about the home crowd at the Ryder Cup last year and with Burns probably the best putter of the four this should be a USA win.
Tips
Back A.Scott & M.Woo Lee to beat C.Morikawa & S.Theegala for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Coral
Back T.Pendrith & C.Bezuidenhout to beat W.Clark & K.Bradley for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Coral
Back P.Cantlay & S.Burns to beat H.Matsuyama & C.Conners for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Boylesports
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