MONTREAL—Xander Schauffele ran off four straight birdies to lead an onslaught of red scores on the board Sunday and the Americans made the outcome as inevitable as it usually is, winning the Presidents Cup for the 10th straight time.
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 deciding point when Si Woo Kim missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.
Max Homa finished the scoring with his first point of the week, a 2-and-1 victory over Mackenzie Hughes that made it 18 1/2-11 1/2, the largest margin of victory for the Americans away from home, even if was just north of the border at Royal Montreal.
“We talked about taking care of business today, and we all went out there and did it. I was just lucky enough to be in that spot in the day, but really a meaningful moment in my life,” Bradley said. “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.”
The Internationals needed everything to go right at Royal Montreal. All they could manage was a good fight, more tight matches, but still no cup.
Their only victory since these matches for players from everywhere but Europe came in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, so long ago that Tiger Woods was making his Presidents Cup debut. The United States winning streak dates to 2005.
“A lot of these matches were so close,” International captain Mike Weir said. “It’s disappointing not to get a win. We put our team together to win this thing, and when you don’t get a win, it’s disappointing, but a lot of great things to take away.”
Twenty of the 30 matches went at least 17 holes.
The Americans made a winner out of captain Jim Furyk, who was at the helm in France five years ago when they lost to Europe in the Ryder Cup.
“These players were amazing,” 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.”
Furyk sent out Schauffele in the opening match against Jason Day, and the cool Californian made five birdies in eight holes to seize control early. It ended on the 15th hole.
“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.”
He holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the opening hole with Day in close birdie range, took his first lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifth and never let his foot off the gas.
Burns was the only player without a loss. Tom Kim missed a 6-foot birdie putt for the lead on the 16th hole and stuffed his tee shot on the par-3 17th to within 3 feet. Burns answered with a pitching wedge to 4 feet for matching birdies, and the American got up-and-down on the final hole for a halve point, nudging the Americans closer.
Kim has been the spark for the Internationals with his fist pumps and the way he poked Scheffler with his celebrations in the opening session. He said the tide would turn at some point, and the 22-year-old South Korean firmly believed it would be Sunday.
Just not this Sunday.
“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 in the battle of Masters champions when Hideki Matsuyama took down Scottie Scheffler, and Corey Conners delivered an easy win over Tony Finau. But they were trailing 11–7 going into the 12 singles. It was never going to be enough.
They had only won the 12 singles session at three Presidents Cup, each time when they trailed by six points or more.
Now the Internationals have to wait two more years until the 2026 matches at Medinah outside Chicago.
The Americans avoided not having any cup—they lost the Ryder Cup to Europe outside Rome last year—for the first time since 1998. Winning this gold trophy has never seemed like hard work, even though the matches have been tighter.
Adam Scott will be 46 in two years, and there’s a chance he played in his 11th and final Presidents Cup without ever being on the winning side. He had to play the final hour of his match with Collin Morikawa, losing 2 and 1, knowing it wouldn’t matter.
By Doug Ferguson