It is day two of the Presidents Cup event in Montreal on Friday where the format changes from fourballs to a session of foursomes matches with five more games being played in the battle between the Internationals and USA.
The opening day couldn’t have gone much worse for the Internationals as they trail 5-0 and now they embark on the format which historically has been the strongest for the Americans in this event. Internationals have to win this session you would think so these games have plenty of interest in them.
Hideki Matsuyama & Sungjae Im vs Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele
Match tees off at 18.05 BST
There appears to be no letting up from Jim Furyk as he has restored the gun pairing of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay for the first match in the foursomes on Friday. They face off against the Asian pairing of Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im.
Im and Matsuyama were out with different partners on Thursday, as were Cantlay and Schauffele but the American pair are 3-0 in Presidents Cup foursomes and know each other very well. You would have to say for senior players in this side both Matsuyama and Im were incredibly disappointing on Thursday and if they can’t improve on and around the greens they won’t be going too deep into the back nine here. You can’t really oppose the Americans in this match but in an 18 hole sprint there is probably no real value backing them at 8/11.
Adam Scott & Taylor Pendrith vs Sahith Theegala & Collin Morikawa
Match tees off at 18.19 BST
The first unchanged pairing of the day comes on the side of the Americans in match two where Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa go back out alongside each other when they face the duo of Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith.
The Internationals pairing here is an interesting one. They are certainly not short in length and if Adam Scott has his long game with him then they are probably not going to miss too many fairways. That is very much a positive here but neither are what you would call reliable putters. You can say the same about Morikawa I guess but Theegala could be the winner or the loser of this match. If he keeps the ball in play off the tee then you would think the Americans will be awkward to beat because he is clearly the best player of the four on and around the greens. They are plenty short enough at odds on though.
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Christiaan Beziudenhout & Jason Day vs Brian Harman & Max Homa
Match tees off at 18.33 BST
The middle match of the five on Friday might be the most interesting because it is the first one where both pairings are odds against to win as the International duo of Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Jason Day lock horns with the rested pairing of Brian Harman and Max Homa.
Harman and Homa are no strangers to each other having gone 2-1-0 at the Ryder Cup last year but you would be scratching the surface of truth to suggest that either arrive here in particularly great form and that might catch them out here. I really like this Internationals pairing. It is probably the only one we can rely on with the putter assuming that Bezuidenhout has tidied up both the mind and technique in the hours since Thursday’s round after missing three makeable putts down the stretch. That is a rarity though as both he and Day rank in the top 20 in strokes gained putting and so if Day has a good driving day then this could be the first point of the Presidents Cup for the Internationals. Even the length disadvantage that the South African has on most of the Americans isn’t as prevalent here because neither Harman or Homa are bombers. If the home side are to get back into this thing this has to go their way and I think it just might.
Corey Conners & Mackenzie Hughes vs Wyndham Clark & Tony Finau
Match tees off at 18.47 BST
Match four has a number of interesting dynamics to it with the Canuck pairing of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes go up against the big hitting American duo of Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau who look very much like a hit or miss partnership.
I think we know how this one is going to play out in terms of aesthetics. The Canadians will be hitting first into every green on the par fours and fives so they have a great chance to put pressure on a pair of Americans who will be well down the fairway in comparison but both Clark and Finau needed to rest on their partners for much of Thursday and you wouldn’t say either are great into or on the greens. All we’ve seen of Hughes so far is him chugging a beer on the first tee to rally the crowd up on Thursday. Mike Weir will hope his golf game is a whole lot better than his drinking capabilities. This looks like a chance for the Canadians to go well here though. Conners will hit into every par three to set the hole up for the best putter in the group. There are a lot of holes in the Finau game when it comes to alternate shot as a rhythm player and with the crowd behind them this has to be a home win and I think it will be.
Si Woo Kim & Byeong-hun An vs Scottie Scheffler & Russell Henley
Match tees off at 19.01 BST
The final match of the foursomes on Friday sees an all-Korean pairing put together in the form of Si Woo Kim, who will be having his first outing of the week, and Byeong-hun An and they go up against the only American pairing who never saw the final two holes on Thursday in the world number one Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.
Scheffler and Henley were an excellent pairing on Thursday so it is certainly no surprise that they have been put back out together on Friday. If anything it could be argued that they will be even harder to beat in this format because they have the best tee to green player in the game right now in Scheffler and one of the best putters historically when he is on song in Henley. The Koreans might be able to keep up in the long game department. Both side in the top 30 from tee to green on the PGA Tour but neither are renowned as being good on the greens and it doesn’t matter how good the long game is 18 hole match play always comes down to the putting. It would be a massive surprise if this isn’t an American win but 4/6 is fully reflective of that so unless you want to double them up with the Americans in the first game this is a no bet.
Tips
Back C.Bezuidenhout & J.Day to beat B.Harman & M.Homa for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Boylesports
Back them here:
Back C.Conners & M.Hughes to beat W.Clark & T.Finau for a 3/10 stake at 2.63 with Betfair
