Team USA won the Presidents Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Keegan Bradley helped his team reach the 15.5 point threshold, confirming the victory for the United States after beating South Korea’s Si Woo Kim by one in the sixth individual match on the program.
Captain Jim Furyk’s team entered the final session, which consisted of 12 individual matches, with a comfortable 11-7 lead over the international team. They needed just 4.5 points to secure victory.
Which she obtained following the triumphs of Xander Schauffele (four and three), Russell Henley (three and two), Patrick Cantlay (three and one) and Bradley, in addition to the draw of Sam Burns (0.5 points).
The American team, dressed in red for the occasion, made sure to quickly send a message to the Internationals, under a radiant sky and a thermometer that read 23 degrees Celsius.
The first three Americans — and five of the top six — to tee off Sunday, Schauffele, Burns and Scheffler, all birdied the first hole. Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 golfer, capped that run by sending his shot from a greenside bunker straight into the back of the cup — much to the dismay of the crowd, most of whom were rooting for the international team.
From then on, the international team was forced to play catch-up golf, in order to avoid handing the title to the Americans on a silver platter.
Schauffele added another layer of excitement by recording four consecutive birdies on holes 5, 6, 7 and 8, and scoring another point after a bogey by Australian Jason Day on the ninth to take a five-a-side lead at the turn. At that point, the United States led in six of nine matches, and the crowd was absolutely stunned.
The international team did try to come back in the last few games to get going, but, like Day, they ran out of time.
So, despite all the clever calculations and advanced statistics used by Weir and his assistants to concoct their lineups this week, the logic was respected.
Si Woo Kim sealed the victory for the United States after missing a 12-foot birdie putt that would have given him a tie with Bradley on the 18th hole . Immediately, the American team gathered on the green to celebrate, while Schauffele lit his victory cigar.
Small consolation, the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama managed to defeat Scheffler by one in the third match on the program, delaying the inevitable by a few minutes.
In addition, Corey Conners saved the Canadians’ honour by beating the American Tony Finau five and three.
This is the 10th consecutive victory for the United States in this prestigious team competition, and their 13th in 15 editions.
This is also the second time that the American team has won the Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club. The last time, in 2007, they won 19.5-14.5.
However, since five games were still in progress at the time of the Americans’ victory on Sunday, the final score will be determined at the end of the day.
The next Presidents Cup will be held at Medinah Country Club, a suburb of Chicago, in 2026.
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