The United States won 18.5-11.5 at Royal Montreal Golf Club to continue their dominance of the Presidents Cup. They led 11-7 going into Sunday Singles, needing 15.5 to win the cup again. They won three of the first five matches on the day, with the top US players finishing it at the top of the order.
Sunday Recap
The major man of 2024, Xander Schauffele, disposed of veteran Aussie Jason Day 4&3 in the first match. Captain’s pick Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay won their matches to put the US within clinching distance. There was a minor fightback from the Internationals midway through the afternoon. Hideki Matsuyama battled to beat World Number One Scottie Scheffler 1 up, and Tom Kim rallied from two down to tie with Sam Burns.
Keegan Bradley was three up with three to play against Si Woo Kim, with USA only needing one more point to win the Cup. But Kim won 16 and 17 to take it down to the last. Kim also had a birdie putt from 8ft to tie the match but missed it. That was the winning point in giving the US the victory for the tenth time in a row. Bradley, who will captain next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage, was emotional after securing the winning point.
Embed from Getty ImagesFrom then on, the United States team cemented their eventual emphatic win. Despite Corey Conners and Christian Bezuidenhout winning their matches, it was a mostly dominant display from Jim Furyk’s men. Ultimately, the US won the singles 7.5-4.5 to take it out of reach. It was a bold showing from the Internationals nonetheless, as they showed fight all weekend long.
Sweeping sessions
It could not have got off to a worse start for Mike Weir, captaining in his home country, as the USA swept the first fourball session on Thursday. It was destined to be a thrashing from that point. But, remarkably, The Internationals rallied on Friday with a whitewash of their own, winning the foursomes session 5-0, meaning it was 5-5 going into Saturday. It is the first time in a team competition that there has been a sweep in consecutive sessions.
However, the USA battled back to take control in the double session on Saturday. They won both sessions 3-1, even though all the games were relatively tight down to the wire. This meant they had a four-point lead going into singles and only needed 4.5 points out of 12 to win the cup. It was always going to be a tall ask for The Internationals with the firepower present on the opposing side. But they did show resilience throughout, they just ran out of depth, inadequate to the US’s superior status and quality.
Team records and performances
South African Christian Bezuidenhout was the only international player with a winning record, going 2-1. Four Internationals had a 2-3 record after playing all five sessions: Adam Scott, Taylor Pendrith, Hideki Matsuyama, and Corey Conners. After sitting on Friday and Saturday, Min Woo Lee was the only member of the home team not to win a match, as he finished with a 0-1-1 record.
When Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa all go 4-1 for the week, it will be hard to beat The US. Their best players played on their high floor and did the job that Captain Furyk asked of them. In team formats, sometimes, someone can play well but lose because of their bad partner and vice versa. That can mask or twist some of the eventual records. But the American stalwarts did their job, resulting in the emphatic scoreline come the end of singles. It is the largest margin of victory for the away team in Presidents Cup history.
Key Stats
Moreover, four of the top five strokes gained overall in the event were American. Being fourth and the best international player but only going 2-2, Si Woo Kim echoes the unique matchplay situation in team events. Xander and Cantlay, unsurprisingly, gained 8.9 strokes overall. Interestingly, Max Homa was third, gaining 5.9 shots overall despite having a losing record. He was held back in Foursomes playing with Brian Harman, who was seemingly the US’s worst player this week. This shows that Homa played well despite losing two matches, which is accentuated in an alternate shot.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe turning point in most matches this week was holes 13 and 14, in which the US won 19 holes, while the Internationals only won those two holes nine times. That can turn a match around or put it out of reach for the opposition, and the Americans did that time and time again in the middle of the back nine.
The big picture
From a general perspective, holding putts when it matters wins you matches. But, The International sout-putted the Americans this week by two strokes. However, the US had 32 shots and was better tee-to-green, which tells the whole story of the 2024 Presidents Cup. That disparity from tee to green was enough for the American star power to shine through and take them to their tenth straight Presidents Cup. Now, in the 15 editions of this event, the US has won 13 times, with one International win and one tie in 2003.
Future Cups
Something needs to change for the Internationals to become truly competitive in this event, both on home turf and away from home. If they continue as they are, it will be hard to look past the USA every time the Presidents Cup rolls around.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe USA team plans to host the 2025 Ryder Cup next year at Bethpage Black. Of course, they are the favourites at home. It will be interesting to see how much turnover there will be when Keegan Bradley picks his team in just under 12 months. He has said that he won’t pick himself, so he will have to qualify on points, which is not out of the question.
It feels as if the US has six or seven locks no matter how they play between now and then. But the remaining five or so spots, including potential LIV players like Brysin and Brooks, will make it intriguing to see who carries the form in 2025 to play against Europe on Long Island next September.
