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Presidents Cup 2024: Team USA Triumphs by a Clear Margin

Team USA won the Presidents Cup against the International Team. (Source: Getty)
Team USA won the Presidents Cup against the International Team. (Source: Getty)

At the Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada, the US team led by Jim Furyk achieved a convincing 18.5:11.5 victory over the international team. Scottie Scheffler and Co. brought their lead from Saturday into the clubhouse without any major worries in the final individual matches and ultimately secured a clear victory.

Presidents Cup: A strong final day brings the decision

The decisive Sunday began with a certain thrill: despite a 13:7 lead after the pairings on Saturday, the international team could theoretically have caught up with a strong individual performance on the final day. But Furyk relied on his stars and targeted his strongest players to bring about a preliminary decision as early as possible – and his tactics worked. The USA opened the final matchday with Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay in the front positions. It was a conscious decision to demonstrate US dominance early and prevent the possibility of an international comeback. This strategy paid off in full, as the US team took 3.5 out of a possible 5 points from the first five matches. “I have some great leaders on this team and these guys have taken command,” said Furyk as he stood on the 18th green at Royal Montreal. “They’ve taken control of the team.”

Schauffele, who was looking to make amends after a mixed performance at last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome, made a clear statement. He won his match against Australian rookie Min Woo Lee 3&2 and earned the first point of the day for the USA. Russell Henley also secured a dominant 4&3 win against Sungjae Im and left no doubt about his strength in singles play. Patrick Cantlay, who was already regarded as one of the strongest match play players on the US team, won a close duel against Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama with 2&1. Cantlay’s strong putt on the 17th hole gave him the victory and further increased the USA’s lead. Burns fought his way to a hard-fought draw against South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, giving the Americans another half point. Scottie Scheffler, the world number 1, also put in a convincing performance. Although he only secured a draw against the in-form Tom Kim, Scheffler played aggressively and courageously, especially on the back nine, and ensured that he did not concede another point to the international team.

Keegan Bradley Secures the Decisive Point

The emotional highlight of the tournament came when Keegan Bradley, the future Ryder Cup captain, won the decisive point. In his match against South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Bradley once again proved his strong nerves. With a solid 4&2 victory, he sealed the overall win for the US team even before all the matches had been completed. The remaining matches no longer had any effect on the final result. “It’s like a fairytale, almost like a movie,” said Bradley, visibly emotional after the win. “I can hardly believe it. You just have to work hard and good things happen.” After the tournament, the newly crowned Ryder Cup captain praised Furyk’s leadership style and announced that he wanted to adopt many of the principles implemented in Montreal. “Jim has created a culture of cohesion here and we will take a lot of that with us to Bethpage,” said Bradley.