[PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton]

After a short but fascinating pairings exchange full of huddled heads and whispered strategies on Wednesday afternoon in Canada, the opening four-ball matches are set for the 2024 Presidents Cup. Five matches will be played on Thursday, and the host International team will be looking to reverse the 4-1 opening-day thrashing it received at the hands of the Americans two years ago at Quail Hollow, which set the tone for an eventual five-point US victory. The Internationals have now lost nine straight Presidents Cups, but if you’re looking for optimism, you can find it in the scores of the past two they’ve hosted – narrow American victories in 2015 (15½-14½) in South Korea and in 2019 (16-14) in Australia.

Establishing early momentum will be critical for the underdogs, with 10 of the team’s 12 players ready to go. They’ll try to pack a punch early and often against visiting Americans, who might have won easily in Charlotte but are coming off a shellacking in Rome at the Ryder Cup. Max Homa and Brian Harman will sit out for the Americans, with Si Woo Kim and Mackenzie Hughes riding the pine for the Internationals.

Match 1

Below are the five Thursday four-ball matches, which will tee off at Royal Montreal starting at 11:30am local time (1:30am Friday, AEST), with some analysis and outlook on each. One amazing note to start: none of the 10 pairings has ever played with each other in a team event, adding even more intrigue to the opening session.

Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau (USA) vs Jason Day/Ben An (INT)

Day admitted earlier this week that his general feeling towards the Presidents Cup used to be total apathy, but that the Olympics opened his eyes to the appeal of team events. Now, he’s raring to go, and he’ll hope he can improve his lifetime 5-11-4 record with the help of An, playing in just his second Presidents Cup. The big surprise on the American side is that Schauffele is playing without Patrick Cantlay, his long-time friend and partner who together have been one the most successful US pairings in team competition in recent years. Instead, the two-time major winner gets Finau, 3-2-3 in two Presidents Cups. The most US captain Jim Furyk would say about breaking up the duo was that they were trying to “maximise our potential”, and that it may have been based on feedback from their statistical advisers. It’s a head-scratcher for now, but at the same time, there’s nothing wrong with a Schauffele–Finau pairing.

Outlook

As with many of these matches, the US looks far more powerful on paper. This is no exception, and it’s hard to bet against the second-best player in the world, even if he doesn’t have his usual partner.

Match 2

Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala (USA) vs Adam Scott/Min Woo Lee (INT)

It says something that International captain Mike Weir is getting all three of his Aussies out in the first two matches – these guys, Scott especially, are the heart and soul of the team. Scott, competing in his 11th Presidents Cup, has played more matches than any other international player, and he’ll be charged with leading one of the team’s two rookies in Lee. Morikawa, with slightly less experience but a winning record, will undertake a similar task as he shepherds rookie Theegala through his first team match. While the memory of Morikawa’s 3-0-1 performance at the Whistling Straits Ryder Cup is easy to recall, so too is his dismal 1-3 mark in Rome. The scary part for the Internationals is that Morikawa seems to have found his form lately, up to and including a first-place finish (by 72-hole score) at the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship.

Outlook

The Internationals may have their best chance of the session here, with a combination of Scott’s leadership and Lee’s reportedly strong play in practice matches this week. A lot will depend on how the rookies respond, but give Team Aussie a slight edge here.

Match 3

Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley (USA) vs Sungjae Im/Tom Kim (INT)

There’s a great mystery of what to do with the world No.1, who has suffered an 0-4-2 pairs mark when you combine Rome and Charlotte. Scheffler’s friend Sam Burns didn’t work, and Brooks Koepka didn’t work either, all of which led the Americans to conclude that Henley, a rookie, might be the answer. “I don’t know if you can really go back and analyse the team events from the recent past where he’s paired up with somebody or played singles or whatever and kind of get anything out of that,” US assistant captain Stewart Cink said earlier in the day, but clearly a good deal of thought went into this pairing. Against them are a Korean pair in Im and Kim, the latter of whom was the spiritual leader in Charlotte with two wins. Just like in the Tiger years, getting a point off Scheffler is seen as a huge coup, and this should be one of the most entertaining matches of the session.

Outlook

Scheffler has looked lost in his pairs sessions the past two years, and until the Americans can prove that they’ve hit on a good solution, it’s wise to remain sceptical. I like the passionate Kim to lead the way.

Match 4

Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley (USA) vs Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout (INT)

At last, we see our first Canadian. Weir probably tried to reduce the pressure on the hometown players by not putting them out in the early groups, and maybe that was wise – in Charlotte, Pendrith went 0-4, just like Corey Conners. The crowd will be looking to take energy from its native sons, so it’s absolutely (and obviously) critical that they perform better than they did last time. If you see the Canadians stumble again, it’s hard to imagine a path to victory for the International team. Pendrith’s partner Bezuidenhout played only twice in Charlotte, but got 1½ points out of his matches, so he’ll be ready to fight against the American duo of Clark and Bradley. This will be Bradley’s first international team event since 2014, a full decade away from the format he loves so much, and the only question is whether his eagerness and excitement will overwhelm him at the start. Clark may be a Presidents Cup rookie, but after forging a 1-1-1 record in an otherwise disastrous Rome Ryder Cup, he won’t be shocked by the crowds in Montreal.

Outlook

Prior to a missed cut at the Procore Championship, Clark had started to recover a little form, and Bradley’s energy will be a pleasure to watch, so give them a slight edge over an International duo that hasn’t exactly lit up team competitions.

Match 5

Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns (USA) vs Hideki Matsuyama/Corey Conners (INT)

If Trevor Immelman has nightmares from the 2022 Presidents Cup, they probably consist of dark visions of Conners missing short putt after short putt. The Canadian’s 0-4 record there changed him from a potential team leader into someone that you look at with a bit of trepidation, but there’s no better place to reverse that reputation than in his home country. What sort of chemistry he can forge with Matsuyama, who like many long-time International players has a losing record (7-10-5), remains to be seen, but what’s certain is that Weir needs these two to find something, and clearly the statistical advisers like how their skills jive. They’re seemingly taking on a dynamo duo, although it’s interesting to note that Burns is a combined 1-5-2 in his two team matchplay events. He has a lot to prove, but we know from his WGC–Match Play win that he’s fully capable of excelling in this format. It’s tempting to say that if you can’t win with Scheffler as a partner, you probably can’t win at all, but Cantlay might be just the breath of fresh air he needs.

Outlook: This feels like a clear American advantage, mostly due to Cantlay and the uninspiring record of the Internationals to date.