Internationals turn Presidents Cup on its head with stunning sweep on day two

The US had held a 3-2 advantage after Thursday's fourballs, but the Internationals turned the contest on its head with a remarkable clean sweep in Friday's alternate-shot format.

The result gave Geoff Ogilvy's side renewed hope of claiming their first Presidents Cup victory since 1998 and only the second in the competition's history.

The International captain admitted even he could not have expected such a dominant performance.

"The guys were all in a great frame of mind, but you never imagine going five zip," said Ogilvy. "But we've seen it in these events when you get some momentum, it inspires all the groups. It was an incredible day for us."

Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama got the Internationals off to a winning start, defeating Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2.

Corey Conners and Nick Taylor then produced arguably the biggest result of the day as they held their nerve to beat world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns by one hole.

Burns had a chance to salvage a half at the last, but his 20-foot birdie putt caught the lip and stayed out.

Open champion Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee followed with another one-hole victory over Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark in a see-saw contest.

Veteran Adam Scott and South Africa's lone representative, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, then secured the fourth International win of the day, a sensational 3&2 victory over Justin Thomas and Cameron Young.

Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim completed the clean sweep with a dominant 4&3 victory over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Ogilvy said the Internationals could draw on their experience of building momentum at the 2024 Presidents Cup, but stressed the team would not get carried away.

"We obviously had a great day. Didn't expect that to happen, but I guess we've got experience from 2024 having a Friday like that," he said.

"It's obviously enjoyable to have a day like that on the golf course, but we reset tomorrow and start again."

The United States now face a significant deficit, but captain Brandt Snedeker insisted the contest was far from over.

"Hats off to the International team, they went out there and played great and made a ton of putts," Snedeker said.

"I feel terrible for our guys - they grinded out there and it just wasn't meant to be. But that being said, there's still 20 points out there. There's still a lot of golf here left to play."

Snedeker said the Americans would need to claw their way back gradually rather than attempt to erase the deficit in one session.

"We're not going to be able to get it back in one session. We're not going to be able to get it back in one match. It's going to be a slow, steady process to try to turn this thing around," he said.

"From where we are right now, we need to do it session by session, point by point."

The US captain also backed the character within his team as they attempt to respond over the remainder of the competition.

"I love the makeup of my team. I love the character that's in that team room," he said. "There's a lot of golf left to play. I'm excited about this challenge."

Four more foursomes matches and four additional fourballs will take place on Saturday, before the competition concludes with 12 singles matches on Sunday.

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