The Dublin footballers haven’t had to score a winning point to win a Leinster Football Championship of any significance in yonks, so it was fitting that team USA didn’t have to hole a winning putt as they claimed their tenth successive Presidents Cup.
The International team had their chance on Saturday night but it was taken away from them as quickly as they got it and the Sunday singles became a formality as Keegan Bradley secured the winning point against Si Woo Kim.
Sam Burns completed an unbeaten week, Russell Henley capped off his impressive debut in the Presidents Cup with a win and Keegan Bradley — the Ryder Cup captain next year — delivered the clinching point when Kim missed a 10-foot putt on the 18th hole.
Bradley had missed a couple of chances before but Jim Furyk’s team needn’t have worried.
“Wow, that was incredible,” said Bradley, who hasn’t played for a U.S. team in 10 years. “The last time I played, I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup. If this is my last round as a player — maybe it is — I’m happy with that.”
For the Internationals, the scoreline probably flatters them but it’s another year of good golf played but nothing to show for it as the US claimed their thirteenth Presidents Cup in fifteen attempts.
“These players were amazing,” team USA skipper Furyk said. “It was a really good group of 12, an easy bunch. I had great leadership at the top. They made the captain’s job really easy, and these guys played their hearts out this week. They really played well on the back nine.”
Xander Schauffele eased to a 4&3 win over a hapless Jason Day and his win set the tone for a routine Sunday stroll for the visitors in Montreal.
“All of our 12 guys can compete,” Schauffele said. “My goal was just to set the tone, get red up on that board as early as possible, and I was able to do that.”
There were wins for Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and Max Homa while Sam Burns halved his match with Tom Kim to end the week unbeaten while Wyndham Clark and Sahith Theegala earned halve points in their ties.
“When you lose so many times, I feel like there’s always a story where people come back. Winning doesn’t last forever,” Kim said. “There’s going to be times where lip-outs are going to go our way. A few breaks, a few bounces are going to go our way, and that’s going to make a difference. We play great and we keep falling short sometimes, but I’m not losing hope.”
The Internationals picked up a point when Hideki Matsuyama took down world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Corey Conners delivered an easy win over Tony Finau. But the damage was already done.
The Internationals have to wait until 2026 in Medinah to stop the rot.
We all know what happened there twelve years ago…
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