US hold tight lead over International Team after Presidents Cup opener

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thomas-justin/jV7EtuiD/"]Justin Thomas[/a] and 21-year-old rookie [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/koivun-jackson/YThW99ON/"]Jackson Koivun[/a] put the first point ‌on the board for the Americans with a 4&3 victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/conners-corey/SABiQcB3/"]Corey Conners[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nicolas-echavarria/Y7S9boTu/"]Nico Echavarria[/a].[/p][embed guid="82c91e5f-074a-4cc2-ad61-d82cf2549b72" url="https://x.com/PGATour/status/2103249280190525914?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Koivun birdied ‌the third hole to put the Americans ahead and added another birdie ‌at the sixth as they took control of the match. They never relinquished the lead, ‌with the Internationals conceding the 15th hole.[/p][p][b]"It was fun to be out ‌there with Jackson and watch him do his thing. He's really impressive to watch, and I'm really happy he's on my team,"[/b] Thomas said.[/p][p]The victory extended Thomas' unbeaten record in Presidents Cup ‌fourballs to 7-0-0.[/p][embed guid="8202183a-8d8f-41ee-b05c-24bd2ea2f1aa" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKr0vRVY6pw&pp=ygUOUHJlc2lkZW50cyBDdXA%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p]The Internationals quickly answered through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matsuyama-hideki/GOHJOEb5/"]Hideki Matsuyama[/a] ⁠and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hisatsune-ryo/bcC14WvA/"]Ryo Hisatsune[/a], who beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/young-cameron/WAjf7EFq/"]Cameron ‌Young[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schauffele-xander/OnIoiVkm/"]Xander Schauffele[/a] 3&1 to level the session at 1-1.[/p][p]The all-Japanese pairing moved 2-up ​after nine and held the advantage despite Young's birdie at the 15th, with Hisatsune answering immediately. Young then missed a 10-foot birdie chance at ​the 16th after Hisatsune found water, and the Internationals closed out the match two holes later.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/burns-sam/Ya8WURp6/"]Sam Burns[/a] restored the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/h6QBF15e/"]US[/a] lead with a ⁠1-up victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lee-min-woo/IwMMLluD/"]Min Woo ​Lee[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/im-sungjae/Q9J05W3O/"]Sungjae Im[/a] in the day's closest match.[/p][embed guid="3ed2ebdc-28e4-415b-931a-9070a35c3d7d" url="https://x.com/PGATour/status/2103200750792839642?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Americans won the first four holes but saw their lead erased by the fifth, and Im put the Internationals 1-up at the 13th before Burns squared the match with a birdie at the ‌14th. Scheffler then produced a superb recovery from the bunker at the last to leave the Americans inches from the hole, and Im missed a long birdie attempt to extend the match.[/p][p][b]"We did our best to stay in it. Both teams got off to pretty hot starts today and we cooled off after that a little bit,"[/b] Scheffler said.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clark-wyndham/x4NXN7qb/"]Wyndham Clark[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morikawa-collin/0UlRrMgE/"]Collin Morikawa[/a] then extended the US advantage with a dominant 3&2 victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scott-adam/QkZT3jCc/"]Adam Scott[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fox-ryan/bR9ztYXn/"]Ryan Fox[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-joohyung/G28Un9r8/"]Tom Kim[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-si-woo/AVOmsy0G/"]Si Woo Kim[/a] cut the deficit to 3-2 with a 3&2 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gotterup-christopher/nVwVk9Kf/"]‌Chris Gotterup[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cantlay-patrick/bwQM8qSt/"]Patrick Cantlay[/a] in the final match.[/p][p]Tom Kim nearly produced a hole-in-one ​at the 16th when his tee shot on the 165-yard par-three headed ‌straight for the cup, bounced once and spun backward off the lip before the Internationals closed out the match.[/p][embed guid="8a83f601-9928-4333-b6a0-6ce4e41c13d2" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HV0-V-ILfg&pp=ygUOUHJlc2lkZW50cyBDdXA%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p]The biennial team event features 30 matches over four days, with the first team to reach 15.5 points winning the Presidents Cup. Friday's schedule features five foursomes matches.[/p][p]The US has an all-time ⁠Presidents Cup record of 13-1-1, with ⁠its only loss coming in 1998 ‌and its lone tie in 2003.[/p]