The U.S. won the Presidents Cup again, this time by a score of 18.5 to 11.5, for their 10th straight victory.
The international loss at Royal Montreal marked the largest margin of victory by an away team in Presidents Cup history and gave the United States a sense of renewed glory.
But that wasn't the case.
Of the 30 games played this week, the U.S. won only one hole over the international tournament. This is an amazing reality.
The game was surprisingly close, especially after the home team tied it up at five o'clock on Friday. No one expected that to happen, especially after the United States' overwhelming victory in the opening Four-Ball game on Thursday. But even that sweep was a little harsh. The U.S. won just eight holes Thursday, 20-12 through five games, but came much closer than the 5-0 blowout on paper.
The Internationals then dominated the Friday foursome and won with 27 holes. The United States, on the other hand, convened only seven people. The Internationals rode the momentum and secured all five points.
It was a close game Saturday as well, but the U.S. pulled away in the second half of both sessions and broke the hearts of the international team until the end. In the morning four-ball, the U.S. won three of the four points, but only won three more holes than the International.
Similar results continued in the afternoon foursome. The Americans won 22 holes and the Internationals won 19. However, the final two games of the day ended in 1-up victories for the United States. As the sun went down, Patrick Cantlay sank a birdie putt on the 18th in the final game. This gave the away side an 11-7 advantage going into Sunday's singles match. If those two results had been reversed, the score would have been tied at nine going into Sunday.
Still, the International still won more holes through the first four sessions. The home team won with a total of 69 holes, and the American team won with 63 holes.
However, the competition was all but over at that point, as the United States had a stronger team and had greater historical success. The U.S. only needed 4.5 more points to win the Presidents Cup again, and next year's Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley accomplished that with a 1-up victory over Kim Si-woo in the sixth game of the day. .
Despite the disadvantage he faced in singles, the International won with 47 holes to America's 54. The overall total was 117 holes for America and 116 holes for International.
“There's basically one hole. It was close,” international captain Mike Weir said Sunday night.
“That's why it's tough, because we know how close it was. We know some things can go right, but at least today the day started a lot differently. It could have started, and who knows if it wouldn't have resulted in such a deficit.”
In last year's Ryder Cup at Rome's Marco Simone, the Europeans defeated the Americans 16.5 to 11.5, with the home team winning an additional 25 holes throughout the tournament.
Two years ago, the U.S. defeated the International 17.5 to 12.5 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, a closer score than in Montreal. However, the Americans won 26 more holes than their opponents, proving they were in the lead all week.
This past week in Canada was completely different.
“Unfortunately, the result is the same,” said Adam Scott, who just completed his 11th Presidents Cup appearance.
“I think when you dig deep, you always see the positives. Hopefully, this tournament inspires all of us sitting here to play seriously and continue our careers over the next two years and continue to play in big events.” I hope that winning gives us the motivation to come back, better prepared and ready to win in Chicago.” ”
The Presidents Cup will return to the United States in 2026 with Medina No. 3 in Illinois. The last time a major event was held at the famous Chicagoland course was in 2012, when Europeans stormed home on Sunday, shocking the Americans at home. The U.S. team, known as the “Miracle of Medina,” entered Sunday singles with a 10-6 lead, but lost in eight matches, lifting Europe to a state of glory while the Americans found themselves in the depths of trouble. I was driven to.
The international team is hoping to do what the Europeans did back then, upset the Americans on their home soil and win the Presidents Cup for the first time since 1998. They have the talent and camaraderie to do it, and the statistics back it up.
“I felt like there was an evolution over the past four or five years under this Shield over the last two cup games, and there was buy-in from the players from each country,” Scott added.
“It's something they're eager to play for. And I felt like it's been a great journey so far. The personalities have been great. This week, we've had some guys on the golf course in hot competition. I think we saw some players with unexpected personalities, and some that we expected as well.”
Through Canadian best friends Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Connors, we saw their personalities shine through as they delighted the local crowd. Tom Kim and Siwoo Kim similarly celebrated on some holes as if they had won the U.S. Open. They ignited the spirit to ignite the game and entertain golf fans around the world.
It will definitely happen again in 2026. That's when this team comes back with a vengeance. Internationals will not shy away from America's dominance over the past two decades, but will instead point to statistics that show how close it really has come.
One hole.
The difference was one hole and a few bad breaks along the way. But that happens in golf. Nevertheless, when looking back at the 2024 Presidents Cup, people first need to remember that, yes, that Cup was much closer than the final score indicated.
It certainly was.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
