MEDINAH, Ill. — The United States trimmed the International Team’s advantage Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup, but will be without Scottie Scheffler next.

U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker elected to sit Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, for the Saturday afternoon foursome (alternate-shot) session. The United States trail the International Team 8 1/2 to 5 1/2.

Scheffler has not sat for a session at either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup since the 2023 edition of the former, when he was benched following a record loss with Brooks Koepka. But the move has merit — Scheffler is 1-8 all time in foursomes, and he played poorly for most of his match Saturday morning.

It’s just coincidental that Snedeker announced the decision moments after Scheffler made a 21-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to tie his and Sam Burns’ match with Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune. Scheffler and Burns won the next two holes to get the full point.

Instead, Burns will go out with Wyndham Clark, the Americans’ best player so far this week.

“Our team is a great team, and I’m looking forward to going out and supporting the guys. It’ll be fun this afternoon, cheer them on. Get a little rest,” Scheffler told the NBC broadcast.

Scheffler appeared not to know he would not play Saturday afternoon until the broadcast asked him a question about it. But he took it in stride — he was at the first tee as the groups teed off, shirt untucked and cheering his teammates.

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The Internationals won all five matches on Friday evening to take a 7-3 lead, putting the U.S. (which has not lost this cup since 1998) in an unfamiliar position.

The American red dominated the leaderboard midway through the round, with the U.S. team up in all four matches and threatening to steal back all the momentum lost Friday night. A tied Presidents Cup going into Saturday afternoon would have been one of the more riveting editions of this competition.

Instead, the International team fought back. Si Woo Kim and Nick Taylor drained long putts. Tom Kim told the roaring American-centric crowd to be quiet. And the Internationals stayed in the lead, needing 15 1/2 points to win the cup.

The Justin Thomas/Jackson Koivun pair were 2 up with four holes to go and had to settle for a half-point.

“I’m gutted. I just feel like I let (Koivun) down today. I’m bummed and I told him that I’m sorry, not only for him but the team. If I play and do some things I should have, we would have a point there,” Thomas told NBC.

Clark and Collin Morikawa got up by 2 through eight holes, lost it in three holes and then lost the match by losing the 16th and 17th holes to the Kims. The latter duo is now 3-0 this week.

Tom Kim, left, and Si Woo Kim make a gesture to the crowd after a key moment in their match. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young won the first four holes against Canadians Taylor and Corey Conners, and eventually won, 2 and 1.

The par-3s again were where the Internationals gained ground.

Through the first two days, the Internationals have won 12 of the par-3 holes to the United States’ three. That trend again continued on Saturday morning:

• Lee and Im went 3-0-1 against Thomas and Koivun on Medinah’s four par-3 holes.

• The Kims went 2-1-1 against Morikawa and Clark.

• Taylor and Conners went 1-0-3 against Gotterup and Young.

• Matsuyama and Hisatsune went 2-2 against Scheffler and Burns.

Presidents Cup Saturday afternoon tee times, pairings

(All times ET. U.S. team listed first.)

• Match 1, 2:15 p.m.: Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele vs. Tom Kim/Si Woo Kim

• Match 2, 2:29 p.m.: Russell Henley/Jacob Bridgeman vs. Corey Conners/Nick Taylor

• Match 3, 2:43 p.m.: Cameron Young/Chris Gotterup vs. Adam Scott/Sungjae Im

• Match 4, 2:57 p.m.: Sam Burns/Wyndham Clark vs. Ryan Fox/Min Woo Lee