United States team member Keegan Bradley hits his shot from the 4th tee during his fifth round singles match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club on Sunday, September 29, 2024 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
L’ÃŽLE-BIZARD”“SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE, Que. – South Korea’s Si Woo Kim missed a birdie putt on No. 18 to lose to Keegan Bradley as the United States clinched an 18 1/2 to 12 1/2 win over the International team at the Presidents Cup.
Bradley’s victory gave the Americans the 15 1/2 points required to win the tournament with five matches still on the course Sunday at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
It’s the U.S.’s 10th consecutive win at the elite biennial tournament.
The Presidents Cup sees 12 Americans play 12 golfers from around the world, excluding Europe.
All 24 golfers played in individual matches in the final round, with the Internationals entering the day trailing by four points.
Each match is worth a point and a score of 15 1/2 is needed to win the tournament. The Americans held an 11-7 lead heading into the final round, meaning the Internationals needed to take at least eight matches and earn one tie out of the 12 pairings to win.
The largest final-round comeback in Presidents Cup history was when the Americans rallied from a two-point deficit at Australia’s Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 2019.
Medinah Country Club outside Chicago will host the next Presidents Cup in 2026.
Xander Schauffele got the first match of the day done quickly, beating Australia’s Jason Day 4&3.
South Korea’s Tom Kim, easily the most outspoken member of the International team, backed up his words with a birdie on No. 15 to earn a draw with Sam Burns.
World No. 7 Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, the highest-ranked member of the Internationals, eked out a 1-Up win over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
At almost the same time, Russell Henley completed a 3&2 victory over South Korea’s Sungjae Im.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., breathed life into the Internationals’ cause with a 5&3 win over Tony Finau in the Canadian’s best performance of the week.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., conceded to Patrick Cantlay on the 16th green for a 3&1 loss to move the Americans to within a point of winning the tournament.
Si Woo Kim could have tied his match against Bradley if he’d sunk his birdie putt on No. 18, but he missed for the 1-Up loss.
After the Americans clinched their victory, play continued.
Australia’s Min Woo Lee birdied the par-4 No. 18 to earn a tie with Wyndham Clark. Sanith Theegala missed his birdie putt on the 18th green to tie South Korea’s Byeong Hun An.
Collin Morikawa then earned a 2&1 victory over Australia’s Adam Scott before South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout topped Brian Harman 2&1.
Max Homa beat Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 2&1 in the tournament’s final match. It was the first time that three Canadians played in the event.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2024.
