MEDINAH, Ill. – U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker won't have to second-guess the outcome of this Presidents Cup. He went from blaming himself for a three-point deficit to watching the Americans deliver the biggest Sunday rout in tournament history to win for the 11th straight time.
Outplayed over three days in team matches at Medinah, the Americans flipped two key singles matches on the back nine — one from two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, the other from 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun. And it was a rush of red scores at the end.
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President Donald Trump was on the first tee for the start of 12 singles matches, and he kept his speech short. “It’s going to be a very interesting game of golf,” he said.
That it was, even if the outcome was all to familiar.
The Americans won nine of the 12 singles and halved the final match on the course when the Presidents Cup already was decided, adding to a 17-13 victory.
Trump, the honorary chairman of the Presidents Cup, stuck around for the trophy presentation, just like he did after another American victory at Liberty National in 2017 during his first term.
The U.S. rally wasn't on edge the way it was in 2012 when Europe stormed from a 10-6 deficit at Medinah to win the Ryder Cup. The Americans at least had a home crowd on their side, loud and boisterous all day, and over the top on one occasion.
Someone yelled in the backswing of Nico Echavarria, causing him to drop the driver as his ball sailed to the right. Scottie Scheffler barked at the fan, and after missing a birdie putt, he conceded a 30-foot par to the Colombian in a show of sportsmanship.
Scheffler went on to win. So did Cameron Young and Justin Thomas and Chris Gotterup as the deficit shrunk and soon turned into another comfortable victory.
“I told the guys last night that funny stuff happens here. Medinah has a history of funny things happening," said Snedeker, who was on that losing Ryder Cup team in 2012. “Sure enough, they went out and played their (tails) off today. I'm so damn proud of those guys.”
That group included Koivun, who just over a year ago was on the winning Walker Cup team for amateurs. Just four months ago, he helped Auburn to an NCAA golf title. And there he was Sunday, going from a 2-down deficit to a 2-up victory and hitting clutch shots on the 18th to secure a win.
“The kid is special. He’s different,” Snedeker said. “You saw that for a 21-year-old kid to stand up there and hit those last two balls like he did. Not many people like that.”
Patrick Cantlay had another moment, as he always seem to do in these events, holing a birdie putt from just inside 60 feet on the par-3 16th against hard-luck Adam Scott.
Five matches remained on the course — the Americans were 1 up in three of them, the other two were all square. All the Internationals had to do was find three points from them. The Americans simply refused to budge.
Koivun was 2 down through 10 holes to the Internationals' top performer this week, Si Woo Kim, when he won three straight holes to flip the color to American red on the board. The kid drilled his tee shot on the 18th, and twirled his iron when he knew the approach was pure. He wound up with a 2-up victory, and then it was a matter of time.
The clinching point came from Jacob Bridgeman, who was 1 down with three to play. He rolled in a 3-foot par putt for a 1-up victory over Min Woo Lee, assuring the Americans the 15 1/2 points they needed.
“It was sort of on a knife's edge all day,” Internationals captain Geoff Ogilvy said. "Some of those 1-downs that we had out there, if they’d flipped to 1-up, the numbers look really good, and who knows what momentum can give.
“But look, it’s a very difficult thing to beat the U.S. in singles in the U.S,” he said. “They’re great players, and the crowd came out for them. They get a bit of red on the board, and the noise gets loud. They started the day with a lot to do and they all played great.”
All the Internationals can do is regroup and try again at Kingston Heath in Australia is two years. Their only victory was at Royal Melbourne in 1998, and there was a tie in South Africa in 2003.
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