MONTREAL—The U.S. and International teams continue to trade punches at the , with the visitors moving back out in front after winning three of four matches in Saturday’s four-ball session.
With a break-of-dawn start followed by a fog delay of just over an hour at Royal Montreal, the play from all 16 men on the course was uninspiring early in the proceedings. The first match, featuring Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith against and Collin Morikawa, went eight straight holes at one point without any player making a birdie. But Scheffler showed why he’s the world’s best player, turning a tied match into a 2&1 victory in a heartbeat with brilliant birdies on the 16th and 17th holes.
Doing so swung the session in the Americans’ favour, with the matches behind that group mostly in hand one way or the other. Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners partnered in the most meaningful match of their lives and delivered a phenomenal performance at Royal Montreal. Pals , so good Friday in the foursomes session, struggled against Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele and lost 3&2.
Both Canadians made only one birdie with Hughes playing 16 holes in 1-over par and Conners in 1-under. Ahead of then, Pendrith didn’t circle a single number in his round alongside Scott. He hit two balls in water hazards late in the round and was 3-over par on his own ball.
The analytics were even more damning: According to data golf, Pendrith was -5.19 in strokes gained total and Hughes was -4.23.
By the numbers, t.