Presidents Cup 2015: Top Scores, Standings Review and Predictions for Friday

The United States rushed out to an early three-point lead in the 2015 Presidents Cup on Thursday thanks to a strong showing in foursomes. The International team, which is hosting the event in South Korea, will hope to at least cut into that lead Friday as the focus shifts to four-ball.

International captain Nick Price is trying to end an extended drought for the side, which has just one win and one draw in 10 editions of the Presidents Cup. Clearly his group faces an uphill battle after a nearly perfect start for the Americans.

Let's check out all of the key information following Thursday's action from the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. That's followed by a look ahead to Friday's play.

Thursday's Scores

Match	USA	International	Score
1	Bubba Watson/J.B. Holmes	Adam Scott/Hideki Matsuyama	USA, 3&2
2	Matt Kuchar/Patrick Reed	Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace	INT, 3&2
3	Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker	Anirban Lahiri/Thongchai Jaidee	USA, 5&4
4	Phil Mickelson/Zach Johnson	Jason Day/Steven Bowditch	USA, 2 Up
5	Jordan Spieth/Dustin Johnson	Danny Lee/Marc Leishman	USA, 4&3

Updated Standings

Rank	Team	Points
1	United States	4
2	International	1

Friday Preview and Predictions

Match	USA	International	Pick
6	Dustin Johnson/Jordan Spieth	Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace	USA
7	Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker	Danny Lee/Sangmoon Bae	USA
8	Zach Johnson/Phil Mickelson	Adam Scott/Jason Day	INT
9	J.B. Holmes/Bubba Watson	Marc Leishman/Steven Bowditch	USA
10	Bill Haas/Chris Kirk	Thongchai Jaidee/Charl Schwartzel	INT

In these tournaments, whether it be the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, it's all about building a lead before Sunday singles, which tend to get chaotic. The Americans put themselves in prime position to build a nearly insurmountable play with their quick start.

It's something they've done consistently well in the event over the years, and there's enough talent on the current roster to take away the drama before it even has a chance to build. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the team's early success:

The results put the International team, which features some top-end talent in Adam Scott, Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen but lacks depth, in a difficult spot right off the bat. It simply can't afford a similar performance on Day 2.

While Oosthuizen admitted there's a talent gap between the sides, he still believes they can turn things around in the second session, per Steve DiMeglio of USA Today.

"Obviously we knew coming in, the Americans are a great side," Oosthuizen said. "They are stronger than us on paper, and a lot of them are in great form. We need to play better. We today slacked a little bit, but there's four sessions left. You know, we can turn this thing around (Friday)."

While the South African star personally has a tough matchup as he teams with countryman Branden Grace to battle top American duo Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, the pairings as a whole are more favorable for the International side. It should be a more competitive day at the very least.

The Spieth and Johnson team dominated in foursomes, but it should be even better in four-ball. Given the way Spieth has played throughout 2015, it gives his big-hitting partner more opportunities to take chances by taking some aggressive lines on the longer holes.

One other American tandem that should thrive is J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson. They are both high-risk, high-reward players, and that's going to give them a lot of chances to win holes Friday against a more standard pairing of Marc Leishman and Steven Bowditch.

As for the Internationals, they tried splitting up Scott and Day on Thursday, and both players ended up on losing teams. Putting them together obviously gives the team a great chance to pick up one point, but it also means everybody else must elevate their level of play to avoid another 4-1 defeat.

Barring an unexpectedly good day, however, Scott and Day will probably need to split back up during Saturday's play as the team attempts to mount a comeback.

The United States is in ideal position after Day 1 and should be able to build on its lead Friday. That said, all it takes is one bad session to completely change the outlook. The Americans must push to give themselves at least a little margin for error heading into Sunday.