Kim Si-woo (right) and Kim Joo-hyung shake hands after halving the 15th hole. [AP]
Kim Si-woo (right) and Kim Joo-hyung shake hands after halving the 15th hole. [AP]

The pairing of Kim Si-woo and Kim Joo-hyung delivered a dominant victory in fourball play on the opening day of the 2026 Presidents Cup, the intercontinental team competition between the United States and the International team.

Playing as the fifth and final pairing Friday (Korean Standard Time) at Medinah Country Club's No. 3 course in Medinah, Illinois, near Chicago, Kim Si-woo and Kim Joo-hyung defeated the American duo of Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay 3&2 — winning by three holes with two to play — in the fourball format, where each player plays their own ball and the better score counts for the team.

The victory extended their unbeaten Presidents Cup fourball record to three wins. At the 2022 edition they beat Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 1 up, and at the 2024 edition they defeated Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark 4&3.

Buoyed by the pair's performance, the International team finished the opening day with two wins and three losses, holding their own against the top-ranked American side. Kim Si-woo contributed four birdies and Kim Joo-hyung added three in the comfortable win.

The Korean duo seized early control with birdies on the 1st hole by Kim Joo-hyung and the 2nd by Kim Si-woo to go two up, before dropping the 4th and 6th holes to fall back to all square. Kim Si-woo then birdied the 7th and 14th to restore a three-hole lead and seal the match. His birdie on the par-4 14th came via a 9-meter putt. On the par-4 15th, Gotterup applied pressure by holing a 5.2-meter par putt, but Kim Joo-hyung calmly converted a 1.5-meter par putt to hold the lead.

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune also combined to give the International team a crucial point, beating the American pairing of Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young 3&1. The Japanese duo won the 8th and 9th holes in succession to go two up, then added a birdie on the 17th to close out the match by three holes.

Im Sung-jae and Min Woo Lee (Australia), playing in the first pairing, fell 1 down to the American duo of Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Im and Lee had taken a one-hole lead with a birdie on the 13th, but lost the 14th and 17th to suffer a comeback defeat.

The International team also saw Corey Conners (Canada) and Nico Echavarria (Colombia) lose 4&3 to Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun, and Ryan Fox (New Zealand) and Adam Scott (Australia) fall 3&2 to Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa. Both teams return Saturday for Day 2 competition in the foursome format, where partners alternate shots with a single ball.


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