Internationals feed off rookie energy as magnificent 7 lead

International captain Ernie Els hailed his seven rookies after taking a 4-1 Presidents Cup lead Thursday and the experienced Louis Oosthuizen said the veterans were feeding off the youngsters’ energy.

There was concern ahead of the biennial match play event at Royal Melbourne that the newcomers could be overawed by the experience.

But it has proven to be the opposite, with the Internationals leading after the opening session for the first time since 2005.

Among the first-timers, South Koreans Im Sung-jae and An Byeong-hun, along with Taiwan’s CT Pan and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer all tasted victory in their maiden Presidents Cup matches.

The only newcomer to lose was exciting Chilean 21-year-old Joaquin Niemann, teamed with Australia’s Marc Leishman, but the defeat was at the hands of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods and world number four Justin Thomas.

Two rookies, China’s Li Haotong and Australian Cameron Smith, did not play on Thursday.

“I’ve said this a few times -- they are in great form, and watching them play a practice round, us senior boys are trying to feed off their energy,” said Oosthuizen.

“I was just a passenger today in a car watching Abe (Ancer) just playing unbelievable golf. So it was fun to see him, how motivated and focused how was on the golf course, and we are all just in a good place,” he added.

The Internationals have failed to win the Presidents Cup since 1998 and Adam Scott, playing in his ninth edition, said the debutants were not carrying any scar tissue from the previous defeats.

“I think they don’t know any different, you know. They have just come out and won matches today. It’s a nice way for them to start their Presidents Cup careers,” he said.

“I hope that gives them a lot more confidence for the rest of the week and they play with that confidence.” Im, 21, credited Els for his flying start, which included an eagle on the first.

“Surprisingly I wasn’t too nervous. I was going to hit a three-iron off the tee but Ernie came up and advised me to hit a driver since the pin was to the left and obviously it worked out really well,” said the US PGA Tour’s 2019 Rookie of the Year.

“I feel like our teamwork was great. When I wasn’t playing well, Adam (Hadwin) would cover for me and vice-versa. I think our teamwork really helped make our match great.”

Pan, the first player from Taiwan to play in a Presidents Cup, also paid tribute to Els, who showed a video on Wednesday during a team function of the International team’s sole victory in 1998, also at Melbourne.

“He has a system going in. We are his soldiers, so we follow his instruction, and that’s what we did today, and it worked great,” said Pan.

“He’s done so much preparations the last few months. It’s working.”

Els boasts intimate knowledge of the difficult sandbelt layout where he holds the course record, and spent hours schooling his team on its fast greens and treacherous bunkers.

It paid dividends with the Internationals in front after the opening day for the first time since 2005.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but this is an unbelievable start. We haven’t had a start like this for many years,” said an elated Els, adding that he never envisioned having a 4-1 advantage.

“It’s really nice to have some points on the board. There were a lot of tight matches and a lot of crucial putts, and great golf shots,” he added.

Agence France-Presse

Results on Thursday from the Presidents Cup round one fourballs at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club (par 71) International team first:

International team 4 United States 1

Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann lost to Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas 4 and 3

Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae beat Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay 1 up

Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun beat Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau 2 and 1

Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan beat Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed 1 up

Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen beat Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland 4 and 3

Presidents Cup Friday foursomes draw (International team first):

11:02am (0002 GMT): Louis Oosthuizen/Adam Scott vs Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar

11:15am (0015 GMT): Adam Hadwin/Joaquin Niemann vs Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay

11:28am (0028 GMT): Marc Leishman/Abraham Ancer vs Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed

11:41am (0041 GMT): An Byeong-hun/Hideki Matsuyama vs Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas

11:54am (0054 GMT): Im Sung-jae/Cameron Smith vs Gary Woodland/Rickie Fowler

Not playing: International: Li Haotong, CT Pan; US: Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau