Scottie Scheffler-Sam Burns leads U.S. off in Presidents Cup foursomes

The first sessions of doubles in the Presidents Cup left the United States in the lead over the International team, but barely.

Led by a 4 and 3 thumping by Presidents Cup veteran Justin Thomas and rookie Jackson Koivun over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria, the U.S. took a 3-2 lead in fourball matches at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago.

Thomas is now 7-0 in Presidents Cup fourball matches.

The International team improved over the opening sessions at Royal Montreal in 2024, when they lost all five matches.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns were extended to the final hole before they outlasted Min Woo Lee and Sungae Im 1-up and Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa beat Adam Scott and Ryan Fox 3 and 2. Morikawa is unbeaten for his career in three fourball matches and is 7-2 overall.

Scheffler remains unbeaten in fourballs at 4-0-1. He’s 1-5 in the other two formats, foursomes and singles.

The Internationals countered with a 3 and 1 victory by the Japanese duo of Hideki Matsuyama and Roy Hisatsune over Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele, and a 3 and 2 victory by Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim over Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup.

The match closed out when Tom Kim nearly holed out at the par-3 16th hole, with his tee shot nearly going into the hole and coming to rest just inches away. The putt and the match were conceded when players arrived at the green and saw how close the ball was.

Team Kim is now 3-1 in Presidents Cup doubles.

The next session will be five foursomes matches (alternate shot) on Sept. 25.

2:05 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler-Sam Burns (US) vs. Corey Conners-Nick Taylor (I).

2:19 p.m.: Russell Henley-Jacob Bridgeman (US) vs. Sungjae Im-Hideki Matsuyama (I).

2:33 p.m.: Collin Morikawa-Wyndham Clark (US) vs. Ryan Fox-Min Woo Lee (I).

2:47 p.m.: Justin Thomas-Cameron Young (US) vs. Adam Scott-Christiaan Bezuidenhout (I).

3:01 p.m.: Patrick Cantlay-Xander Schauffele (US) vs. Tom Kim-Si Woo Kim (I).

Sept. 25, foursomes (alternate shot): Golf Channel, 2-7 p.m.

Sept. 26, pregame, Golf Channel, Peacock, 8-9 a.m.; NBC, fourball, foursomes, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.,

Sept. 27, singles: NBC, 12-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Scottie Scheffler-Sam Burns leads U.S. off in Presidents Cup foursomes