MONTREAL – After American Xander Schauffele opened Day 2 of the 15th Presidents Cup with a drive into the heavy right-hand rough at Royal Montreal, South Korea’s Sungjae Im stepped forward, took his stance and then waved his arms to encourage the crowd to to make some noise. He then blasted a 298-yard drive into the short grass.

The USA in trouble. The Internationals in perfect shape. That’s how it would play out all day Friday, as the hosts stormed back from the Americans’ 5-0 four-ball win on the first day in four-ball combinations with alternate shots, and no meeting illustrated the turnaround more than the first on the court.

Schauffele and partner Patrick Cantlay, considered one of the best American pairings in these team events, lost the No. 1 hole with a three-putt bogey, and then the Internationals of Im and Hideki Matsuyama simply steamrolled them with a remarkable seven straight birdies in a 7-and-6 paste that gave the Internationals their first point of the event.

How big was the victory? Not only did it set the tone for the day, but it also gave the national team players confidence that their game could be strong enough to not only defeat more senior players on the US side, but also deliver heavy knockout blows.

The margin of victory was the best ever for an international duo, and according to the PGA Tour, only eight games in the Cup’s history have ended on 13 holes or fewer. Matsuyama – the Internationals’ highest-ranked player at No. 7 – must have been feeling particularly good considering he and Adam Scott were beaten 6 and 5 by Cantlay and Schauffele in the 2022 Presidents Cup foursome on Thursday.

On the first day, Matsuyama and his partner, Canadian Corey Conners, lost 2-1 to Cantlay and Sam Burns. Im and Tom Kim, who served as cheerleaders Friday, were beaten by Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.

“We had a difficult start to the first game (on Thursday). Five defeats was not the result we wanted. But we knew we could come back from it,” Matsuyama said. “Sungjae hit a perfect shot on the first hole, I think that really got the momentum going. So really happy.”

Schauffele and Cantlay, who were 6-5-0 as a duo in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup before Friday, were clearly out of sync – making just three birdies while placing each other in difficult recovery spots and twice losing holes with bogeys – but this was more about how impressive the Internationals played. They achieved a total of eight birdies on twelve holes and did not lose a single hole.

I set up Matsuyama for a 6-foot birdie on No. 2; They won the par-5 sixth by hitting the green in two holes for a 4-up finish. Matsuyama landed a 16-foot birdie putt at 8; the Japanese made another birdie from 12 feet at 10 feet; I became an 8-foot birdie at age 11; and the Internationals scored a US birdie to end the game.

“With Hideki, our teamwork was great,” I said. “When I hit the shot, it finished the putt, so it was a great job.”

The entire international contingent would say the same.