While USA retained the Presidents Cup by a sizeable margin, the session from Royal Montreal which is likely to stay with golf fans the longest was the Internationals’ 5-0 clean sweep on Friday.
There was so much excitement ahead of this year’s Presidents Cup, with many genuinely feeling that the Internationals were ready to close the gap on USA. Mike Weir was leading a team which included three Canadians in Montreal, and there were so many promising signs at Quail Hollow two years ago.
However, they were brought back down to earth in emphatic fashion on Thursday, with USA winning all five matches on the opening day. While three of the matches went down 18, the Internationals barely led at any stage in any of the individual games. It really did appear that Jim Furyk‘s men already had one hand on the trophy.
So what followed was truly shocking.
Stewart Cink discusses Internationals’ 5-0 clean sweep at the Presidents Cup
Not only did the Internationals return the favour with a clean sweep, but they also recorded some stunning victories. Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im beat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 7&6; Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith beat Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala 5&4; and Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes beat Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau 6&5.
It really felt like a statement from the Internationals. And it seems that it took the American team room a little time to come to terms with the result. Speaking on Fairways of Life with Matt Adams, Stewart Cink suggested that it was remarkable how the US recovered.
“It was a body blow,” he said.
“To be honest I don’t think we expected to blank that second round, not one player in our team probably expected that. That was probably the number one thing I’m most proud of in our players, is to just continue to be themselves and play the golf they play, and face up to that Friday session with resolve and quality and intensity. And they looked like the same players they were on Thursday. Friday, they still looked like the same players to me too, it’s hard to say from just a little bit on the outside, the other team played exceptionally well in that session on Friday and they deserved to win those five points.”
Mike Weir’s men passed up their golden chance
That Saturday morning proved to be the key moment in deciding the final result. The Internationals had such a fantastic chance to take control of the event. However, it was almost as if their task became more complicated than when they found themselves 5-0 down. Weir’s team did not know whether to stick or twist, and the US took back the momentum.
Winning both sessions on Saturday 3-1 was such a statement from the Americans. Not only had they opened up a sizeable gap again, but they had also managed to ride the best punches the Internationals could throw at them.
From there, reaching the finishing line was a fairly simple task.
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