MONTREAL — We’re back! The fear and loathing and dread of an 0-5 International deficit—and the lack of weekend drama it portended—has been vaporized by an incredible Friday comeback that’s still very difficult to believe. Is this real life? Do we really have an even score heading into Saturday at Royal Montreal.

Yes, we do! And unlike the first two days, which featured a single session with five matches each, Saturday is a double session with four matches in the morning and four in the afternoon, forcing the captains to become even more tactical. That makes Day 3’s morning four-ball pairings the most intriguing yet, so let’s take a look at all four, and see what we can glean from the match-ups captains Jim Furyk and Mike Weir put together.

MATCH 1 Scottie Scheffler/Collin Morikawa (U.S.) vs. Adam Scott/Taylor Pendrith (INT)

The American side of this match is the most interesting. Furyk departed from the Scheffler/Russell Henley pairing that was his best four-ball team on Thursday (winning 3 and 2) and which seemed poised to earn another half point on Friday before Si Woo Kim buried a heartbreaking putt on 18. Now the U.S. captain has got the World No. 1 teaming up with Morikawa, who is also 1-1 but who has been a bit worse by strokes gained than Henley. To add another head-scratching element, Scheffler and Morikawa have never played together before. Still, they’re formidable duo with a lot of match-play success between them. It’s why, while Scott and Pendrith are coming off a dynamic 5-and-4 win on Friday, they’ll still have to bring everything they’ve got. For the first time, though, Weir is trotting out a Canadian in the first pairing, which could be vital for first-tee energy.

Outlook: The momentum is massive right now, and this feels like a brewing upset. Pendrith has been very, very good so far, and I’ll give the Internationals a slight edge.

More From Golf Digest Presidents Cup 2024 A disastrous day for Americans was pure salvation for the weekend Presidents Cup 2024 Internationals kick-start bounce back with historic rout of top Americans Presidents Cup The biggest difference on Friday had nothing to do with the players MATCH 2 Tony Finau/Xander Schuaffele (U.S.) vs. Corey Conners/Mackenzie Hughes (INT)

You knew it was coming: A reprise of the Canadian team that blew Tony Finau and Wyndham Clark out of the water. Conners, who has been the best player by strokes gained in the entire event, finally got the monkey off his back with a Presidents Cup win Friday after a Thursday loss and an 0-4 showing two years ago. Needless to say, he and Hughes are riding as high as possible. It’s not terrific for Furyk and the Americans that Finau, who just got slaughtered by them Friday, is facing the duo yet again, but this time he’s got Schauffele by his side, and Schauffele’s ball-striking (if not his putting) has been very good. Ultimately, Hughes is the big x-factor here. He’s one of the game’s great putters, which he showed only rarely on Friday, meaning he’s due to drop some daggers. That might be more valuable in an foursomes format, but if he and Conners can ham and egg on their own balls, the Americans could be in a lot of trouble.

Outlook: It’s the most exciting match of the slate, and the margins will be razor-thin. The crowd could be the deciding element here, and it’s so hard, all else being even, to pick against the Canadians.

MATCH 3

Minas Panagiotakis

Keegan Bradley/Wyndham Clark (U.S.) vs. Si Woo Kim/Tom Kim (INT)

The long-awaited Kim/Kim pairing! This feels on paper like a masterstroke by Weir, putting the second-best player in the entire event by strokes gained (Si Woo) with the International team’s most electric personality for a South Korean powerhouse team. The Americans they’re facing are no slouches, and both have performed well this week, but the pressure facing them will be intense in a match that looms large for the Americans. Here again, I’m looking hard at the influence of the crowd, because you know Tom Kim will be working them. It’s also an interesting energy match between the generally zen demeanor of Clark and the more intense vibe that Bradley gives off. As much as Match 2 feels like the real gem of the slate, this one could be sneaky fun the entire way. And maybe the real question isn’t who wins, but who comes out of their skin first after burying a big putt between Tom Kim and Bradley.

Outlook: I get a feeling the fire-and-ice pair of Bradley and Clark is going to pull this one out, though I’m admittedly scared that Si Woo Kim is so hot he could win it by himself.

MATCH 4

Jared C. Tilton

Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns (U.S.) vs. Hideki Matsuyama/Sungjae Im (INT)

I’m still stunned at how great Matsuyama and Im were in their fousomes pairing, making eight birdies in 12 holes, including seven straight to close out the match against Schauffele and Cantlay. The closest modern comparison is Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson at Gleneagles when they were steamrolling the Americans in 2014. It’s not inevitable that their hot start carries over, but it feels more likely than not, and on paper this is the worst match-up by far for the Americans. Neither one has lit it up, and Burns was actually one of the weaker Americans on Thursday before sitting Friday.

Outlook: Internationals by a million.

Some thoughts on the players sitting out

On the American side, it makes total sense to bench Brian Harman and Sahith Theegala—they’re the worst players on the team over the first two days, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they sat out both sessions. But sitting Russell Henley and Max Homa is more of a puzzle. They’re third and fourth, respectively, on the American strokes-gained pecking order, and Henley and Scheffler in particular made a great four-ball team. How do you not run them out again? Finau, Morikawa, and Cantlay all seem like better candidates to sit.

On the International side, you can’t argue with sitting Ben An or the clearly struggling Christiaan Bezuidenhout, and it also seems like a good time to give Day a rest before setting him loose in the afternoon. The only eyebrow-raiser is benching Min Woo Lee for the second straight session. Granted, he wasn’t great on Thursday, but sitting him in the morning Saturday makes it even harder to play him in the afternoon, and the last thing you want to do is having him off in three straight sessions before singles … it’s a big confidence killer. Here’s hoping Weir really trusts him coming in cold for alt shot in the afternoon.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com