For most of its existence, the Presidents Cup has been a junior college version of the Ryder Cup, uncompetitive – the United States was 13-1-1 against international players before this year – and, for the most part, mundane.
Everything has changed this year. A statistically outmatched international team overwhelmed the United States on the fairways and greens of Medinah Country Club, and what had been sleepwalking for the United States for virtually a century suddenly turned into a fight for every point until the final matches. The United States collected 15.5 points to win the Cup with two matches still in progress and won the event by a final score of 17-13.
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Sunday’s Presidents Cup matches included everything from spectacular tiebreaks to an exceptional display of sportsmanship, and in the end, the event paid off – in large part because the United States can no longer take the Presidents Cup for granted.
Regardless of the outcome, the United States now faces a full-blown match play crisis following their team’s humiliating performance earlier in the week. Between this week and last year’s Ryder Cup implosion, the United States appears to have no idea how to win reliably in team match play, even though it has most of the world’s best players on its roster.
With less than a year until the Ryder Cup, the United States has little time to resolve its many team match play issues. “They just did better” is no excuse for struggling on your local greens, and the struggles of stars like Scottie Scheffler in match play aren’t the kind of problems that resolve themselves. The ground has changed beneath the feet of the United States, and Americans must find a way to stabilize if they are ever to regain their past dominance.
But for now, the United States can rejoice in this victory, the result of individual resilience and strong rookie performances. It’s a good time for the Americans to start building a new team foundation.
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First sessions: the Internationals take matters into their own hands
Coming into the week, there was no indication that the international team would be more competitive this year than they have been since 1998, the last (and only) time they won this event. Eight of the top 11 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are on the U.S. list. JJ Spaun, left at home by team captain Brandt Snedeker, would have been the highest-ranked player on the international team. Si Woo Kim, at 14th place, is the highest ranked player in the Internationals.
And yet, when the team matches begin, none of these individual rankings seem to matter. United States won Thursday’s four-ball sessionwinning three matches to two for the Internationals, a respectable but not dominant performance in the best ball event.
“We did our best to stay there,” Scottie Scheffler said after battling out a 1-up win with Sam Burns over Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im. “I felt like both teams got off to a pretty hot start today and we calmed down a little bit.”
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But Friday, the wheels of the United States have come off. In the foursomes, where players must alternate shots on the same ball, the Internationals largely dominated, winning all five sessions of the day. That gave Internationals a solid 7-3 advantage heading into Saturday.
“You’re going to have sessions like this in these areas,” Snedeker said afterward. “I feel bad for the guys because I know they worked hard and gave me everything they had today, and that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
While they had the chance to close the gap again in a four-ball session, the United States only managed to score 2.5 points out of 4, reducing their deficit by just one point to 8.5-5.5. And then came the second four-ball session, which proved to be a devastating blow to the United States’ hopes.
The Americans, at one point, led in all four four-man games; had they maintained their lead, they would have started Sunday with a one-point lead. But the United States lost two matches and, as a result, led by three points after three days10.5-7.5.
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Snedeker made the questionable decision to bench Scheffler – who is 1-8-1 in team foursomes but remains the best golfer in the world – on Saturday afternoon. But Snedeker had nothing to do with how the United States relinquished its control over the quartets on Saturday afternoon.
Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark quickly took a 2-up lead over Ryan Fox and Lee, and were tied until the 12th hole, before falling 3 and 2 down. Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman held a 3-up lead twice, including through the 10th hole, before Corey Conners and Nick Taylor broke away and birdied four of the next five holes to win 1-up. Even a half from Henley and Bridgeman would have helped reduce the overall gap to two points.
“I just have to find ways to put these guys in better situations,” Snedeker said Saturday night. “I don’t think I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain. The guys have done everything I’ve asked of them so far. I think we have a good game for (Sunday). I think we have a great lineup here. I’m excited about what the guys can bring (Sunday).”
Sunday singles: America’s last chance
Sunday was the first time that the Internationals held a lead on American soil. With a score of 10.5-7.5, the Internationals needed only five points from the 12 matches, while the United States needed to earn eight points in total to retain the cup.
A fiery and partisan gallery welcomed the players from the first tee shots of the day. The United States spent much of the day with red up and down in the current standings, but the challenge for the Americans all week wasn’t starting, it was ending. Cam Young earned the United States’ first point on Sunday, coming back from a 2-point deficit to defeat Ryo Hisatsune 3&2 in the first singles match.
Justin Thomas picked up the United States’ second point, knocking out Conners 5&3, but soon after, Tom Kim picked up the first international point of the day by beating Wyndham Clark 3&2.
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Aware of how the galleries at Bethpage Black destroyed the entire image of the Ryder Cup, Scheffler conceded the 14th hole to Nico Echavarria after a fan screamed during Echavarria’s backswing.
Echavarria made things interesting with a miraculous chip at the 16th, but Scheffler closed it out on the 17th green to bring the United States within one point of the International and five points of retaining the Cup. Shortly after, I eliminated Sam Burns 3&1, giving the Internationals a little more breathing space as the day grew late.
Slowly, inexorably, America’s talent began to assert itself. With eight groups remaining on the course and all within the final six holes, the red of the United States erased the International gold from the scoreboard. The best example of the change in mood in the United States: Patrick Cantlay’s 57-foot putt to keep the pressure on Adam Scott:
Nearly two hours after Young scored the first point of the day for the United States, Chris Gotterup finally dispatched Christiaan Bezuidenhout to claim another and move to within a single point of the Internationals and four points of victory. Cantlay followed up with a victory over Scott to tie the match, and seconds later, Collin Morikawa knocked out Hideki Matsuyama in the most entertaining back-and-forth match of the day. That left the United States one point ahead, 13.5 to 12.5, and just two points away from retaining the Cup.
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In the final slot, Xander Schauffele spent the afternoon decimating fellow Open champion Ryan Fox, meaning the Internationals had to win all three remaining matches. Jackson Koivun, the 21-year-old who played for Auburn just a few months ago, all but eliminated that possibility when he knocked out Si Woo Kim to put the United States within 14.5 points.
The winning putt went to rookie Jacob Bridgeman, who closed out Lee on the 18th green:
The United States won the Cup, but questions about the U.S. team’s larger-scale golf effort remain.
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