Golf

2024 Presidents Cup: USA Reasserts Supremacy With 10th Straight Win Over International Team

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Sep 30, 2024 / 3381 Views

Evan Walker

Team events like the 2024 Presidents Cup are not just a compilation of tales of camaraderie and astute leadership — these are also opportunities to step up and script personal landmarks while bonding with teammates through the week on the golf course and outside it; and Keegan Bradley of the US team experienced this on the final day of action, September 29.

Bradley, who will lead the US Team at the Ryder Cup versus Europe next year at Bethpage Black in New York, was seeking redemption, and he found it on the 18th green of the Royal Montreal Golf Club. The International Team’s Si Woo Kim missed a six-footer, and 1-Up win for Bradley sealed the winning point for the US Team for a final scoreline of 18.5-11.5.

The visitors made it 10 wins in a row for a record as formidable as it can get. As a lot of the International Team players claimed, the team will stay hungry and get better. But till that happens, they go into 2026 for an away assignment at Medinah, Illinois, with a record that will take a lot to set right. Since the inception of the Presidents Cup in 1994, the Internationals have finished on the right side of a result just once in 1998, and tied with the US in 2003.

US team wins the 2024 Presidents Cup

Setting the record straight

For all his achievements on the PGA Tour as a seven-time title-holder, Bradley had been hurting for over a decade after a heartbreak moment at the 2014 chapter of the Ryder Cup, which also marked the last time he featured in a team event for the US. That incident saw him up against Jamie Donaldson in a Sunday singles match. Bradley blinked, and his loss handed Europe the winning point at Gleneagles.

Since then, Bradley came close to making the US Team but never made it on points or as a captain’s pick.

He had all but given up hope, until his win at the BMW Championship — which came after almost not making the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs — reignited the spark. This turning point saw US captain Jim Furyk saying yes to Bradley as one of his picks.

If someone said the singles match against Si Woo Kim on Sunday was his last as a player, Bradley would have settled for it. “I was saying all week I didn’t know if I’d ever get to do this again. To just play in this tournament and then to win the point, my goodness, the last time I played, I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup,” he said, fighting hard to hold back the tears.

Staying away for a decade made the heart grow fonder, and being a part of the 2024 unit left Bradley a lot more appreciative of the team dressing room. “Oh! I missed the guys. The guys, they really love each other…It’s such an amazing atmosphere. I’m just so proud of the team and I’m proud of being here.”

As Ryder Cup captain, watching Jim Furyk marshal his troops in Montreal, especially after the Friday setback in foursomes that allowed the International Team to draw level briefly, allowed a lot of insight.

Bradley will surely bring his style of captaincy into the US dressing room a year down, but Furyk has given him a template. “I learned a lot. What Jim did with the team room, what he did with team meetings, what he did with the pairings, what he did on Sunday through Wednesday, having us play matches against each other,” he said.

Spirit and effort

The Internationals went into Sunday trailing 7-11, and despite Xander Schauffele beating Jason Day for the first point of the day, hope floated, and it wasn’t without reason. Up next was the effervescent Joohyung (Tom) Kim, and he tied Sam Burns after recovering from a deficit.

“We play great and we keep falling short sometimes, but I’m not losing hope… But when you lose so many times, there’s always a story where people come back. Winning doesn’t last forever. There’re eventually times when you’re going to lose. There’re going to be times where lip-outs are going to go our way. A few breaks, a few bounces are going to go our way, and that’s going to make a difference,” Kim had said in his unmistakable style of urging his teaMMAtes.

Rich in form after two wins this season on the PGA Tour, the week though hadn’t unfolded the way Hideki Matsuyama would have liked, and the win against Scottie Scheffler would have been the biggest catalyst for an upset win.

The Japanese Golfer, playing his sixth edition, did just that by upsetting the World No 1 on the 18th green with a putt that was crafted with shaking hands. Matsuyama hoped his second win of the week would be the springboard, but the Internationals needed a lot more than pure spunk.

Raw feeling

The result will stay raw for a while, but International captain Mike Weir will be proud of his boys, and the way they fought the celebrated Americans.

“It’s tough to take, but I love these guys. I love their fight and what I saw out there all week. From the get-go, they battled right to the end and that’s all you can ask for as captain. It was just a special week, special bonding with all of us,” said Weir, Canada’s eight-time winner on the PGA Tour.

For Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, the three players to carry the Canadian flag, the week will go down as a career highlight.

Hughes summed it up. “Being with this group was the highlight of my career, and it was amazing to go to battle with these guys…We’re all competitors and the result stinks, but the memories we made, Friday, the feelings we had on the golf course that day will be something I think about for a long time.”

Colossal contributor

The lingering theme from Royal Montreal would be another run of US supremacy, but Adam Scott created a legacy of his own by entering the record books as the player with the most points for the International Team.

Tied with Ernie Els for a while, Scott broke the tie in his favourite foursomes format on Friday, and logged his 22nd point by beating Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa while teaming up with Taylor Pendrith.

The seasoned Aussie added to the record on Saturday, with Pendrith again, in the 2-Up win against Brian Harman and Max Homa.

Done with 11 editions, Scott, 44, is ready to consider a 12th appearance in 2026. “I think I can play for another couple years. I’ve come this far and if I can play in a couple more years and contribute a point, I’d love to be on a winning Presidents Cup team. I believe there’s something happening with this team internally under this Shield (the International Team logo). I’d love to push along and give it one more shot if I can,” he said.

From the winning corner

Coming to a foreign land, Jim Furyk and his team were prepared for a lot of chatter from the Canadian fans, which the US captain said the International players used to their advantage. But his faith in the bunch he had carefully selected was unshakable.

“The Canadian fans are good Sports fans, so I knew they would bring it and I knew these guys could handle that… I’d go to battle with these 12 guys any time. Very tough, strong minded, uNFLappable, don’t get frazzled.”

As a player who contributed to the US team on numerous occasions in the past, and now as captain, Furyk offered a balanced view on their performance at the 2024 Presidents Cup. “The camaraderie, teamwork, bus rides, the team room, I loved hanging with the guys and being part of the group and having a common bond and trying to come together to do something special.

“I was blessed to be their captain. They were a captain’s dream. These guys get along so well, and when it got tough, anytime the Internationals put some pressure on us, they played their asses off for us. I’m just so proud to be a part of it,” he said.

More about the 2024 Presidents Cup and the US team’s victory here.

(Main and featured image: Minas Panagiotakis/ Getty Images North America/ Getty Images via AFP)