The USA Continues Dominance of Presidents Cup

With an air of inevitability, it fell on the shoulders of Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley to secure the point that ensured the USA delivered another heavy defeat on The Internationals to win the Presidents Cup for a 10th successive time.

The final margin of victory in Montreal was 18½-11½  and it left many onlookers wondering what on earth can be done to make this event more competitive. 

The USA led 5-0 after the first session but Mike Weir’s team gave their supporters some hope with a stunning comeback on day two to level the contest. It proved to be a false dawn, with Jim Furyk’s US team heading into the singles with an 11-7 advantage. It meant they required just 4½ points to retain the cup.

And Bradley duly beat Kim Si-woo to secure the winning point at Royal Montreal, with the US winning six of the singles matches and halving three.

"Wow, that was incredible," said Bradley, 38, who will be the US captain for next year's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island. He originally been named as a non-playing vice-captain for this event but was selected by Furyk after his excellent recent play.

"I didn't know if I would get to do this again and to be able to just play in this tournament, and to win the point... my goodness. The last time I played (2014), I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup. If this is my last round as a player - maybe it is - I'm happy with that."

Xander Schauffele set the Americans on their way with a 4&3 victory over Australian Jason Day in the opening contest. "My goal was just to set the tone, to get [American] red up on that board as early as possible, and I was able to do that," Schauffele said.

Schauffele, who has won two majors this year, finished the week with a 4-1-0 record, as did team-mates Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa. 

Bradley's only previous Presidents Cup appearance was when the US won in Ohio in 2013 and his two Ryder Cup appearances were defeats by Europe in 2012 and 2014.

"I'm so proud of the team and proud of being here," he said. "We're going to copy a lot of what [captain] Jim Furyk did this week [at the Ryder Cup]. He set a culture here for us, and we're going to carry that over into Bethpage. I hope a lot of these 12 are on that team."

All 12 players on the US team are ranked in the world's top 25, compared to four of the International players. South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (2-1-0) was the only International player with a winning record.