Friday was a brutal day to be an American golf fan.
The International Team absolutely swept the floor with the United States in the second session of the 2026 Presidents Cup, winning all five foursomes matches and turning a 3-2 American lead into a 7-3 International advantage heading into Saturday.
Presidents Cup Day 3 Bet: Scheffler and Burns to Answer Back
The energy was never really there for the Americans. Medinah did not feel like the intimidating home environment we expected, the crowd never had much of a reason to get going, and every time the U.S. looked like it might flip a match, the International side had an answer.
Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns were a perfect example. Their match with Corey Conners and Nick Taylor went all the way to 18, but Taylor stuffed an approach from 150 yards after the Canadians had been forced to pitch out, and Burns’ final birdie attempt horseshoed out. The Americans lost 1-up.
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It was that kind of day.
The last two matches were not even particularly close, with Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout beating Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3-and-2 before Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim finished the sweep with a 4-and-3 win over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Can the Americans Make a Presidents Cup Comeback?
It is going to take a monster Saturday.
We have seen crazier things happen in team golf, and the Americans did rally from a 6.5-3.5 deficit in 2019 to eventually win the Presidents Cup 16-14. But at 7-3, there is almost no room left for another bad session.
That makes Saturday morning’s four-ball session enormous.
The final match sends Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns against Ryo Hisatsune and Hideki Matsuyama, and I think this is exactly the spot where the American stars need to make a statement.
Scheffler’s team-golf résumé has never matched his individual résumé. After Friday, he is now just 1-8-0 in foursomes play across Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups.
But I simply do not believe that continues forever.
Scheffler and Burns finally won together Thursday after entering the week 0-3-1 as a pairing, edging Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im 1-up. They lost Friday, but they were one putt away from stealing a half-point.
If the Americans show any life Saturday morning, I expect their best player and one of his closest friends to feed off it.
The Bet
Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns -160
It is a steep number, but this feels like the spot.
The U.S. desperately needs points, Scheffler has too much talent to continue owning such an ugly team-golf record, and Burns has already shown he can deliver big shots under pressure this week.
If there is any blood in the water Saturday morning, I expect Scheffler and Burns to run with it.
Give me the Americans at -160.
