Canada’s best friend Corey Connors is a key player for Team USA at the Mackenzie Hughes President’s Cup

Mackenzie Hughes sat out the inaugural season. 2024 Presidents CupBut he then gave an emotional speech in front of his colleagues on Thursday evening America took a strong 5-0 lead First day.

He wanted to unite and inspire his international teammates, hoping that this competition would not become another defeat – something that international players have often experienced over the past two decades. The United States has won nine consecutive Presidents Cups since 2005.

Still, whatever Hughes said worked.

international people are back On Friday, it completely flipped the script and posted a sweep of its own. The scores in Saturday morning fourball matches are now tied at five each.

“The main message was just keep your head high and spirits high and we all believed that,” Hughes said.

“Today was obviously a great day, but it starts with the belief that we could do it, and the whole bus, everybody in that cabin believed.”

Hughes played with fellow Canadian Corey Connors on Friday and they got off to a strong start. With the Canadian crowd in full swing, Hughes and Connors won the first two holes. Tony Finau And Windham Clark never looked back.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

He subdued the Americans, relying on the Canadian crowd to easily roam the Royal Montreal. They were undefeated, as the former Kent State stars played brilliantly on every hole except the 12th, but by then the match was already decided. The Canadians sealed the deal on the next hole, the par-3 13th, where Connors hit an iron shot to five feet. After this Hughes hit a birdie putt and thus won by 6 and 5.

“It was a special day. “The crowd was in it from the beginning,” Connors said.

“We wanted to get off to a good start, and we kept our foot on the gas and played some amazing golf. Mack hit some incredible shots. It was such a fun day and it was great to share it with such a good friend.

Their close friendship certainly helped, but the Canadians relied heavily on their fellow compatriots outside the ropes.

Hughes said, “Corey and I were excited to play together, but we also wanted a crowd.”

“The crowd demonstrated in a big way today. Corey and I won the match, but Mob was the third member of our team. They were very big today. We felt his energy as we walked onto every tee, every green, every hole. “That was huge for us and we need it even more this week.”

Connors echoed that sentiment.

“They were really critical to our success,” Connors said.

“They were cheering us on the whole way. It was a great experience to play in front of the fans in my home country and win.”

Connors and Hughes will run it back in the fourballs on Saturday morning, hoping to carry the momentum from Friday. He will face Finau and xander schaufele In the second group, a pair that will undoubtedly entertain. But this Canadian pair will be tough to beat, not only because of their excellent play but also because of their cordial demeanor and hometown crowd.

Jack Milko is the golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. please check @_PlayingThrough For more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko Too.