International team sweeps foursomes for first time, eyes first Presidents Cup title in 28 years

The biggest upset in Presidents Cup history unfolded Saturday as the International team swept all five foursomes matches, overwhelming the United States in a format that has long been their Achilles' heel.

Playing at Medina Country Club (par 70) in Medina, Ohio, the International team went 5-0 in the day-two foursomes — a format in which partners alternate shots on a single ball — to claim all five available points. The sweep pushed the International team's overall lead to 7-3, four points clear, putting them within striking distance of their first Presidents Cup title in 28 years.

Foursomes has historically been the International team's weakest format. Unlike four-ball, where each player uses their own ball and the better score counts, foursomes means one player's mistake immediately burdens their partner.

The United States, bound by a shared language and team chemistry forged since junior golf, has consistently leveraged that cohesion in the format. The International team, assembled from across the globe, has long struggled with communication barriers and fragmented teamwork. For Asian players in particular, a deeply ingrained cultural instinct — the impulse to apologize — has proven especially damaging in foursomes.

Time and again over the decades, a wayward shot into a bunker or deep rough would prompt a player to bow their head and repeat "I'm sorry" to their partner, visibly shrinking under the weight of guilt. The resulting cycle — pressing too hard to make amends, then compounding the error — had been the defining pattern of International team defeats for decades.

Saturday was different. A new mindset took hold across the team: save the apologies for off the course; on it, think only of birdies. When mistakes happened, players exchanged smiles and high-fives instead of self-reproach, and partners answered trouble situations with brilliant recovery shots, building a bedrock of mutual trust.

Leading the charge was Im Sung-jae, the team's iron man. Im's computer-precise iron play and metronomic fairway accuracy set up the most comfortable birdie looks imaginable for his partner. Every time he threaded a shot to within two meters of the pin in tricky winds, the gallery erupted.

Paired with Matsuyama Hideki of Japan, Im defeated the American duo of Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2. The Im-Matsuyama pairing combined for five birdies without a bogey, while the Americans managed just two birdies against one bogey.

Kim Si-woo and Kim Joo-hyung won for the second consecutive day. After beating Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay 3&2 in four-ball on Friday, the Kim-Kim pairing dispatched Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 4&3 in foursomes. They carded six birdies and no bogeys in a flawless display that delivered a crucial point to the team.

Min Woo Lee of Australia, paired with The Open champion Ryan Fox of New Zealand, edged Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa by one hole. The Lee-Fox pairing trailed by one hole through the 14th before reeling off consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th to complete the comeback.

The Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, out in the first match, upset the Americans' marquee pairing of Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns by one hole. Conners and Taylor seized a one-hole lead with back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes and protected it all the way to the final hole.

Adam Scott of Australia and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa defeated Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3&2.

The International team now has a golden opportunity to end a 28-year drought since their only Presidents Cup victory, at Royal Melbourne in Australia in 1998. The remaining schedule includes morning four-ball and afternoon foursomes on day three, followed by 12 singles matches on the final day. A total of 14.5 points are needed to win the Presidents Cup. The International team's magic number stands at 8.5, with 20 matches still to play.