Scheffler benched and immediate rematch for Cantlay and Schauffele

Scottie Scheffler will not play the final foursomes session of this Presidents Cup. The world number one is the most conspicuous absentee from Saturday afternoon’s foursomes at Medinah, the four matches that will set the scene for Sunday’s singles. Brandt Snedeker leaves out Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun, while Geoff Ogilvy omits Hideki Matsuyama, Ryo Hisatsune, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nico Echavarria. Two line-ups that read very differently when contrasted with both teams’ squads

United States make four changes, but do not change everything

Snedeker brings back in one go the four men he had rested in the morning: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman. The first two will open the session and the other two will go out in the second match. The distribution leaves a first difference compared with Ogilvy: the United States put four golfers into play who did not contest the morning fourballs; the Internationals only two. Echavarria and Bezuidenhout will arrive at the singles having played just one point.

The match that opens the afternoon has obvious appeal. Cantlay and Schauffele will again face Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, the same opponents who beat them on Friday by a commanding 4 and 3 in that same format. Snedeker keeps faith with a pairing that arrive without points, with two defeats each, and that will have an immediate chance to exorcise that disappointment. Opposite them, quite the opposite: the Koreans also beat Morikawa and Clark 2 and 1 and go into the session with a perfect three wins. The first battle therefore pits the Americans’ need for vindication against the Internationals’ confidence.

There is also continuity in Henley and Bridgeman, despite their 3 and 2 defeat on Friday to Matsuyama and Im. The pair is not broken after that stumble: they receive a second chance, now against Corey Conners and Nick Taylor. The Canadians already showed their fourballs ability by defeating Scheffler and Burns by one hole in the second session. It is another demanding test for two Americans still seeking to open their account.

The selection most backed by what happened this morning is Cameron Young–Chris Gotterup. They stay together after beating Conners and Taylor 2 and 1, with Gotterup sinking several long putts in the closing nine. They will be the only American pair to repeat from one session to the next this Saturday and will face Adam Scott and Sungjae Im. A new pairing this week.

The finale is for Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark. Here there is a new combination: Burns had played the first three sessions with Scheffler and Clark had been with Morikawa. Their partners rest and they join forces against Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee. The consequence for Scottie is significant: he will end his pairs participation at Medinah without having played with any partner other than Burns. And with two points. He won both fourballs and lost the foursome

Ogilvy keeps three winning pairs and gives Japan a rest

The International captain retains three of the five pairings that produced the 5-0 on Friday: the Kims, the Canadians and Fox–Min Woo Lee. His only different pairing compared with that session will be Scott–Im, formed by joining two winners who then played separately: the Australian with Bezuidenhout and the Korean with Matsuyama. It is not a full repeat of the formula, but it is a clear bet on much of what worked.

Matsuyama and Hisatsune are left out and Scott and Fox come in, who rested in the morning. The other six Internationals will play both sessions. Ogilvy makes fewer changes than Snedeker and keeps on the course both his fully Korean and Canadian pairs as well as Im and Min Woo Lee.

For the final match, Ogilvy also brings back a pairing that already troubled Clark: Fox and Min Woo Lee beat him on Friday, when he played with Morikawa, by one hole. Clark will have his second opportunity against them, although this time with Burns at his side, who proved decisive in the morning fourballs duel. Another rematch, with a different partner, to close the final afternoon of pairs play

The four afternoon matchups

Times scheduled in Peninsular Spanish time