Presidents Cup 2015 Leaderboard: Scores and Highlights from Thursday
The United States got their 2015 Presidents Cup off to a scintillating start, taking a 4-1 lead over the Internationals after the foursomes on Thursday.
The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea, is hosting this year’s event, which sees the best golfers from the USA take on a team of players from around the world, aside from Europe.
But despite being backed by the home crowd, the Internationals team were unable to cope with the rampant start from the States.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Here are the results from Thursday’s matches and a recap of how the action panned out on the first morning of this illustrious competition.
| Bubba Watson & J.B. Holmes* | 3&2 | Adam Scott & Hideki Matsuyama |
| Matt Kuchar & Patrick Reed | 3&2 | Louis Oosthuizen & Branden Grace* |
| Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker* | 5&4 | Anirban Lahiri & Thongchai Jaidee |
| Zach Johnson & Phil Mickelson* | 2 Up | Jason Day & Steven Bowditch |
| Jordan Spieth & Dustin Johnson* | 4&3 | Danny Lee & Marc Leishman |
United States Take Control in the Foursomes
With a star-studded group of golfers at his disposal, USA captain Jay Haas must have really enjoyed picking the players to go out in the morning session and set the tempo for this team. They did exactly that, winning four of the five matches to take complete control of the competition.
The first points of the day came in the most lopsided match of the morning, as Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker turned in a masterclass in foursomes golf, getting the better of Anirban Lahiri and Thongchai Jaidee 5&4.
As we can see here courtesy of Golf Digest, they motored into an early lead and, from that point on, were never going to be pulled back:
Bubba Watson and J.B Holmes were the next pairing to pick up a point, as they proved to be too strong for Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, winning 3&2. But the the Internationals did halve the deficit, with the South African twosome of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace beating Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed 3&2.
The last two pairings of the day contained, arguably, the finest two golfers in the world at the moment in Jason Day and Jordan Spieth.
Day was unable to help the Internationals to a win alongside Steven Bowditch, however, as Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson bagged a 2-up triumph. It was Mickelson who stole the show as well, putting the United States in a tremendous position with this exceptional bunker shot, per the PGA Tour Twitter feed:
Spieth and Dustin Johnson rounded off what was an excellent day for the United States, winning 4&3 against Danny Lee and Marc Leishman.
Spieth and Johnson have been tussling at the top of leaderboards throughout the calendar year, but united in style in this match to give their team a four-point lead come the end of the day.
After the day's play, both captains names their picks for Friday's five four-balls, per FOX SPORTS News:
Needless to say, it’s imperative the Internationals make up some ground in the clashes to come if they’re to win this trophy for the first time in six outings.
But this classy American team is going to be very difficult to reel in after the manner in which they stormed out of the traps on Thursday.
Full results and statistics available via the competition’s official website.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
