The USA takes an 11-7 lead into the final day of the Presidents Cup

MONTREAL — Scottie Scheffler delivered big shots late in two games and Patrick Cantlay capped a strong recovery by living up to his “Patty Ice” reputation with a clutch birdie in the dark that gave the Americans an 11-on-1 on a long Saturday. 7 lead in the Presidents Cup.

Scheffler ended a tight four-ball match with two late birdies on the fog-delayed morning, then gave the Americans their first lead in the foursome with a one-foot wedge on the 14th hole, leading to another point.

The 90-minute fog delay made it a race against darkness. At the 18th green at Royal Montreal, carts with lights on would pull up to illuminate the green. Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were in complete agreement with the dynamic South Korean duo Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.

Both had birdie putts just under 17 feet away – a difference of 2 inches. Cantlay went first and poured it to his heart, just as he did on so many putts in a four-ball win with Sam Burns on Saturday morning.

Si Woo Kim, who has created so many great moments, couldn’t answer this question.

The Americans won three of the four games in both sessions, extending their lead to the same margin they had at Quail Hollow two years ago.

All they have left to win the Presidents Cup ten times in a row are the twelve singles matches. The international team has won the singles just three of 14 times, each time when it was at least six points behind and the trophy was all but decided.

“Xander helped me read it,” Cantlay said of his match-winner in near darkness. “It was like a cup tie with a bit of pace, and a putt like that will make me sleep a little better tonight.”

There was some revenge for Cantlay and Schauffele. It was late Saturday at Quail Hollow when Tom Kim landed a big putt at the end and slammed his cap onto the turf – a gutsy celebration for the 20-year-old.

This time, Si Woo Kim holed an unlikely chip from deep rough below the 16th green to tie the game, running across the green with his hands folded in a “goodnight” gesture, similar to basketball star Stephen Curry at the Olympics Playing in Paris this summer.

Not so fast.

Cantlay’s putt and that final point once again plunged the Internationals into a deep hole as they attempt to win for only the second time. Their only win was in 1998, before Tom Kim was even born.

Adam Scott, playing in his 11th Presidents Cup without ever being on the winning side, led Taylor Pendrith to a 2-1 win in the foursomes over Brian Harman and Max Homa, the only international point in the foursomes.

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim clearly won over Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in the morning fourball to secure their only international victory.

They were all the same in all the afternoon games or were leading at some point until the Americans took control, as is often the case. Morikawa and Burns rallied from an early hole to defeat Canadian duo Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes on the 18th hole when Hughes hit a poor chip and Conners never came close on the 12-foot par putt.

Scheffler missed two short par putts early in the match against Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im as he fell behind by 3 points after five holes. Scheffler and Russell Henley battled back — one hole at a time, Henley kept reminding him — catching them on the 12th and moving into the lead after Scheffler’s late heroics.

International captain Mike Weir sent out the same teams twice, meaning four players – Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Byeong Hun An – were out for the whole of Saturday.

“We like the matchups, we like the pairings and we move on,” Weir said.

In the morning anchor game I birdied three times against Cantlay and Burns to keep the game from getting out of hand. Cantlay chipped in the eagle chip in the 12th for a 2-0 lead. And then me and Matsuyama – mostly me – tried to collect ourselves.

I get hit at 6 feet on the 15th, but Cantlay makes it from 25 feet. It was tight again on the 16th and Cantlay hit his putt from 18 feet. Instead of the game being completely even with two games remaining, the Americans slumbered and ended the game when Matsuyama missed an 8-foot birdie attempt.