If you only looked at the final score from the Presidents Cup, you would be forgiven for thinking that USA stormed to another emphatic victory over the Internationals as they lifted the trophy for a 13th time in 15 events.
USA won the Presidents Cup by a score of 18.5-11.5, with Jim Furyk‘s side winning four of the five sessions. Of course, it all appeared very bleak for Mike Weir‘s men when the US won every single match on the opening day at Royal Montreal.
There was real optimism for the Internationals heading into this event, after they had put up such a spirited showing in trying circumstances at Quail Hollow two years ago. And Weir opted to start with the four balls, with the Internationals traditionally doing better in that format. However, that was definitely not the case on Thursday.
Remarkably though, the Internationals returned the favour in the foursomes the following day. Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im blew Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay away. Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes meanwhile, beat Tony Finau and Wyndham Clark emphatically.
Kevin Kisner shares statistics from the Internationals which was unheard of during the Presidents Cup
It really did appear to be a huge opportunity for the Internationals. And while they were unable to capitalise, it was clearly a sign of their potential. Speaking on the Fore Play Podcast Plus, US vice-captain Kevin Kisner explained how stunned the Americans were by what happened on Friday.
“Here’s a crazy stat about their play on Thursday, they were -27 under in five matches in best ball, and most of them went late into the round, like 16, 17, 18. In alternate shot, the Internationals were -23 under in the same matches but they played like nine less holes too, because they ended 7&6 and 6&5,” he said.
“We’re sitting there in the team room like, ‘holy s—, they’re better at alternate shot than they are at best ball’, which is completely unheard of. And they almost did it again on Saturday, they played unbelievable on Saturday.”
The key moment at Royal Montreal
The Saturday morning was arguably the most impressive the US were all week. Suddenly, they found themselves on the ropes; and given the drama already, it really felt like the team who grabbed the initiative at that moment were likely to go on and win.
Stewart Cink spoke about how proud he was of the US team to go on and win both sessions on Saturday by a 3-1 scoreline to ensure that they went into the singles with a four point lead. From there, it was always going to be a massive task for Weir’s side to get themselves back into contention again.
There was a brief moment when a comeback looked possible, but it was telling that it was the sixth match of the day which provided the decisive point which took the US across the line.
The Internationals meanwhile, must have wondered what could have been had they flown out of the blocks again on Saturday morning when everything was in the balance.
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