Ernie Els admitted he did not envisage the International team taking a commanding lead over the United States on day one of the Presidents Cup. 

Desperate to snap the USA's run of seven successive titles, the Internationals stunned the defending champions for a 4-1 advantage in Melbourne on Thursday.

All eyes were on Tiger Woods and the USA but they were only able to score one point in the four-ball matchups as Els' team claimed their first lead over the Americans after any round since day two of the 2005 event.

It was a dream start for the Internationals, who have not won the Presidents Cup since 1998, and captain Els savoured the moment afterwards at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

"I didn't envision 4-1," Els told reporters ahead of Friday's foursomes. "So it's a nice start. You know, we haven't had a start like this for many, many years. 

"So it's really nice to have some points on the board, and you know, the committee have made some changes to the rules of the Cup. Obviously Tiger was involved with some of those negotiations, and that's obviously helping us a little bit now."

"It's a good start," added Els. "We've got a couple more sessions to go. We've got a long event to go still, and you know, we're loving the golf course. 

"We'd like to get the crowd a little bit louder on our side. It was a little quiet out there today, but hopefully they get going tomorrow. But we're playing an excellent side, and they will be coming back strong tomorrow. So we'll have to counter that."

Former world number one and Australian star Adam Scott played a key role for the Internationals on Thursday.

Scott teamed up with Byeong Hun An to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau 2 and 1 in the day's third match.

"It's exciting for sure," said 2013 Masters champion Scott, who will team up with Louis Oosthuizen against Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar on Friday. "Ernie has done an incredible job of getting this team prepared and we are already prepared for tomorrow. He's really planned this thing out. 

"I think everyone feels very confident that we know what's going to happen out there tomorrow. It's a very important session for us that we get out there and try and win another session.

"This thing has been planned out very well. The Big Easy has definitely kept us very calm this week, and you can see that today the way a lot of our rookies played."