United States beats International team for 10th consecutive Presidents Cup win
The International team just didn't have a second historic comeback in them at the Presidents Cup.
South Korea's Si Woo Kim missed a birdie putt on No. 18 to lose to Keegan Bradley in the tournament-winning match and the United States went on to beat the Internationals 18 1/2 to 12 1/2 on Sunday in the final round of the Presidents Cup.
The International team trailed by four points entering the final day of play, two days after they had responded to a 5-0 first-round shutout with a 5-0 clean sheet in the second round.
"We're all competitors and the result stinks, but man, the memories that we made," said Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., who was playing in the elite biennial men's golf tournament for the first time.
"The feelings we had on the golf course Friday will be something I think about for a long time."
Bradley's victory gave the Americans the 15 1/2 points required to win the tournament with five matches still on the course at Royal Montreal Golf Club. It was the U.S.'s 10th consecutive win at the elite biennial tournament.
The Americans held an 11-7 lead heading into Sunday's final round, meaning the Internationals needed to take at least eight matches and earn one tie out of the 12 pairings to win.
"The results don't do justice for how close these matches were," said Hughes. "If we played the last couple holes better in a few matches, this thing could swing the other way."
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.
"I just love these guys. I love their fight and what I saw out there today, all week, from the get-go, they battled right to the end," said Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., the first Canadian to ever captain the International team. "That's all you can ask from the captain is what I asked them to do, and they responded and did that."
The Presidents Cup sees 12 Americans play 12 golfers from around the world, excluding Europe. The Ryder Cup, when the U.S. plays Europe's top players, is held on opposite years.
Medinah Country Club outside Chicago will host the next Presidents Cup in 2026.
Showmanship was an integral part of the Internationals' strategy throughout the tournament. They had repeatedly said they were trying to make the most of their home-field advantage at Royal Montreal to try and overcome a stacked American roster that featured five of the top 10 players in the world.
South Korea's Tom Kim said on Saturday that his American opponents had sworn at him and fellow South Korean Si Woo Kim during their fourth-round match. However, he apologized to Xander Schauffele and American captain Jim Furyk after the tournament concluded.
"I've always felt like there's such a good sportsmanship between us," said Tom Kim. "It was just outside the ropes, and I felt like that was a little misunderstanding on my part, which I should have explained better."
Schauffele got the first match of the day done quickly, beating Australia's Jason Day 4&3.
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.
"It showed that we're great competitors and we're really good players and can compete with the Americans," said Conners. "So definitely a positive day.
"But as of right now, it definitely kind of stinks not to have gotten the better of them."
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 Hughes 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
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Kris Kristofferson, singer-songwriter and actor, dies at 88
Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
Trump says there's 'something wrong' with Harris and that she's 'mentally impaired'
Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'
Death toll reaches 84 as Hurricane Helene rips across U.S. southeast
The U.S. southeast grappled with rising death tolls, a lack of vital supplies and widespread loss of homes and properties with the devastating toll of Hurricane Helene.
What is open and closed this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
Two and a half years after losing her best friend and first love to suicide, Brooke Ford shared her story of grief and resilience at the CMHA Windsor-Essex Suicide Awareness Walk.
鈥業t's very unfair鈥: International students face uncertain future in Canada after rule change
Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students 'in limbo.'
John Ashton, 'Beverly Hills Cop' actor, dies at 76
John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the 'Beverly Hills Cop' films, has died. He was 76.
Local Spotlight
When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.