United States wins Presidents Cup for 13th time in 15 tries

MONTREAL — The Presidents Cup may not like the idea that it is a competition that acts as a precursor to the main event, the Ryder Cup, but it was difficult to shake that notion on Sunday at Royal Montreal.

It was Keegan Bradley, who will be the Ryder Cup captain for the United States in a year’s time, who clinched the winning point for the Americans, beating Si Woo Kim 1 up to get the U.S. to 15 1/5 points. Bradley was a left-field pick to be the captain at Bethpage Black and was expected to be a captain assistant for Jim Furyk this week, but instead made the team as a captain’s pick and found himself in the limelight on Sunday.

It was not without its nervy moments, though — Bradley missed short putts on 16 and 17 to keep extending his match.

“I learned that I can still do this,” Bradley told NBC. “It’s always hard, it always is. That was really uncomfortable there at the end.”

The U.S. opened the day with a 11-7 lead on the International Team, on the strength of a standout Saturday. Captain Jim Furyk did not back off with his singles lineup, choosing two-time 2024 major winner Xander Schauffele to go out first, and followed him with Sam Burns (3-0 coming in), Scottie Scheffler (world No. 1), Russell Henley (2-1) and Patrick Cantlay (3-1).

Schauffele got his point, smashing Jason Day, who sat out all of Saturday but in an unusual decision chosen by International captain Mike Weir to lead off on Sunday, 4 and 3.

Burns forced a half against Tom Kim, who was once again electric for the Internationals. Henley earned a full point, beating Sungjae Im, 3 and 2. Hideki Matsuyama fought off Scheffler, winning 1 up to give the Internationals some hope. Corey Conners got a full point, beating Tony Finau, 5 and 3.

Then Cantlay took out Taylor Pendrith, 3 and 1, to get the Americans to 14 1/2 points, just one shy of clinching the win.

The win continues a tradition of American success in this team golf event. In the 30 years and 15 iterations, the U.S. is 13-1-1, the lone loss in 1998 and the tie some 21 years ago. The Internationals have occasionally made it more interesting in recent years, and sweeping Friday’s foursome matches put the teams level heading into the weekend.

Why the United States won

There are so many good and valid reasons why the U.S. won and the International squad didn’t, but the overwhelming reason is so simple: the U.S. had five of the 12 best players in the world (per Data Golf). And those players went a combined 18-5-1 (much of that was together but still). Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay all went 4-1 while playing all five sessions. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler didn’t have his best stuff and still went 3-2, and Sam Burns — trying to redeem himself from two frustrating cups — went 3-0-1.

Yes, International captain Mike Weir made some mistakes, especially his Saturday decision to ride the same eight guys in the eight matches, but I don’t think it would have changed the outcome. The bottoms of these teams played pretty comparably. The difference was the top. And the top playing well is easier said than done. International star Hideki Matsuyama cost his team points with his horrible putting week. Adam Scott couldn’t quite match up to Morikawa in a 2 and 1 Sunday singles loss. Sungjae Im had incredible moments but finished 1-4.

The U.S. has a quartet (and maybe a quintet with Burns) of ice-cold cup competition stars that should lead them for years. — Brody Miller, staff writer

Required reading

(Photo of Keegan Bradley: Harry How / Getty Images)