U.S. Rolls To Road Presidents Cup Victory | The Sunday Swing

The Sunday Swing 
September 29th, 2024 

Welcome back to a special President’s Cup edition of the Sunday Swing. This week, all eyes were on the Royal Montreal GC as the International Team was looking to win just their 2nd Presidents Cup ever on home soil.

Presidents Cup 2024  

Since its debut in 1994, the United States has completely dominated the Presidents Cup. The Americans have won 12 of the 14 editions, with just one loss and the lone tie of the series happening in 2003. The International team (captained by Canada’s Mike Weir) consisted of three Canadians this year including Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, and Taylor Pendrith. Weir hoped his fellow countrymen would spark an upset playing on home soil. Pair them with veterans Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, and Jason Day and it seemed the Internationals had put together one of their better teams in recent memory. 

Still they would face a tall order, as Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, and Patrick Cantlay anchored an American squad that was poised to steamroll the International Team once again.

As play began on Thursday morning, it was apparent that the Americans did indeed look like the better team. The Americans swept the session decisively to take a 5-0 lead after the first day. Despite being behind the 8-ball immediately, the Internationals felt they still had a chance, as many of the matches were narrow losses. 

On Friday, the International team completely flipped the script on the Americans, winning the session 5-0 to tie the Presidents Cup at 5-5 after two days of play. The sweep included some rather lopsided matches such as a 6 & 5 win for Canadian duo Conners and Hughes over Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau. Plus, Scott and Pendrith also made a statement for the Internationals, defeating Morikawa and Sahith Theegala 5 & 4. 

With a clean slate and a 5-5 tie after the opening two sessions, the momentum had completely shifted overnight in favor of the home team. Despite the newfound hope, the Americans were able to bounce back strong and retake control after taking the first two points of the day. The Korean duo of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim came up with a big 4 & 3 win over Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark to keep the Internationals within striking distance. The final match of the session featured Cantlay and Sam Burns vs. Matsuyama and Sungjae Im. The Internationals led the match through three holes, but quickly gave it back on the fourth hole. From that point on, they never led again and Cantlay and Burns were able to close out a huge point for the Americans to make it a 3-1 session victory.

Now with a 9-6 lead into the fourth session, team USA just needed to split to feel pretty comfortable heading into Sunday Singles. The Saturday afternoon matches were hotly contested with multiple hole outs and roars for both sides. At one point in the afternoon there was no red on the board at all, but the Americans dug deep and kept chipping away. After splitting the first two matches of the session, the Internationals really needed the last two to go their way. Instead, the Americans flipped both of them red with big shots late in the matches to win them both. At the end of Satuday’s play, Team USA had built an 11-7 lead heading into Sunday singles. 

As Sunday singles matches began, the Internationals would need a miracle. To win they would have to win nine of the 12 matches on the slate, despite being heavily outmatched. Schauffele set the tone in the first match of the day for the Americans, winning six of seven holes in his match against Jason Day to build a formidable lead and firmly take the first point of the day. After a great back and forth match between Tom Kim and Sam Burns ended in a tie, a win inthe third match by Matsuyama over Scheffler felt all the bigger. Could the Internationals pull this off? 

Steady American Russell Henley was the next victory, notching a 3 & 2 win over Im to inch Team USA closer. Soon after, Cantlay took care of Pendrith 3 & 1 to put Team USA within a half point of a Presidents Cup victory. 

In a fitting scene, it was 2025 Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley who was able to secure the clinching point after fending off Si Woo Kim. 

Although the final score showed 18.5 to 11.5, this year's Presidents Cup did feel like it had a bit more competitiveness to it. There were even some heated moments and several displays of emotion from both sides. Ultimately, the International Team fought well to make the event interesting after being swept 5-0 on the first day of play, but there was just too much firepower on Team USA to overcome. 

The American dynasty continues for another two years and they will almost certainly be the favorite in 2026 when they host the Internationals at the historic Medinah Country Club.