Team USA took care of business at Royal Montreal as they won 18.5-11.5 at the Internationals for their tenth straight victory.
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Even with different captains, teams and golf courses, this place was familiar. Those in red, white and green hugged and cheered and lit cigarettes, while those in black and gold hung their heads in disappointment. After four days of intense competition at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, Team USA were once again the winners of the President's Cup.
“We put a lot of passion into it,” said American captain Jim Furyk. “It was a good team of 12, an easy team. I had good leadership at the top. They made the captain's job really easy, and these guys played their hearts out this week.”
Keegan Bradley, who suffered heartbreak last year in the form of a Ryder Cup snub, got a reprieve from Royal Montreal as he scored the winning point for the Americans. A point from his single win over Si Woo Kim pushed Team USA to within 15.5 points, but at the end of the day, the margin was too great as the Americans made it official with their 18.5-11.5 victory.
“That was amazing,” Bradley said. “I have been saying for a week that I don't know if I will do this again. Just to play in this tournament and win a point, my God.”
Bradley was named earlier this year as the American captain for next fall's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. And although he deserves to be the playing captain, he has made it clear that he will only do so once he is able to break into the team.
“If this is my last round as a player, maybe it is, I'm happy about that,” said Bradley.
The win is Team USA's 10th in a row and pushes their all-time Presidents Cup record to 13-1-1. It has now been 26 years since an international team claimed a single victory in this event, and 21 years since Team USA has not dropped a winner.
The 15th edition of the Presidents Cup got off to a typical start as Team USA jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the opening session. However, the international players flipped the script the next day as they took themselves up to 5 points. From then on, Team USA asserted its dominance.
In the last three sessions, the Americans outscored their counterparts 13.5-6.5. Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele led the way with four points apiece for the Americans, while Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyma, Taylor Pendrith and Adam Scott scored two points apiece for the Internationals.
“We talked about being a dog all week, being a strong team,” said Furyk. “Those back nine holes when you look at how many holes they won and lost, I have to feel like we owned the back 9 this week, and that was the difference.”
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