United States rallies to capture dramatic Presidents Cup over International team

For most of its existence, the Presidents Cup has been a junior varsity version of the Ryder Cup, uncompetitive — the United States had a 13-1-1 record against International players prior to this year — and, for the most part, unremarkable.

That all changed this year. An International squad outmatched statistically overwhelmed the United States on the fairways and greens of Medinah Country Club, and what had been a sleepwalk for the United States for virtually the entire century suddenly became a fight for every single point all the way down to the final matches. The United States claimed 15.5 points to win the Cup with two matches still on the course, and won the event by a final score of 17-13.

The Presidents Cup Sunday matches included everything from dramatic clinching shots to an exceptional display of sportsmanship , and in the end, the event justified itself — in large part because the United States can no longer take the Presidents Cup for granted.

Regardless of the result, the United States is now in the grips of a full-blown match play crisis following its humiliating team performances earlier in the week. Between this week and last year's Ryder Cup implosion, the United States appears to have no clue at all of how to win team match play reliably, despite having most of the best players in the world on its roster.

With less than a year waiting until the Ryder Cup, the United States has little time to fix its many team match play problems. "They just putted better" isn't an excuse for struggling on your home greens, and the difficulties of stars like Scottie Scheffler in match play aren't the kind of problems that solve themselves. The earth has shifted under the United States' feet, and the Americans need to figure out how to steady themselves if they'll ever regain their past dominance.

But for the moment, the United States can revel in this victory, which came about through individual resilience and strong rookie performances. That's a good place for the Americans to start to build a new team foundation.

Early sessions: The Internationals take charge

Coming into the week, there was little indication that the International Team would be any more competitive this year than they've been since 1998, the last (and only) time they'd won this event outright. Eight of the top 11 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are on the American roster. J.J. Spaun, left at home by team captain Brandt Snedeker, would have been the highest-ranked player on the International team. Si Woo Kim, at No. 14, is the Internationals' highest-ranked player.

And yet, when team match play begins, none of those individual rankings seem to matter a bit. The United States won the Thursday fourballs session , taking three matches to the Internationals' two, a respectable but not dominating performance in the better-ball event.

"We just did our best to stay in it," Scottie Scheffler said after wrangling a 1-up win with Sam Burns over Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im. "I felt like both teams got off to pretty hot starts today and we cooled off a little bit off that."

On Friday, though, the United States' wheels came off. In foursomes, where the players must alternate shots on the same ball, the Internationals thoroughly dominated, winning all five of the day's sessions. That gave the Internationals a solid 7-3 cushion heading into Saturday.

"You're going to have sessions like this in these things," Snedeker said afterward. "I feel terrible for the guys because I know they grinded out there and gave me everything they had today, and it wasn't meant to be."

Given a chance to close the gap again in a fourball session, the United States could only manage 2.5 points out of 4, narrowing their deficit by just a single point to 8.5-5.5. And then came the second fourball session, which turned out to be a devastating blow to the United States' hopes.

The Americans, at one point, led in all four foursomes matches; if they'd held their lead, they would have entered Sunday with a one-point lead. But the United States let two of the matches slip through their fingers, and as a result trailed by three points after three days , 10.5-7.5.

Snedeker made the debatable decision to bench Scheffler — who has a 1-8-1 record in team foursomes but remains the world's best golfer — on Saturday afternoon. But Snedeker had nothing to do with the way the United States surrendered its control of the foursomes on Saturday afternoon.

Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark posted an early 2-up lead over Ryan Fox and Lee, and were tied as late as the 12th hole, before falling 3 and 2. Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman held 3-up leads two different times, including as late as the 10th hole, before Corey Conners and Nick Taylor went on a tear and birdied four of the next five holes to win 1-up. Even a halve by Henley and Bridgeman would have helped tighten the overall gap to two points.

"I've just got to figure out ways to get these guys in better situations," Snedeker said Saturday evening. "I don't think I've held up my end of the bargain. The guys have done everything I've asked of them so far. I think we've got a great match for [Sunday]. I think we've got a great lineup here. I'm excited about what the guys can bring [Sunday]."

Sunday singles: The United States' last chance

Sunday marked the first time that the Internationals had held a lead on United States soil. With the score at 10.5-7.5, the Internationals needed just five points from the 12 matches, while the United States needed to win eight total points to hold onto the cup.

A fiery, partisan gallery greeted the players from the day's opening tee shots. The United States spent much of the day with red up and down the in-progress leaderboard, but the challenge for the Americans all week wasn't starting, it was finishing. Cam Young notched the United States' first point of Sunday, rallying from a 2-down deficit to defeat Ryo Hisatsune 3&2 in the lead singles match.

Justin Thomas notched the second United States point, knocking off Conners 5&3, but shortly afterward, Tom Kim picked up the first International point of the day by beating Wyndham Clark 3&2.

Mindful of the way that the Bethpage Black's galleries wrecked the entire image of the Ryder Cup, Scheffler conceded the 14th hole to Nico Echavarria after a fan shouted in Echavarria's backswing.

Echavarria made it interesting with a miraculous chip on 16, but Scheffler closed him out on the 17th green to draw the United States within a point of the Internationals, and within five points of retaining the Cup. Soon afterward, Im knocked off Sam Burns 3&1, giving the Internationals a bit more breathing room as the day grew late.

Slowly, inexorably, the United States' talent began to assert itself. With eight groups remaining on the course and all within the final six holes, the United States' red obliterated the Internationals' gold on the scoreboard. The best example of the United States' vibe reversal: Patrick Cantlay's 57-foot putt to keep the pressure on Adam Scott:

Nearly two hours after Young put the day's first point on the board for the United States, Chris Gotterup finally dispatched Christiaan Bezuidenhout to claim another and pull within a single point of the Internationals and four points away from victory. Cantlay followed up with a win over Scott to tie the match, and seconds later, Collin Morikawa dispatched Hideki Matsuyama in the day's most entertaining back-and-forth match. That left the United States one point ahead, 13.5 to 12.5, and just two points away from retaining the Cup.

In the final slot, Xander Schauffele spent the afternoon decimating fellow Open champion Ryan Fox, meaning that the Internationals needed to win all three of the remaining matches outright. Jackson Koivun, the 21-year-old who was playing for Auburn just a few months ago, virtually eliminated that possibility when he closed out Si Woo Kim to move the United States to 14.5 points.

The winning putt fell to rookie Jacob Bridgeman, who closed out Lee on the 18th green:

The United States claimed the Cup, but the questions for the larger American team golf effort remain.