Scottie Scheffler delivered big shots late in two matches, and Patrick Cantlay capped off a strong recovery by living up to his “Patty Ice” reputation with a clutch birdie in the dark that gave the Americans an 11-7 lead on a long Saturday at the Presidents Cup in Montreal.
Scheffler finished off a tight fourballs match with two late birdies in the fog-delayed morning, and then he gave the Americans their first lead in foursomes with a wedge into a foot on the 14th hole that led to another point.
The 90-minute fog delay made it a race to beat darkness. Carts pulled up alongside the 18th green at Royal Montreal with lights on to help illuminate the green. Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were all square with the dynamic South Korean duo of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.
Both had birdie putts just inside 17 feet — a 2-inch difference. Cantlay went first and poured it in the heart, just like he did with so many putts Saturday morning in a fourballs victory with Sam Burns.
Si Woo Kim, who produced so many big moments, couldn’t answer this one.
The Americans won three out of the four matches in both sessions, expanding the lead to the same margin it was two years ago at Quail Hollow.
All that’s left for them to make it 10 straight victories in the Presidents Cup are the 12 singles matches. The International team has won the singles session only three out of 14 times, all of them when it trailed by at least six points and the cup had been all but decided.
“Xander helped me read it,” Cantlay said of his match winner in near darkness. “It was like a cup out with some speed, and a putt like that will make me sleep a little better tonight.”
There was some measure of payback for Cantlay and Schauffele. It was late Saturday at Quail Hollow when Tom Kim buried a big putt at the end and slammed his cap to the turf, an audacious celebration for the 20-year-old.
This time, Si Woo Kim holed an unlikely chip from deep rough below the 16th green to square the match, and he ran across the green with his hands folded in a “Good night” gesture, much like NBA star Steph Curry at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Not so fast. Cantlay’s putt and that final point again put the Internationals in a deep hole as they try to win for the only the second time. Their only win was in 1998, before Tom Kim was even born.
European Tour
Ángel Hidalgo held his Spanish Open lead with three-time champion Jon Rahm just two shots behind after round three at Madrid.
Hidalgo carded 3-under 68 after five birdies to go with a pair of bogeys and stayed atop the leaderboard for a third straight day at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. The Spaniard has never finished in the top three in 79 previous European tour events.
Rahm trailed by five shots heading into Saturday but pulled closer after a flawless round that included six birdies.
LPGA Tour
Ashleigh Buhai birdied four of the final five holes for a 4-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Dottie Ardina in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Playing in tricky afternoon wind conditions, Buhai rebounded from a double bogey on the par-4 eighth with birdies on the par-4 ninth and par-3 11th. The 35-year-old South African player bogeyed the par-4 13th, then closed with birdies on the par-5 14th, par-3 15th and 17th and par-5 18th.