Scheffler’s lightning bolt keeps Team USA alive at the Presidents Cup

After being swept by the Internationals in Friday’s foursomes, Team USA began Saturday morning’s Presidents Cup session trailing 7-3. The Americans led all four matches on the front nine, but the momentum soon began to shift.

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim defeated Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa 2&1. Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun surrendered a 2-up lead and halved their match with Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im.

Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns were 1-up on Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Histatsune at the turn, but the Japanese tandem won the 10th and 13th holes to move 1-up with five to play. Scheffler and Matsuyama, ranked No. 1 and No. 8 in the world, were struggling on the greens.

The Americans could ill afford another loss, especially with a second consecutive session win over Scheffler and Burns threatening to swing the momentum decisively toward the Internationals.

After Burns missed a short birdie putt on the 15th, Scheffler faced a 15-foot birdie putt of his own. Histatsune was closer to the hole and on nearly the same line. Scheffler calmly rolled his putt into the center of the cup and unleashed a powerful fist pump. When Histatsune missed, the match was all square, but the momentum had shifted to the Americans.

Scheffler’s birdie energized the crowd and perhaps the player himself. Burns then hit excellent iron shots on the 16th and 17th, leaving himself close birdie opportunities and winning both holes. Combined with Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young’s 2&1 victory over Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, the result gave Team USA a 2.5-1.5 session win.

The Americans will enter Sunday afternoon’s foursomes session trailing by only three points, 8.5-5.5. Much of that recovery was made possible by Scheffler’s match-turning birdie on the 15th.

“I was just waiting for a putt to go in,” Scheffler told NBC’s Cara Banks after the match. “The hole felt small for a while, but it opened up there on 15, and it was an important one because Ryo was basically on the same line as me. So it was nice to be able to hole that one and put some pressure on them. And then Sam hit some pretty good iron shots on the last couple of holes.”

Despite Scheffler’s crucial morning birdie, U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker elected to sit him for the afternoon session, pairing Burns with Wyndham Clark instead.

“We’re always prepared for anything,” Scheffler said of sitting out the afternoon. “I’ve played a lot of golf this year. I’ll just sit there and cheer the boys on. Looking forward to watching Sam—he’s one of my favorite people to watch. And get some rest and get ready for tomorrow. I think one of the great things about our team is you can pair guys with anybody. It’s important to get guys out on the course and guys who are playing well, and I’m looking forward to going out and supporting the guys this afternoon.”

Team USA has not lost a Presidents Cup since 1998. The Internationals had a chance to land a haymaker on Saturday morning, but Scheffler delivered one of his own—and now the Americans have a chance to claw their way back and avoid a historic upset.