MONTREAL — After American Xander Schauffele opened Day 2 of the 15th Presidents Cup with a drive into the heavy right rough at Royal Montreal, South Korean Sungjae Im stepped up, took his stance, and then waved his arms, encouraging the crowd to make some noise. Then he rifled a 298-yard drive into the short grass.

The U.S. in trouble. The Internationals in perfect shape. That’s the way it would play out all day on Friday as the hosts charged back in alternate-shot foursomes from Day 1’s 5-0 American rout in fourball, and no meeting exemplified the turnaround more than the first one on the course.

Schauffele and partner Patrick Cantlay, considered to be one of the top American pairs in these team competitions, lost the No. 1 hole with a three-putt bogey, and then the Internationals of Im and Hideki Matsuyama simply rolled over them with a remarkable seven straight birdies in a 7-and-6 pasting that gave the Internationals their first point of the event.

How big was the win? Not only did it set the tone for the day, but it also gave the Internationals confidence that their play could be strong enough to not just overcome more highly-ranked players on the U.S. side, but deliver heavy knockout blows.

The margin of the win was the best ever for an International duo, and according to the PGA Tour, only eight matches in the history of the Cup have ended in 13 holes or fewer. Matsuyama—the top-ranked player on the Internationals at No. 7— must have felt especially good, considering he and Adam Scott were beaten 6 and 5 by Cantlay and Schauffele in Thursday foursomes in the 2022 Presidents Cup.

On Day 1, Matsuyama and partner, Canadian Corey Conners, lost 2 and 1 to Cantlay and Sam Burns. Im and Tom Kim, who served in cheerleading duties on Friday, were beaten by Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.

“We had a tough start the first match [on Thursday]. Five losses wasn’t the result we wanted to have. But we knew that we could come back from this,” Matsuyama said. “Sungjae hit a perfect shot on the 1st hole, so I think that really brought the momentum. So really happy.”

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay walk off the third green.

Jared C. Tilton

Schauffele and Cantlay, who were 6-5-0 combined as a duo in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup heading into Friday, were clearly out of synch—they only made three birdies while putting each other in difficult recovery spots, and twice lost holes with bogeys—but this was more about how impressively the Internationals played. They made eight birdies total over 12 holes and didn’t lose a single hole.

Im set up Matsuyama for a 6-foot birdie at No. 2; they won the par-5 sixth by hitting the green in two to go 4-up; Matsuyama drained a 16-foot birdie putt at 8; the Japanese made another birdie, from 12 feet, at 10; Im convered an 8-foot birdie at 11; and the Internationals matched a U.S. birdie to wrap up the match.

“With Hideki our teamwork was amazing,” Im said. “When I would hit the shot, he would finish with the putt, so it was a great job.”

The entire International contingent would say the same.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com