American sweep! Team USA wins all 5 matches in the opening session of Presidents Cup

MONTREAL (AP) — The Presidents Cup matches were close. The score after the opening session was not.

The Americans clung to a 1-up lead in all five matches Thursday when they delivered shot after shot, putt after putt, until this already lopsided series took a familiar turn.

United States 5, International 0.

The Americans swept the first day of fourballs matches at Royal Montreal behind a feisty Scottie Scheffler, late heroics from Xander Schauffele and plenty of help from the putting-challenged International team.

It was the third time they shut out the Internationals on the first day, and the first time since 2000. The Americans went on to an 11-point victory that year.

“We're excited with our start — high fives, celebrate — and we're going to keep the pressure on,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said.

International captain Mike Weir had a plan for the opening two days and he didn’t see anything on the course to make any changes for the foursomes matches on Friday. Adam Scott has never been on a winning team since his debut in 2003, and he wasn't about to lose hope.

“The best news is there’s tomorrow for us. It’s not over,” Scott said. “We’re going to have to come out, fight really hard, find that gear, win a session and get going in the right direction. The score line looks rough. But I don't think there was that much difference in it today.”

Three matches reached the 18th green. One ended on No. 17. The shortest match was Scheffler and Russell Henley getting the last word in a 3-and-2 win over Tom Kim and Sungjae Im.

Scheffler and Henley never trailed in what was the spiciest match of an otherwise flat day, the Canadian crowd mostly silent after Mackenzie Hughes, who sat out the first session, chugged a beer on the opening tee to get them going.

Scheffler and Kim are good friends who play plenty of money games in Dallas. On the par-3 seventh hole, the 22-year-old Kim holed a putt from just inside 30 feet and did a pirouette on the green, screaming, “Let's Go!”

Scheffler matched the birdie from about the same length, and the world's No. 1 player turned toward Kim and screamed, “What was that?”

It got testy on the next hole when Kim made another long birdie, celebrated wildly and then he and Im walked over to the ninth tee without even watching Scheffler putt.

“It’s the same thing I would have done at home if he had made a putt ... and he celebrated like that. So it’s all in good fun. We enjoy competing against each other,” Scheffler said. “That's what it's like out here. It’s fun to compete and fun to represent our country, and at the end of the match you take your hat off and shake hands.

“We’re friends after, we’re not friends during, I guess.”

The Internationals never looked like they would win the session. They weren't expecting a shutout, either.

Taylor Pendrith, one of two Canadians in the lineup, made birdie on the 12th as he and Christiaan Bezuidenhout squared their match against Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark.

Schauffele and Tony Finau missed 3-foot par putts on the 16th and their opening match against Jason Day and Byeong Hun An was all square.

It could have gone either way. But it only got worse for the Internationals.

Bezuidenhout missed three 7-foot putts in a span of four holes that kept his side from squaring the match. Scott missed a pair of putts from the 12-foot range.

The Americans delivered the goods.

Schauffele atoned for his short miss by hitting his tee shot to 7 feet to a back pin on the par-3 17th for a birdie, and then hit his approach to 3 feet on the 18th to close out the match.

“Tony got the party started on the front nine and he had my back all day,” Schauffele said. “I figured it was my time to have his back.”

Bradley, the Ryder Cup captain for next year who has gone 10 years since his last cup competition, holed a 35-foot putt on the 13th and secured a 1-up win over Scott and Min Woo Lee with a 10-foot putt. Emotions were pouring from him.

“It was 10 years of pent-up energy of not playing these,” Bradley said. “I just had such a blast out there today.”

Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala rallied from a 1-down deficit through 11 holes when Morikawa birdied the 12th and 14th holes. Theegala secured it with an approach to just inside 3 feet. He made the putt, the first time all day he retrieved his golf ball from the cup.

In the anchor match, Patrick Cantlay was relentless as ever and Sam Burns made a 10-foot birdie on the 13th hole that put them 2 up, and Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama could never cut into the lead.

The Americans also swept the opening session in 1994. This was the eighth time in the last nine Presidents Cups they had a lead after the first day.

Friday has five foursomes matches. Furyk is keeping two teams together, including Scheffler and Henley, with Cantlay and Schauffele looking to build on their foursomes record.

“The last couple road games have been close,” Cantlay said. “I think it's a huge statement. I think we need to build on that tomorrow.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

United States team members Scottie Scheffler, left, and Russell Henley, center, laugh on the 13th hole during their first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Taylor Pendrith, of Canada, holds a tee in his mouth on the 14th hole during a first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Keegan Bradley reacts after a long putt on the 13th green during a first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team members Keegan Bradley, left, and Wyndham Clark, right, react after Bradley sank a long putt on the 13th green during a first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Adam Scott, of Australia, reacts after missing the putt on the 14th green during a first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Min Woo Lee, of Australia, reacts to his putt on the 15th green during a first round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Adam Scott, of Australia, reacts to his shot out of the bunker on the 16th hole during a first round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team captain Mike Weir watches the action on the the 16th hole during a first round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Keegan Bradley reacts on the 18th green after defeating the international team during a first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Keegan Bradley reacts on the 18th green after defeating the international team during a first-round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Scottie Scheffler, left, reacts after his birdie putt on the seventh hole as International team members Tom Kim, second from right, and Sungjae Im, of South Korea, congratulate him during their first round four-ball match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, a former Red Hot Chili Peppers member who has also played with Pearl Jam, pleaded not guilty through his attorney Thursday to a misdemeanor manslaughter charge in the death of a pedestrian.

Authorities say Klinghoffer, 44, was driving an SUV and making a left turn in Alhambra, California, just east of Los Angeles on March 18 when he hit 47-year-old Israel Sanchez, who was walking in a crosswalk. Sanchez was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Klinghoffer was charged on Aug. 29 with vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, a misdemeanor that can bring a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

His lawyer, Blair Berk, entered the plea for him in an Alhambra courtroom. She did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Sanchez's daughter filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Klinghoffer in July. The lawsuit alleges Klinghoffer was driving with no plates and holding a phone at the time of the collision.

Lawyers for Ashley Sanchez had been publicly and vocally critical of police for not bringing charges for months after Israel Sanchez's death.

Klinghoffer played guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019. He replaced longtime member John Frusciante, who has since returned to the band.

The role led to Klinghoffer's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making him among the youngest members.

He has since played as a touring and session guitarist for Pearl Jam and Jane's Addiction. He has played on recordings for dozens of other artists.

FILE - Musician Josh Klinghoffer attends an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles, March 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)