The U.S. Team pulled off the biggest comeback in Presidents Cup history to win this year. The Americans were trailing the International Team by three points heading into Sunday’s Singles matches.
For the first time in Presidents Cup history, the International Team held a lead on foreign soil before the final day. But Sunday belonged to the American players, as they won the session 9.5 to 2.5 to win the Presidents Cup for the 11th straight time. The 7-point differential in Singles is the largest Singles point differential in Presidents Cup record books.
The tone was set early by Cameron Young, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler winning their matches and turning the momentum to the American side. Scheffler’s classiest moment came from conceding a 32-foot par putt to Nico Echavarria after a fan yelled during his backswing, causing Echavarria’s ball to flail short right of the green. Sungjae Im and Tom Kim were the only International players to win their matches on Sunday.
After losing the Im match, the American team won five straight matches, beginning with Chris Gotterup’s against Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1 UP). Gotterup’s best friend, Jacob Bridgeman, clinched the Presidents Cup for his team by defeating Min Woo Lee 1 UP as well.
21-year-old Jackson Koivun faced off against the International Team’s highest ranked player, Si Woo Kim, in the ninth Singles match. After the opening 10 holes, Koivun was 2 DOWN but then won four of the next five holes to go 2 UP.
Koivun showed he deserved to be one of Captain Snedeker’s captains picks by being the only player on either team to go undefeated (2-0-1). His partner in two Fourball matches, Justin Thomas, had this to say about him: “I hate to give him as much credit as I am, but he is really good at golf. He really just gets it; he’s very mature. It just was really cool to kind of just watch him do his thing.”
On the International side, T. Kim led all players with four points and was one of five players on the International Team to have played all five sessions.
The final question of the Presidents Cup is: Are the Americans actually good at team golf? While they won yet again this year, it was their Four-ball and Singles performances that led the way. Their Foursomes record – where they actually have to play with each other as a team – was abysmally low at 2-8 at Medinah.
The 2028 Presidents will be played in Australia at Kingston Heath Golf Club, one of the golf courses venues on the Melbourne Sandbelt. The 2030 Presidents Cup will return to America at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, MO.
The FedExCup Fall Series continues for the PGA Tour next week at the Bank of Utah Championship in Ivins, UT. In last year’s event, Michael Brennan earned his first career PGA Tour win by defeating Rico Hoey by four shots. Brennan will look to defend his title against a field that includes Max Homa, Jackson Koivun and Maverick McNealy.
