Despite dramatic point swings and bubbling tensions that threatened to spill over, the Presidents Cup ended as it always has for the last 19 years – in a Team USA triumph.
A Sunday flourish saw a star-studded American side cruise to its 10th consecutive victory in the biennial contest, Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley clinching the winning point in an 18.5–11.5 defeat of the International Team at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada.
Xander Schauffele, a two-time major champion this year, set the tone for 12 closing singles matches with a 4&3 (four ahead with three holes to play) dismantling of Australia’s Jason Day, leaving captain Jim Furyk’s team needing just 3.5 more points to win after carrying an 11–7 advantage into the fourth and final day.
Points for Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay and a half-point (draw) for the undefeated Sam Burns meant that, despite world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s loss to Hideki Matsuyama, Bradley confirmed yet another US victory when opponent Kim Si-woo could not convert from 10 feet on the final hole.
It marked a full-circle moment a decade in the making for Bradley, who had not represented a US team since losing the match that confirmed a bruising Ryder Cup defeat against Europe in 2014.
The 38-year-old now hopes to take the lessons of this week’s victory into next year’s surprise appointment at the helm for the 45th Ryder Cup in New York.
“The last time I played in one of these, I was the clinching point for the Europeans in the Ryder Cup. Fast-forward 10 years later and I got to do that today. Really something I’ll remember the rest of my life,” Bradley told reporters.
“I learned a lot from Jim and Tabitha (Furyk) this week. It was the best job I’ve ever seen done as captain and the captain’s wife,” he added.
A ‘bush league’ move
The International Team, almost literally, did not go down without a fight in chasing a first win since 1998.
An opening 5-0 US rout had threatened to make a procession of proceedings but captain Mike Weir’s side roared back with a sweep of its own on Friday to level the contest, the comeback touchpaper lit by fired-up South Korean youngster Tom Kim.
The 22-year-old, a rising star on the PGA Tour with three victories already, had ruffled American feathers the previous day during a fourball bout against Scheffler, celebrating wildly after holing a long birdie putt only to head towards the next tee before the American’s subsequent missed effort.
Though revealing Kim had “poked the bear,” Masters champion Scheffler shrugged off the incident as a natural element of competition, adding: “We’re friends after, we’re not friends during.”
Team USA assistant captain Kevin Kisner was less forgiving, describing Kim’s decision to walk off before Scheffler’s putt a “bush league” move.
“They took gamesmanship too far and over the line on sportsmanship and lost some integrity,” Kisner added to Golf Channel.
Sky Sports analyst Paul McGinley labeled it “disrespectful,” but Kim defended his actions, insisting there was “no reason” to stay and watch Scheffler’s winners putt.
“It wasn’t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focused on our own game,” the three-time PGA Tour winner said.
“It may look like I’m just a kid throwing fist pumps, but it’s not, it’s me throwing fist pumps for my team,” he added.
‘Feisty’
Kim was at the center of the drama again Saturday after he accused the American team of swearing at him.
Having defeated Bradley and Wyndham Clark, Kim teamed up with compatriot Kim Si-woo once again for a thrilling foursomes bout against Cantlay and Schauffele.
The younger Kim had been irked after the US duo did not concede a putt, and tensions were stoked higher when his teammate toasted a stunning chip-in with NBA star Steph Curry’s trademark “night night” celebration.
The gesture was ultimately somewhat premature, as Cantlay birdied to win the contest, but the fallout lingered long after the final putt.
“As it got towards the end, it got a little feisty out there. I could hear some players cursing at us,” Tom Kim said.
“I don’t think there was good sportsmanship there. But it’s all part of the fun. I understand it. The US team definitely motivated us to go out there.”
Schauffele denied the accusations, insisting that he and Cantlay treated their opponents with “the utmost respect.”
“We’re trying to quiet the crowds down when they were hitting,” the world No. 2 told reporters.
“I have no clue if anyone was doing any of that. I don’t believe any of our guys would do something like that. So I’m not sure what he was hearing.”
After tying Burns in his Sunday singles match, 22-year-old Kim – who finished the week with a 1-2-1 record – revealed he had approached Schauffele and captain Furyk to apologize for his comments the previous day.
“I just told him, ‘Hey, I didn’t mean it to go in such a negative way. If it did, I just said I’m sorry,’” Kim said.
“It was just I felt like what I heard yesterday … I felt there was a little misunderstanding on my part, which I should have explained better.
“This event is all about doing things you would never do and creating energy and doing all these things. If I do certain things on the greens when I make putts, and I expect them to do the same thing. It’s all part of the game. It was just about that.”
Schauffele declined to reveal what Kim had said to him and Furyk, marking it as a “private” matter, but added later that it was a thrill to square off against the four South Korean members of the International side; the Kim duo, Im Sung–jae and Ben An.
“Tom and Si-woo together … this course might be, I don’t know, 7,000 yards, but those boys cover about 9,000 yards in a round of golf, at least the ones that I played against them. They hit unbelievable shots,” Schauffele said.
“It’s really good for golf. As a competitor, I respect it. It’s not how I go about my business, but I respect it because that’s how they play. If I was running around and getting fired up, I might make bogey on the next hole, but those boys are running around and birdieing every frickin’ hole on us.
“I have a lot of respect for everyone on that team, but the Koreans definitely bring the heat, no doubt.”
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