Cal Sports Report

Collin Morikawa Wins Twice, Helps U.S. Take Presidents Cup Lead

Former Cal golfer Morikawa is 3-1 in his four matches after Day 3. Max Homa loses his afternoon match

Jake Curtis

Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa / Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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Former Cal golfer Collin Morikawa won both his matches on Saturday, helping the United States carry an 11-7 lead over the International squad heading into Sunday's final day of singles matches.

Morikawa will try to wrap up his successful weekend on Sunday when he faces Adam Scott in one of the 12 singles matches on Sunday. Morikawa and Scott are 10th pairing to go off Sunday, so it's possible that Morikawa could provide the clinching point. Teams needs 15.5 points to claim victory.

Following a delay because of morning fog at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler knocked off Taylor Pendrith and Adam Scott 2 and 1 in the first match of the day. That was one of the three four-ball matches the U.S. won, giving the U.S. an 8-6 overall lead heading into Saturday's afternoon foursome session.

Morikawa was back on the course Saturday afternoon, teamed with Sam Burns in foursome competition against the Canadian pair of Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners. That match was tied after 17 holes, but the American won the final hole on a short putt by Morikawa to take the match 1-up.

Morikawa has played in all four matches in this event and has been part of the winning pair in three of them. The other former Cal golfer competing for the U.S. team, Max Homa, has not been as successful. Homa and partner Brian Harman lost their foursome match on Friday, and that same pairing lost its afternoon foursome match on Saturday.

Homa had a long putt on the 18th hole Saturday afternoon that might have given the U.S. duo a tie in in its match against Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith. But Homa's good-looking putt rimmed out, and after that miss, Scott and Pendrith were conceded the hole, officially giving the International team a 2-up victory.

Homa, generally an outstanding performer in these match-play team events, has lost both his matches in this year's Presidents Cup.

Homa will have a final chance to claim a victory on Sunday when he goes against Mackenzie Hughes of Canada. Since Homa and Hughes will be the final pair to tee off, the team outcome may decided before they finish.

Homa's Saturday match was the only one of the four afternoon matches that the Unites States lost. In the two other matches, Scheffler and Russell Henley rallied from 3-down after six holes to defeat Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im 3 and 2, and Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schaufflele won the 18th hole to take a 1-up victory over Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, despite S.W. Kim's amazing shot on the 16th to tie the match.

The third former Cal golfer playing in this event, Byeone Hun "Ben" An, did not participate in either Saturday session for the International squad. However, An will be in action Sunday when he faces Sahith Theegala in singles competition.

The other nine singles matchups Sunday: Xander Schauffele (USA) vs. Jason Day; Sam Burns (USA) vs. Tom Kim; Scottie Scheffler (USA) vs. Hideki Matsuyama; Russell Henley (USA) vs. Sungjae Im; Patrick Cantlay (USA) vs. Taylor Pendrith; Keegan Bradley (USA) vs. Si Woo Kim; Tony Finau (USA) vs. Corey Conners; Wyndham Clark (USA) vs. Min Woo Lee; Brian Harman (USA) vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

In the other morning matches, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns defeated the International duo of Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im 2 and 1, and Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele of the U.S. beat Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners 3 and 2. The one International points was recorded by Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, who got past Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark 4 and 3.

There were two intriguing moments Saturday that had nothing to do with the final score. One came in the afternoon when the TV microphones caught Tom Kim chastising himself with the phrase "f-----g dumb a--" after a poor approach shot. The other came in the morning when the wives of Morikawa and Scheffler were seen celebrating their husbands' win in the morning.

Singles play will wrap up the Presidents Cup on Sunday. A team needs 15.5 points to win.

The International team is made up of player from outside the United States but not from Europe.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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