MONTREAL — (AP) — Xander Schauffele led a red-scoring onslaught with four straight birdies Sunday, and the American won his 10th consecutive Presidents Cup with the usual inevitable result. fulfilled.
Sam Burns ends an unbeaten week, Russell Henry caps off his impressive Presidents Cup debut with a win and Keegan Bradley, who will be Ryder Cup captain next year, is number 18 and Kim Si-woo is number 10 He got the winning goal when he missed the putt of his foot. hole.
With five games still left, the Americans had the 15 1/2 points needed for victory.
“Wow, that was unbelievable,” said Bradley, who is playing for a U.S. team for the first time in 10 years. “The last time I played, I almost lost the Ryder Cup. Even if this is my last round as a player, which it probably is, I’m happy with it.”
The Internationals needed everything to do well at Royal Montreal. All they managed to do was fight better, closer, but still fall short of the cup.
Their only win since that tournament, which featured players from countries other than Europe, was at Royal Melbourne in 1998, long before Tiger Woods had made his Presidents Cup debut. . The United States’ winning streak dates back to 2005.
The Americans got the winner from captain Jim Furyk, who was in charge of France’s loss to Europe in the Ryder Cup five years ago.
“Those players were great,” Furyk said. “It was a really good group of 12, an easy-going bunch. There was great leadership at the top. They made the captain’s job really easy and they played their hearts out this week. They played hard on the back nine. He played really well.”
Furyk sent Schauffele out in the opener against Jason Day, and the cool Californian took control from the start with five birdies in eight holes. It ended on the 15th hole.
“All 12 of us can compete,” Schauffele said. “My goal was just to set the tone and get red on that board as quickly as possible, and I was able to accomplish that.”
He sank a 45-foot birdie putt on Day on the opening hole to get within birdie range, then made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifth to take his first lead and never let up.
Burns was the only undefeated player. Tom Kim missed a 6-foot birdie putt for the lead on the 16th hole, but squeezed his tee shot within 3 feet on the par-3 17th. Burns pulled his pitching wedge to 4 feet for birdie, then made an up-and-down on the final hole to take the half point and push the Americans even closer.
Kim sparked the international team’s fire during the opening session by fist-pumping and provoking Scheffler with words of congratulations. He said the tide would turn at some point, and the 22-year-old Korean firmly believed it would be Sunday.
Not just this Sunday.
“I feel like there are stories where people always come back no matter how many times they lose. Victories don’t last forever,” Kim said. “Sometimes the altercations will go our way. A few breaks, a few bounces will go our way and that will make the difference. We are playing great and , sometimes we fall short, but we don’t lose hope.”
In the Internationals, Hideki Matsuyama defeated Scotty Scheffler to earn points in a battle of Masters champions, and Corey Connors had an easy win over Tony Finau. However, they trailed 11-7 going into 12 singles. It was never enough.
They won only 12 times in the three singles sessions of the Presidents Cup, but each time by a margin of six points or more.
The International will now have to wait two more years for the 2026 game to be played in Medina, a Chicago suburb.
The Americans avoided missing out on a cup game last year, losing to Europe in the Ryder Cup outside of Rome. First time since 1998. Although the match was close, winning this golden trophy was not difficult at all.
Adam Scott will turn 46 in two years, and there’s a chance he’ll play in his 11th and final Presidents Cup without being on a winning team. He played the final hour of the match against Collin Morikawa and knew it wouldn’t matter if he lost 2-1.
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