The home support in Montreal came in for criticism from the players after day one of the Presidents Cup, but to be fair, it’s hard to fit the word ‘Internationals’ into a chant and there is little point in cheering when you’re 5-0 down.
If you thought U-S-A, was bad well I-N-T is even worse but it did the trick as the Canadian fans showed their voices and roared their team back into this contest.
The International fans have had little to nothing to cheer about after taking 30 years of institutionalised bullying from the Americans and there is no doubt that Thursday was their lowest point as a team.
One of the more enjoyable things about the Ryder Cup is the atmosphere generated between European and American fans and the animosity and needle which exists, particularly Stateside.
The Presidents Cup rarely feels like that and certainly fell flat on its face on Thursday.
We need to get louder, I think, the next few days here and really feel the home support.” — Taylor Pendrith said after day one
“Like Taylor said, I think it was a little too quiet today being on home soil. I don’t think the fans were really — I wish they would have helped us out a bit more, especially being in Canada. I know how much they love golf.” — Tom Kim added.
Help them out a bit more they did, the home support backed their team to a 5-0 response to level the contest heading into the weekend.
This exhibition has now become a competition and the International players are feeling the love.
Chants of I-N-T rained upon the players including Adam Scott who capped one of the great days of his career with his 22nd point in this contest for the International side as he became their highest ever points scorer in what could be his last appearance.
“I think we all came out here today playing for our own pride really, and I think that started it off the right way, and the crowd carried us through the day, which was incredible,” said Scott. “Hearing those cheers, knowing it was for our team on other holes across the golf course, that’s got to be motivation for us for the rest of the week.”
With three Canadians on the International team they gave the crowd plenty to be proud of particularly Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes who romped to a 6&5 win over Wyndham Clark and Tony FInau.
Conners and Hughes were serenaded by renditions of ‘O Canada’ and at times this game of golf sounded like a football game such was the noise.
“I would say the crowd was in it from the get-go for us,” Conners said of the crowd. “We were definitely aware of some of the big cheers ahead of us knowing that some of the guys were winning holes. Certainly for me, it inspired me to want to get some of those cheers for us. The atmosphere was great, and cheering on the other guys — being at home feels pretty special and getting all the support we got out there on the golf course and the whole team got was amazing.”
Tom Kim, who has proven to be the heartbeat of the International Presidents Cup team, sat out the Friday session and was made to eat his words of criticism from the day before.
“The crowd, I think, plays a huge role,” Kim said, beaming like a proud parent Friday evening. “I think the reason why we were able to play so good today, other than these guys going out and performing, was our fans backed us up. I think that gives you momentum, that gives you energy. Just they played a huge factor in our win today.”
For International captain Mike Weir, Thursday’s drubbing would have been a sobering experience. A man who has done so much for Canadian golf, got battered on his own patch.
The atmosphere between Thursday and Friday was night and day and the former Masters winner has issued a rallying cry to the fans to keep their momentum going.
“I thought maybe half of Montreal took the day off of work,” exclaimed Weir. “The crowds were that big out there and really energized from the get-go, from the first hole. It was fantastic. I certainly hope it’s just as loud this weekend. I believe it will be. We’re really hoping they come out loud and strong like they did today.”