09/27/26 07:24:00
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09/27 19:23 CDT Americans rally in singles to win the Presidents Cup for the
11th straight time
Americans rally in singles to win the Presidents Cup for the 11th straight time
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) --- The deficit was larger than anything the Americans had
ever experienced at home in the Presidents Cup. The celebration Sunday
afternoon? That was all too familiar, even the part where President Donald
Trump stuck around for the trophy presentation.
The U.S. players --- from world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to 21-year-old rookie
Jackson Koivun --- passed the gold cup down the line, which was only fitting.
Everyone had a hand in the latest comeback at Medinah, where the Americans
delivered the most lopsided singles session in Presidents Cup history. They won
nine of the 12 matches and halved the other for a 17-13 victory, their 11th in
a row against the hard-luck Internationals.
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker went from blaming himself for the three-point
deficit to choking back emotions as his team set the tone early and rode
momentum and a raucous Chicago gallery late that left them believing again they
can succeed in team golf.
The real proof comes a year from now in Ireland for the Ryder Cup. For now, the
Americans redeemed themselves in a competition they have lost only once since
these matches began in 1994.
"Is it a record in singles? That doesn't happen unless you have a special group
of guys, and we do," Snedeker said. "I'm really proud of how they came
together."
It was a crushing blow to Geoff Ogilvy and his International team, which
outplayed the Americans in team matches over three days, taking the lead for
only the fourth time in the Presidents Cup, and the first time on American soil.
Five matches were on the course --- the U.S. were 1-up in three, the other two
were halved --- and the Internationals need to find three points to win the
cup. The Americans simply didn't budge.
"It just felt like it was sort of right on a knife edge for a massive part of
the day," Ogilvy said. "If you hole a couple of putts at the right time and get
a bit more yellow on the board at the right time, the momentum, and the crowd
sort of stays out of it a little bit.
"Just sort of started drifting away for us in the last few hours."
The Americans, outplayed down the stretch all week on the No. 3 course at
Medinah and Ogilvy's architecture company redesign, flipped two key matches on
the back nine. Collin Morikawa beat Hideki Matsuyama, and Koivun went from 2
down after 10 holes to a 2-up victory over Si Woo Kim.
Trump, the honorary chairman of the Presidents Cup, was on the first tee for
the start of the 12 singles matches and was there for the trophy presentation,
as he was at Liberty National in 2017 during his first term.
That was an American blowout. This one was tight, and yet it still felt
inevitable, nothing like the Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012 when Europe rallied
from a 10-6 deficit to win on the road.
The Americans rallied behind endless and boisterous cheers, some of which went
a little too far.
Someone yelled in the backswing of Nico Echavarria, causing him to drop the
driver as his ball sailed to the right. 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 in the early part of the lineup 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, turning a loss into a point and hitting clutch
shots at the end.
Koivun was 2 down through 10 holes to the 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 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."
The clinching point came from Jacob Bridgeman, another Presidents Cup rookie.
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 Adam
Scott, who now has played 12 times in this competition without ever being on
the winning side.
"Look, it's a very difficult thing to beat the U.S. in singles in the U.S.,"
Ogilvy 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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