Leishman's International teammates stunned their American rivals on Thursday, claiming four or five four-ball matches to snatch an early lead.

The Warrnambool export - paired with Chilean rookie Joaquin Niemann - suffered the Internationals' only defeat.

Leishman was powerless to stop a Tiger Woods masterclass, which included six birdies crafted through pinpoint short-range form.

But Els opted to retain Leishman and paired the Brauer College graduate with Ancer, a former Australian Open champion who masterminded a dominant win over Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland on day one.

Els said the Leishman partner switch was part of a carefully-crafted game plan.

"We've gone this route, and we keep going," he said.

"I mean, the guys played well today in their respective pairings, and (on Friday) we've got whatever pairings we have.

"We'll feel comfortable with them. The guys have practiced this way, so we're going with that process."

Leishman and Ancer will play against polarising American Patrick Reed and world number 11 Webb Simpson on Friday.

The foursomes format forces teams of two to hit alternating shots until the ball is holed.

Speaking after his loss to Woods and world number five Justin Thomas on Thursday, Leishman was keen to make amends with a strong foursomes performance.

"They got off to a really hot start. I don't think either of us played our best golf," he said.

"Like I said at the start of the week, we have to play good golf to beat these guys. Unfortunately we didn't."

Things didn't go to plan for the Warrnambool course record holder.

Leishman's two-iron broke prior to the first tee.

"The base of my two-iron actually caved in on the range, so I had 13 clubs (on Thursday), which is pretty frustrating," he said.

"So I'll get that sorted tomorrow and hopefully come out and win some points.

"The conditions were testing, but the pin positions weren't too bad. They were gettable. I mean, I didn't drive the ball as well as I would have liked."

The 36-year-old praised Niemann, a first-time Presidents Cup combatant.

"He's got a lot of game. We didn't quite have it today but I think certainly got some points in us for later in the week," Leishman said.

Fellow Australian Adam Scott was moved to pair South African Louis Oosthuizen, while Queenslander Cam Smith was called upon to partner Korean Sungjae Im against Gary Woodland and Rickie Fowler.

Els said it was vital for Leishman and the other internationals to continue gelling.

"You know, it's just getting the guys to play together like we did in practice, and just getting prepared with the golf course," he said.

"The team spirit was really good this time. We had many meetings through the year and so forth and so forth, but I mean, hey, we've played one session.

"We've got four more to go. We've got foursomes on Friday. We'll be focusing on that tomorrow, and we'll take it from there."

Leishman will tee off alongside Ancer at 11.28am at Royal Melbourne.

It will be the third match to get under way, with Oosthuizen and Scott's bout with Johnson and Matt Kuchar the first at 11.02am.

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