MONTREAL — Scottie Scheffler made 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 11-1 lead on a long Saturday 7 during the President’s Cup.

Scheffler capped a tight four-ball match with two late birdies in the fog-delayed morning, then gave the Americans their first lead in foursomes with a wedge into a foot on the 14th hole that led to another point.

The 90-minute fog delay made it a race to beat the darkness. Carts stopped along Royal Montreal’s 18th green with lights on to help illuminate the green. Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were all square with the dynamic South Korean duo of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.

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

Si Woo Kim, who produced so many great moments, couldn’t answer this.

The Americans won three of four matches in both sessions, expanding the lead to the same margin as two years ago in Quail Hollow.

All that remains for them to achieve ten straight victories in the Presidents Cup are the twelve singles matches. The international team has won the singles session only three times out of fourteen, all when it was at least six points behind and the cup was all but decided.

“Xander helped me read it,” Cantlay said of his competition winner in near darkness. “It was like a cup with some speed, and a putt like that will help me sleep a little better tonight.”

There was some degree of payback for Cantlay and Schauffele. It was late Saturday at Quail Hollow when Tom Kim buried a big putt at the end and hit his cap on the turf, an audacious celebration for the 20-year-old.

This time, Si Woo Kim holed an unlikely chip from deep rough below the 16th green to square the match, and he ran across the green with his hands clasped in a “Good night” gesture, much like basketball star Stephen Curry on the Olympic Games in Paris. this summer.

Not so fast.

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

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

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim won big against Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in the morning four-ball for the only international victory.

They were all square or leading at some point in all the afternoon games until the Americans took control, as they often do. Morikawa and Burns dug out of an early hole to beat Canadian duo Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes on the 18th hole when Hughes hit a bad chip and Conners never got close on the 10-foot par putt.

Scheffler missed a pair of short par putts early in the match against Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im when he fell three after five holes. Scheffler and Russell Henley clawed their way back – hole by hole, Henley kept reminding him – catching them on the 12th and moving on as Scheffler’s late heroics happened.

International captain Mike Weir sent his teams off twice, meaning four players – Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Byeong Hun An – were absent all of Saturday.

“We love the matchups, we love the combinations, and we’re going to run with it,” Weir said.

In the anchor match in the morning I matched three birdies against Cantlay and Burns to keep the match from getting out of hand. Cantlay chipped in for Eagle at the 12th for a two-up lead. And then Im and Matsuyama – especially me – tried to unite.

I get hit to 6 feet on the 15th, but Cantlay can reach from 25 yards. On the 16th I was tight again and Cantlay threw in his putt from 18 feet. Instead of the match being completely square with two to play, the Americans were asleep and closed out the match when Matsuyama missed an eight-foot birdie attempt.