2024 Presidents Cup standings, scores, results: United States sweeps Round 1 opening near-insurmountable lead

The Americans took care of business in four-ball action against the Internationals at Royal Montreal

At one point late Thursday, during the opening matches of the 2024 President's Cup, broadcaster Paul McGinley inadvertently summed up the entire event in six words: "The Internationals are trying hard, but ..." Indeed, try as they might, the International contingent was no match for the United States, which swept Round 1 of the proceedings to open a nearly insurmountable 5-0 lead with three days remaining before almost certainly claiming a 10th consecutive victory at the biennial event.

The problems for the International team are myriad beyond its 5-0 deficit. Most notable is that four-ball was supposed to be the underdogs' better format, yet they were unable to achieve a single point against a young and relatively inexperienced American squad.

The United States is far out in front at Royal Montreal holding five of the required 15 points to claim victory. With 25 matches remaining, the Americans only need to win 40% of the remaining face-offs to hoist a 10th straight Presidents Cup.

Thursday marked just the fifth time in Presidents Cup history that one team swept an entire session. The last time it occurred was 2007 when the U.S. took every point in foursomes during the third day of competition. In four-ball this year, the International team only led on 10 of 87 holes played across the five matches (11.5%).

Let's take a look at results from each of the matches from Round 1.

Presidents Cup: Schedule, viewer's guide | Format, scoring, rules

2024 Presidents Cup standings, results: Round 1 (four-ball)

Score: United States 5 | Internationals 0

Match	United States	Score	International
1	Schauffele & Finau	1 UP	Day & Hun An
2	Morikawa & Theegala	1 UP	Scott & Lee
3	Scheffler & Henley	3 & 2	Im & Kim
4	Clark & Bradley	2 UP	Pendrith & Bezuidenhout
5	Cantlay & Burns	2 & 1	Matsuyama & Conners

Tony Finau & Xander Schauffele (United States) 1 UP over Ben An & Jason Day (International): After a tepid start by both teams, Finau & Schauffele ham-and-egged them on the back nine, and Schauffele delivered a nasty 2-3 birdie knockout blow on the last two holes of the day. The International team had actually tied the match up after a bad 16th hole by the Americans, but Schauffle hit two tremendous iron shots on No. 17 and 18 to seal the deal.

Collin Morikawa & Sahith Theegala (United States) 1 UP over Min Woo Lee & Adam Scott (International): This was a bit of a pillow fight as there was only eight birdies combined between the two teams. After not making any birdies in the first 17 holes, Theegala hit a clutch approach shot on the 18th (that it turned out he needed) for birdie after Scott poured one in from distance to put at least a bit of pressure on the Americans for the full point. The bad news for the International team is that this represented about the most pressure the U.S. saw down the stretch of these five matches.

Scottie Scheffler & Russell Henley (United States) 3 & 2 over Tom Kim & Sungjae Im (International): Certainly the most fun of the five matches as Kim dialed up his gregariousness and goaded the No. 1 player in the world, Scheffler, into responding to him early in the match. It definitely felt like a big brother-little brother "I'm going to put you in your place" type of thing (the two are Dallas pals and playing partners). The Americans never trailed. After stirring it up toward the end of the front nine, Kim & Im could not keep pace with four birdies from the U.S. on the back. Kim mostly did his part, but Im did not make a single birdie on the day.

Wyndham Clark & Keegan Bradley (United States) 1 UP over Christiaan Bezuidenhout & Taylor Pendrith (International): This one was actually fairly electric, albeit only from three of the players. Bradley, Clark and Pendrith combined for 16 birdies in the 18-hole match, Bezuidenhout added one. That was probably the difference as the International team was never more than 2 down on the day.

Sam Burns & Patrick Cantlay (United States) 2 & 1 over Corey Conners & Hideki Matsuyama (International): Conners birdied the first two holes ... and then didn't make a single birdie the rest of the way. This was emblematic of the International team throughout the day. One player would play great, the other would play terribly. On the other hand, the U.S. team had two guys play mostly well, and that's going to be a difficult thing to overcome over the course of 18 holes.

Keep reading below for additional details and highlights from the 2024 Presidents Cup in Canada.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 5:09 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Quite a stat here.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 4:35 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Tight at the end

Lot at stake over this last hour or so. The Americans are up in every match, and all five are through at least 13 holes. They need to flip a few of these over the last few holes. If they don't, the event is basically over. The good news for the International team -- if there is any -- is that they're only 1 or 2 down in all five.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 4:08 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

U.S. is rolling

The Americans are up in four of the five matches right now. A total disaster for the International team if things stand like this.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 3:39 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

I agree with this.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 2:21 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Screaming Scottie rules

Scheffler hollered at Tom Kim after pouring one in on top of him. Awesome stuff!

[Sep 26, 2024 at 1:08 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

How Data Golf views the current matches

Here's an interesting look at Data Golf odds of the five matches currently on the golf course.

Data Golf

[Sep 26, 2024 at 12:26 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Tons of scoring

It's clear from the start that there are going to be a lot (a LOT) of birdies made today at Royal Montreal. U.S. jumps out to a 1-0-2 lead early but only three matches are even on the course. Long way to go.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 11:40 am ET · Kyle Porter]

And we're off

The first match is officially underway as Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau take on Jason Day/Ben An. It's the first of five four-ball matches today at Royal Montreal. The United States is favored in all five of them.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 11:16 am ET · Kyle Porter]

Four-ball struggles for U.S.

This is wild, considering the International team has not won an event since 1998. The way I view this stat is that if the International team loses the four ball session this morning -- given how good the U.S. has been in foursomes -- the International team is going to be behind the eight ball.

[Sep 26, 2024 at 11:11 am ET · Kyle Porter]

Watch Scheffler's start

One big thing I'll be watching today is how Scottie Scheffler plays. He's been abysmal over the last two team events, which is not necessarily that big of a deal, but he's never been more important to the U.S. team, especially without Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas on the team. Can the Americans lean on him this week, or will his 0-5-3 struggles continue?

[Sep 26, 2024 at 11:00 am ET · Adam Silverstein]

How is the Presidents Cup contested?

The 15th playing of the Presidents Cup takes place this week as the United States seeks to continue its dominance over the International team in Canada. Coming into this year's competition with an overall record of 12-1-1 and a nine-match win streak under its belt, the visiting side appears keen on more of the same in the Great White North. Below you can find a complete preview of the Presidents Cup from the event's format and rules to the scoring process, teams and complete schedule of events.

2024 Presidents Cup format, schedule: Teams, scoring, rules, TV coverage, where to watch online, dates

Patrick McDonald

[Sep 26, 2024 at 10:50 am ET · Adam Silverstein]

Presidents Cup teams: Records by player

The 2024 Presidents Cup is expected to be a lopsided affair -- at least based on individual merits of players on each team. The U.S. side trots out the two best players in the world in Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele; they combined to win three major championships, an Olympic gold medal and six other tournaments during the 2024 PGA Tour season.

However, that was all accomplished individually. The team component of the Presidents Cup does give way for the International side to surprise the masses. Let's take a look at the records of every Presidents Cup player who will be teeing off at the Royal Montreal Golf Club this week.

2024 Presidents Cup teams: United States, International records by player as event begins in Canada

Patrick McDonald