Again the overwhelming favorite entering the week, the United States was on the ropes Friday evening of the Presidents Cup following a five-match foursomes sweep.
With the score tied 5-5, ever-cherished momentum was back with the home side. Saturday’s crowds at Royal Montreal were primed for an historic weekend celebrating an International team breakthrough.
Captain Jim Furyk and the U.S. team were not phased.
The American juggernaut steadily erased hope in two clinical Saturday sessions, setting up a four-point lead entering singles that looked difficult to overcome. It proved to be impossible.
These are the top numbers and notes to know from Sunday at the Presidents Cup.
1. By putting the top-two players in the world out first and third in singles, Furyk hoped to snuff out any thoughts of a record comeback by the International side. The United States did just that, going 3-1-1 in the first five singles matches on the board.
Those five players – Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay – combined for a 3-1-1 match record on Sunday, all but ending the drama. The quintet were a combined 24-under-par on the day, leading matches for 53 holes and trailing for just five.
2. The sixth singles player out for the Americans, Keegan Bradley, officially clinched the victory with a par on the 18th hole. Bradley, who was left off last year’s Ryder Cup roster, won holes 10, 11 and 12 to wrestle the match away from the fiery Si Woo Kim. The oldest player on the team (38) and next year’s U.S. captain at Bethpage, Bradley had not teed it up in a Ryder or Presidents Cup in a decade.
3. The United States improved to 13-1-1 all-time in the Presidents Cup, its lone defeat coming in 1998 at Royal Melbourne. The dominance the Americans have had throughout the event’s history is difficult to overstate: they have trailed following just four of the last 46 sessions played in the Presidents Cup going back to singles in 2005.
There was undoubtedly some great golf played this week, and the tension Friday and Saturday made for an entertaining event. But some competitiveness questions need to be addressed about the Presidents Cup moving forward. Greg Norman, who turns 70 next year, starred for the International side the week of their only victory. The Internationals have been within three points of the lead entering singles just twice in the last seven dups.
The heart of the team ❤️🤍💙@Keegan_Bradley earns the deciding point to clinch the U.S. victory at Royal Montreal. pic.twitter.com/WczGgDznl1
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 29, 2024
4. The American side had the advantage in world ranking in every singles matchup Sunday. That fact underscores the core issue: over the last three editions, there have been a total of 90 matches held. In 89 of them, the U.S. side had the advantage in world rank. The lone exception was a singles match between Louis Oosthuizen (20) and Matt Kuchar (24) at Royal Melbourne in 2019.
The United States has not had a player ranked outside the top 30 in OWGR on their Presidents Cup roster since 2011. On the six International sides fielded since, 64 percent of their rosters have consisted of players outside the top 30. A developing team culture, great chemistry and an analytical approach can only close so much of the talent gap.
5. The Americans played better on the back nine at Royal Montreal for most of the week, finishing with holes won differential of plus-8 after the turn. Holes 13 and 14 were especially significant, with the U.S. winning 19 holes to the International side’s nine.
Four-ball was where the United States truly separated themselves, outscoring the opposition 8-1 across both sessions. It was not only the first time in Presidents Cup history that the road team won more points in four-ball, but it was the largest margin for either side in that format in a single week, whether playing on home or foreign soil.
6. The final score of 18 1/2 to 11 1/2 is the largest margin of victory in Presidents Cup history for a team playing on the road. The previous mark was five points the last time this event was held here in 2007.
The United States ran away with the victory despite Friday’s foursomes. There have been 17 instances where one side has swept a session of four or more matches in combined Presidents and Ryder Cup history. The 2024 American Presidents Cup team is the first to get swept and still win that week.
7. Three players shared the honor of top points-earner for the week: Schauffele, Cantlay and Collin Morikawa each went 4-1-0, capping their performances with a singles victory. The lone player of the 24 to not lose a single match was Sam Burns, who won three times before tying Tom Kim in Sunday singles.
Unheralded South African Christiaan Bezuidenout, who did not play in either session on Saturday, was the lone International player with a winning record (2-1-0). American Brian Harman, 2023 Open Champion, was the lone player to not earn any points, losing all three matches this week.
8. On paper, the Americans again entered the week as a ball-striking monster. By PGA Tour statistics this season, the U.S. had eight of the top 11 players competing this week in both strokes gained total and strokes gained approach per round. They also had a better average ranking in proximity to the hole in virtually every tracked category.
The difference ended up being just as stark as the preview numbers indicated. Per Data Golf, the Americans had each of the top-six performers this week in strokes gained tee-to-green. They had six of the top-eight in strokes gained approach, boasting about a 16-shot advantage in that metric over their opponents as a team. Statistically, the Internationals putted slightly better, but it was nowhere near enough to overcome the flag-rattling Americans.
HOMA HOLE-OUT!
@MaxHoma is all business after hooping in on 1. pic.twitter.com/8OdlAiCEXI— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 29, 2024
9. Now 44 years old, there’s a chance that this was Adam Scott’s final Presidents Cup appearance as a player. Scott is still playing extremely high-level tour golf – he was sixth on the PGA Tour this season in scoring average – but the possibility certainly looms. If he’s done, Scott will have walked away having never won one of these, though he undoubtedly will have an opportunity to do so as captain if he wishes.
Scott posted a 2-3-0 match record this week, winning both his foursomes matches alongside Canadian Taylor Pendrith. Sunday was Scott’s 54th career match played in the Presidents Cup, one behind Phil Mickelson’s record for most in the event’s history. It’s incongruous with his lengthy, highly successful career, but his 28 matches lost are 10 more than any other player of all-time at the Presidents Cup.
10. The 2026 Presidents Cup will be held at Medinah Country Club, site of the historic Sunday comeback victory by Europe at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
That was also the last Ryder Cup won by a team on foreign soil. Bradley and the Americans will try to keep that the case next year at Bethpage Black. Europe won last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome by a comfortable five-point margin.
(Top photo of Xander Schauffele: Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)
