The United States continued its dominance of the Presidents Cup with an impressive 18½-11½ victory over the International team.
Heading into Sunday’s singles matches with an 11-7 lead, the US team needed just 4½ points to retain their title in Canada.
Xander Schauffele led the charge for the Americans with a 4&3 win over Australian Jason Day in the opening match.
Further full points were secured by Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay, bringing the US team even closer to victory despite world No.1 Scottie Scheffler falling to Hideki Matsuyama.
Canada’s Corey Conners delivered a standout performance by defeating Tony Finau 5&3, while Keegan Bradley’s strong performance on the back nine pushed the US team to the brink of victory.
Sam Burns shared the spoils with Tom Kim, and Bradley’s late heroics secured the crucial point needed to reach the 15.5-point mark with five matches still in progress.
“Wow, that was incredible,” expressed Bradley, reflecting on his performance. “If this is my last round as a player – maybe it is – I’m happy with that.”
Sahith Theegala ended his match with Byeong Hun An in a tie, while Collin Morikawa and Max Homa secured wins over Adam Scott and Mackenzie Hughes respectively in the remaining matches.
Despite the heavy defeat, the Internationals displayed glimpses of excellence, notably by winning all five foursomes matches on Friday after a disappointing performance in the four balls on Thursday.
International captain Mike Weir’s decision to stick with the same players for both four balls and foursomes matches on Saturday backfired as the USA took a commanding lead, eventually winning the cup.
