Kim Si-woo, Kim Ju-hyung win 3&2; combined 3-1 in Presidents Cup pairs play

Im Sung-jae, Min Woo Lee fall by 1 hole to Scheffler-Burns

Kim Ju-hyung shakes hands with US team member Chris Gotterup after completing the 16th hole during the fourball matches on Day 1 of the 2026 Presidents Cup on Friday. Kim Si-woo, their playing partner, removes his cap. [AFP]
Kim Ju-hyung shakes hands with US team member Chris Gotterup after completing the 16th hole during the fourball matches on Day 1 of the 2026 Presidents Cup on Friday. Kim Si-woo, their playing partner, removes his cap. [AFP]

Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung combined for a victory on the opening day of the Presidents Cup, earning the International team a point.

The Korean pair defeated Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay of the United States 3&2 in the Day 1 fourball matches at Medinah Country Club's Course 3 (par 70) near Chicago, Illinois, on Friday (local time).

In fourball, both players in a pair play their own ball throughout, with the better score on each hole counting as the team's result.

Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung jumped out to a two-hole lead early before being pegged back to level at the sixth hole. They retook the lead at the seventh, then won the 13th and 14th holes in succession to stretch their advantage to three holes.

The match ended at the 16th hole, a par 3. Kim Ju-hyung stuck his tee shot from 165 yards to tap-in range and made birdie, and Cantlay also holed for birdie — but the three-hole margin held, clinching the match with two holes to play.

The pair now hold a combined record of 3 wins and 1 loss when playing together at the Presidents Cup. They beat Xander Schauffele and Cantlay in the 2022 fourball and downed Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in the 2024 fourball, but lost by one hole to Schauffele and Cantlay in the foursome at that same event.

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune also won for the International side, beating Cameron Young and Schauffele 3&1. The United States, however, took the remaining three matches to lead 3-2 after the five fourball sessions on Day 1.

Im Sung-jae, paired with Australian Min Woo Lee, pushed Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns in a tight contest but fell by one hole.

Day 2 features five foursome matches, in which partners alternate shots on a single ball. Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung will face Schauffele and Cantlay, while Im Sung-jae teams with Matsuyama against Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman.

Since the Presidents Cup began in 1994, the International team has managed just one win and one tie against 13 losses. Their only victory came in 1998, and the tie in 2003.


yjc@heraldcorp.com