Xander Schauffele closes out opening Presidents Cup match thanks to clutch genes

Xander Schauffele flexed his clutch genes down the stretch on Day One, as his spectacular play gave the U.S. its first Presidents Cup point.

Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau had a ball during Thursday’s opening Fourball match at the Presidents Cup.

They even called their 1 up victory over Byeong Hun An and Jason Day a “party,” as Schauffele closed out the match with a spectacular birdie on the 18th hole.

“We knew what we were supposed to do,” Schauffele said.

“Tony started the party on the front nine, keeping it close, and then we started to get that lead. He had my back all day. I figured it was my turn to have his back.”

The Americans held a 1-up lead on the 18th tee, as Schauffele made a terrific birdie on the prior hole, the par-3 17th. But things got dicey for the Americans for a brief moment. After Schauffele found the fairway, Finau roped his ball left into the penalty area, giving the Internationals a sliver of hope. The match also became 2-on-1. But Schauffele flexed his clutch genes and stuck his approach to less than three feet away, moments after An hit his second shot to about five feet, giving himself a great look to tie to the match.

“They closed the gap there after 16, and my man [Xander] right here clutched up,” Finau said of his playing partner.

“That’s all there was to it. He’s a major champion for a reason, and I definitely saw why today... he’s a dream partner. He’s got my back, and I try to have his. We did a good job of that today. We deserved to win. I feel like we played a lot better than them. That’s the beauty of match play. Momentum is a crazy thing, and they were able to switch some momentum on us leading up to the last couple of holes. You’ve got a guy like Xander on your team; he closes the door on the 17th and 18th. It’s fun to be part of a match like this, but especially to win it.”

Schauffele and Finau’s 2-up lead completely evaporated thanks to An’s birdie on 15 and Day’s par on 16. The Americans missed a pair of par putts from inside of four feet on the 16th green, a shocking development that gave the Internationals hope. But Schauffele killed their momentum with birdies on the 17th and 18th, putting up the first point on the board for the red, white, and blue.

The Americans went on to win the next four matches and now hold a commanding 5-0 lead —a stark departure from how the U.S. began last year’s Ryder Cup. The Europeans led 4-0 after last year’s opening session, so the U.S. knows how the Internationals currently feel. But at least the Americans did not face a massive deficit on their home soil, unlike the Internationals this year, who needed a good start in Royal Montreal to put pressure on the heavily favored Americans. But that mission failed, thanks to the Americans’ superiority as a team and partly due to Schauffele’s clutch genes.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.