Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns will start the morning session of Thursday’s fourballs at the Presidents Cup, as captains Brandt Snedeker and Geoff Ogilvy revealed their pairings on Wednesday. The duo will face Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im in the opening match of the day at Medinah Country Club.
Scheffler and Burns are not exactly a winning combination in past team events. They have played together four times at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, and their record stands at 0-3-1. Burns put it plainly on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we have unfinished business,” Burns said. “It’s been frustrating the times we have played together, and we feel like we’ve played really well and ultimately not won. It’s been more frustrating than anything.”
“Yeah, this week we’re going to go out and compete as hard as we can and try to get as many points for the US team as possible,” he added.
Pairings for Thursday’s Fourballs
The full schedule sees five matches on the opening day, with each pair taking on a set of tee times. Match one gets underway at 5.35pm (UK and Ireland time), live on Sky Sports Golf.
- Match 1: Scheffler/Burns vs Lee/Im (1735)
- Match 2: Young/Schauffele vs Matsuyama/Hisatsune (1753)
- Match 3: Thomas/Koivun vs Conners/Echavarria (1811)
- Match 4: Clark/Morikawa vs Fox/Scott (1829)
- Match 5: Gotterup/Cantlay vs T. Kim/S.W. Kim (1847)
Snedeker chose to pair 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun with Justin Thomas for match three. The captain explained why he trusted the pairing.
“Jackson being a young kid, I feel like he’s really kind of found his way on our team really quickly,” Snedeker said. “I feel like he’s handled the adjustment really well. Justin is just a natural pairing for him. He’s somebody he’s comfortable with. He’ll do a great job putting his arm around him and show him how USA golf is meant to be played.”
Koivun confirmed earlier that Thomas has acted as a mentor over the past few years.
“He and Russell Henley have been really good to me over the past couple years,” Koivun said. “Just really being able to spend some time in a team environment with them has been awesome.”
International Team’s Motivation
Ogilvy admitted he was “optimistic” of his team’s chances on Wednesday. Fox, part of a group that includes 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott, wants the International Team to find the same fire as Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
“For us, we’ve always been the underdogs in this,” Fox said. “But I feel like on paper the European Ryder Cup team is always the underdogs a little bit, and that hasn’t seemed to affect their results at all over the last few years. We’re trying to channel a little bit of that and come together.”
“We have a real chance to do something special this week with a couple of guys on the team who have played in these events before and really want to win for us,” Fox added. “Adam [Scott] is one of those guys, and we want to bring that energy to the course.”
What Happens Next
The opening day of the Presidents Cup starts early on Thursday, with all five matches live on Sky Sports Golf. The International team will take the honours off the tee.
Snedeker’s Team USA are chasing 11 consecutive victories over the International team at Medinah Country Club.
Scheffler and Burns have set their own terms for the match. Compete hard, get points for the US team — that is their stated aim after a record that has frustrated both men for years.
Source material: “Scheffler and Burns partner for Thursday fourballs at Presidents Cup,” Sky Sports.
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