by Al Campbell

MONTREAL, Canada, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- After getting shutout on the opening day of the Presidents Cup, the International Team roared back to life on Friday, winning all five foursomes matches to sit deadlocked 5-5 with the U.S. Team through two days in Quebec.

The projected point total for either side to win is 15 points. The Americans have dominated the biennial match-play tournament, winning on 12 occasions, including the last nine straight contests. However, the Internationals came out in the alternate-shot format at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America dating back to 1873.

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and South Korean Im Sung-jae got the Internationals off to a strong start with a 7&6 drubbing of world No. 2 Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. The score tied the tournament record for the largest margin of victory.

Australian evergreen Adam Scott and his Canadian partner, Taylor Pendrith, added to the International's momentum with a 5&4 win over world No. 3 Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.

The biggest cheers were reserved for the Canadian pair of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes who finished their match early after a 6&5 pasting of Tony Finau and Wyndham Clark. Australian veteran Jason Day and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout did just enough to earn a point in holding off Max Homa and Brian Harman 1up.

The South Korean duo of Kim Si-woo and An Byeong-hun capped off the unlikely comeback with a 1up victory over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley. The two groups were tied through 12 holes until Kim made a birdie two at the next to get the Internationals 1up. The South Koreans then matched Scheffler and Henley shot-for-shot down the stretch with Kim sinking a 15-footer at the last to save par and get the full point.

"Si-woo played great today. You saw on the last hole, that's what he was doing all day. Clutch. We scrambled all day. It was tough fighting with Scottie and Russell, such good players," said An, a 33-year-old Seoul native ranked 35th in the world. "We knew it was going to be tough, and it all came down to the last hole. Si-woo made a great putt to win, and it was a great match."

Scheffler, who has had a banner year in winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, his second Masters title and topping the PGA Tour money list, said it was one of the few tournaments he had played where fans were rooting against him.

"Because there are so many guys to root for here, it's one team against another. It's pretty cool. I think it's a fun event. I loved playing away games in high-school, playing basketball, hearing stuff from the crowd," said Scheffler, the first player since Tiger Woods in 2007 to achieve a seven-win season on the PGA Tour.

"I thought today the crowd did a great job, got into it, gave the guys some good energy, and they fed off it. It's our job to go out there tomorrow and do our best and hopefully keep them a little bit quieter."

Scott, the oldest player in the field at 44, said the matches were a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated. On Saturday morning he will again partner with Pendrith in the four-ball.

"I think everyone was very focused coming out today. We knew we were in a deep hole, but no one felt discouraged. There were signs of good golf out there yesterday, but we just didn't get it done," said the Queenslander, a former world No. 1.

"It's a nice feeling because yesterday was flat. We didn't give them too much to cheer about. But today hopefully this is the start of a great weekend."

The day three action includes a full slate of four four-ball matches in the morning, followed by four matches of foursomes in the afternoon. Enditem

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