Mackenzie Hughes sat out the opening session of the 2024 Presidents Cup, but he gave a passionate speech to his teammates Thursday evening after the U.S. took a commanding 5-0 lead on day one.
He wanted to rally and inspire his International teammates, hoping this competition would not become another drubbing—something the Internationals have experienced all too often over the past two decades. The U.S. has won nine straight Presidents Cups dating back to 2005.
Nevertheless, whatever Hughes said worked.
The Internationals stormed back on Friday, completely flipping the script and posting a sweep of their own. The score is now tied at five apiece going into Saturday morning’s Fourball matches.
“The main message was just to keep your head high and spirits high, and we all believed,” Hughes said.
“Today was obviously a great day, but it starts with believing that we can do it, and the whole bus, everyone in that cabin believed.”
Hughes played alongside fellow Canadian Corey Conners on Friday, and they got off to a roaring start. With the Canadian crowd behind them, Hughes and Conners won the first two holes over Tony Finau and Wyndham Clark and never looked back.
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They bossed the Americans around, relying on the Canadian crowd to waltz around Royal Montreal with ease. They were unstoppable, as the former Kent State stars flashed strokes of brilliance on seemingly every hole, except for the 12th, but the match had long been decided by then. The Canadians sealed the deal on the next hole, the par-3 13th, where Conners stuck an iron shot to five feet. Hughes then made the birdie putt, thus securing the 6 & 5 victory.
“This was a special day. The crowd was in it from the get-go,” Conners said.
“We wanted to get off to a good start, and we kept our foot on the gas and played some awesome golf. Mac hit some unbelievable shots. It was such a fun day, and it was great to share it with such a good friend.”
Their close-knit friendship certainly helped, but the Canadians relied heavily on their fellow compatriots outside the ropes.
“Corey and I were excited to play together, but we also wanted the crowd,” Hughes said.
“The crowd delivered in a big way today. Corey and I won the match, but the crowd was the third member of our team. They were huge today. We felt their energy on every tee, every green, walking down every hole. That was big for us, and we need more of that this week.”
Conners echoed that sentiment.
“They were really vital to our success,” Conners said.
“They were cheering us on the whole way. It was just a blast to play in front of the fans in our home country and to get the victory.”
Conners and Hughes will run it back in Fourballs on Saturday morning, hoping to ride the momentum from Friday. They will face Finau and Xander Schauffele in the second group out, a pairing that should undoubtedly entertain. But this Canadian duo will be hard to beat, not only because of their exquisite play but also because of their camaraderie and the hometown crowd.
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.
