Key moments: How the United States handled the opening session of the Presidents Cup

How relaxed was the US Presidents Cup team on Thursday?

Consider this: One of the vice-captains was busy live-tweeting while games were being played at Royal Montreal.

The heavily favored Americans took the lead, albeit a slim one, in all five games with four balls on the back nine, silencing the home crowd who had seemingly already been compliant from the start, and then sealed the deal in each of them. The 5-0 U.S. victory was not only the third for the Americans in the biennial event, but also another crushing blow to the International, which had lost by at least eight points on the two previous occasions it started from scratch.

The strong guests were throwing darts on the softly raining pitch and, unlike the hosts, they were also hitting strong shots along the entire length of the pitch.

“I’m happy for the guys,” said U.S. captain Jim Furyk. “Everyone is smiling at the moment. … Sometimes I hate to say it, but it came down to a lot of putts. I’ve seen International Players make some putts, some really good putts, that could have, or even should have, missed. Our guys probably got the benefit of the doubt on that side and I think that was the difference.”

Here are the highlights from each match:

X gives it to them

Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau (USA) def. Ben An/Jason Day (International), 1 up

After two short breaks by Schauffele and Finau to retire the 16th hole and re-decide the match, Schauffele grabbed the tee on the par-3 17th hole and drilled his 162-yard tee shot to 8 feet. He made the putt to immediately regain the dropped hole.

And when Finau found himself in the box after his shot on the final par-4 hole, Schauffele was on the field again, driving in to An, who was tight. An sank his 5-footer, but it didn’t matter as Schauffele rolled into his shorts.

“We knew what we had to do,” Schauffele said. “Tony started the event on the front nine and kept it close and then took the lead. He had been supporting me all day, so I thought it was my turn to support him.

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Collin leads, Sahith closes

Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala (USA) def. Min Woo Lee/Adam Scott (International), 1 point

Morikawa played the fairways and greens all day, and his four birdies came in decisive moments. He birdied first, giving him and Theegala a quick lead, and his birdies on Nos. 7 and 12 restored the tie. Finally, Morikawa threw a dart into the green on the par-4 14th hole and converted a 5-foot shot into a birdie and a 1-up lead that the Americans never relinquished.

“I don’t know if I saw Theegali’s ball go to the bottom of the cup today,” said golf course reporter Smylie Kaufman on the 18th hole.

That changed when Theegala made a 167-yard shot to within a few feet to tie the hole and secure the full point.

“I was really nervous,” Theegala said. “…Collin was great at just reminding me to stay in the moment and do what I do best.”

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Russ knocks them down

Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley (USA) def. Tom Kim/Sungjae Im (International), 3rd and 2nd

Call American assistant captain Kevin Kisner prophetic if you want.

While the United States took the lead in all five games with the back nine, Kisner tweeted the following comment: “My boy Russ is about to start knocking them down.” Almost on cue, Henley signaled his approach on the par-4 14th hole and conceded a birdie.

Im and Kim then missed putts from 8 and 4 feet, respectively, allowing the Americans to play two-hole four.

“I tried to tell you all,” Kisner said in a follow-up tweet.

Henley hit a 20-footer the next minute that put him and Scheffler up 3 points, effectively ending the drive.

“Russell made a lot of progress there,” Scheffler said.

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Bezuiden-ouch

Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley (USA) def. Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout (International), 1 up

Bezuidenhout is known for his flatstick, ranking 19th in strokes gained last season on the PGA Tour. However, the South African, selected by the captain to play the President’s Cup for the second time in a row, missed several important putts in the last few holes that could have ended in a draw:

No. 14 – 6 feet 11 inches
No. 16 – 6 feet 7 inches
No. 17 – 6 feet 10 inches

None was bigger than the one on the penultimate hole, where Clark and Bradley had to make birdie putts over a large ridge. Clark slid 2.5 meters down and reached par, but Bez couldn’t capitalize on it again.

And to top it all off: Bezuidenhout stabbed the dagger into the water at the last minute, where Bradley hit the dagger from 5 meters, his sixth jab from over 3 meters in the match.

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Cantlay clutch

Sam Burns/Patrick Cantlay (USA) def. Corey Conners/Hideki Matsuyama (International), 2nd and 1st

Hats off to Cantlay, who stopped the Internationals from gaining much momentum just before the corner.

When Matsuyama made a 7-foot birdie putt to win on the seventh hole and tie the score, Cantlay responded with back-to-back birdies from 6 and 4 feet, respectively. Later on the 12th, Cantlay matched another Matsuyama birdie to maintain a 1-up lead.