U.S. Takes 10th Straight President's Cup
There may have been times throughout the week when the 2024 President's Cup looked like it was in doubt for the United States, but Sunday was not one of those times. The Americans birdied 15 of their first 31 holes in Sunday singles matches at Royal Montreal Golf Club ultimately cruising to a 10th consecutive victory at the event. The U.S. won 18.5 to 11.5 over the Internationals claiming the most decisive victory for an away team in Presidents Cup history and the largest for either side since 2017.
Xander Schauffele started the wave of red, white and blue with a 4 & 3 rout of Jason Day to win the first point of the day, and the United States' momentum never subsided. Ultimately, it was Keegan Bradley -- yes, 2025 Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley -- who scored the event-clinching point by winning 1 UP over Si Woo Kim to secure the President's Cup.
There was little drama outside of a short, small uprising about halfway through the day in which the International team looked like it could make the competition interesting. It started earning half points instead of full ones, though, as Bradley and Co. just kept rolling.
Let's take a look at the complete scoreboard from Sunday and dive into some of the higher-profile matches.
Xander Schauffele (United States) wins 4 & 3 over Jason Day (International): Schaffuele, the No. 2 player in the world, capped a 4-1-0 week with this crucial early win. He made four birdies through his first 13 holes on Sunday and, at 8.55 strokes gained (per Data Golf), stood as the best player in the field this week. That fits what we saw across all five matches he played as Schauffele, a two-time major champion this year, proved to be the straw that stirred the drink for the Americans.
Sam Burns (United States) halves with Tom Kim (International): This match was electric late as these two were a combined 4 under with five birdies over the final six holes. Both hit it to 4 feet or less on No. 17 and both made birdie before they rounded things out with pars on 18 to halve the match. The problem for the International team is that the Americans could easily halve their way to winning the event while the Internationals needed full points.
Hideki Matsuyama (International) wins 1 UP over Scottie Scheffler (United States): Scheffler, the world No. 1, chipped in on the first hole and birdied the second. It looked as if one Masters champion was going to light up another one. However, Matsuyama birdied seven of the last 12 holes and flipped the match on the 14th before closing out a big point for the International side.
Russell Henley (United States) wins 3 & 2 over Sungjae Im (International): Henley touched off a massive week for him with an easy vicotry over Im, who like on Day 1, struggled to find any birdies. This was not the best match on the course as it ended, somewhat fittingly, with an Im bogey on the 16th hole as Henley pushed the U.S. side to 13.5 points, within two of the title.
Corey Conners (International) wins 5 & 3 over Tony Finau (United States): Conners blasted Finau, who was terrible throughout this round. Finau took an early lead with a birdie at the second but made three bogeys in the middle of his round to lose three consecutive holes. He did not make a single birdie the rest of the way. Conners closed him with four birdies in his last six holes to win big over one of America's more consistent team event players.
Patrick Cantlay (United States) wins 3 & 1 over Taylor Pendrith (International): This was a tremendous match between Pendrith and probably America's second-best player this week. Both players birdied the first hole, and there were 12 birdies between the pair over the course of 17 holes. Cantlay narrowly finished second in the field in total strokes gained on the week behind only alternate shot partner Schauffele, of course.
Keegan Bradley (United States) wins 1 UP over Si Woo Kim (International): Bradley said after his round that he thought about how his match was the one that lost the Ryder Cup in 2014, a full 10 years ago. He was proud that he got go clinch a team event this time around. The crazy part is that Bradley is going to be the captain of next year's U.S. Ryder Cup team, which will try and take the trophy back from the European side. It seems unlikely that he'll be on that team as a player as well, and he acknowledged that in an emotional post-round interview.
"The last time I played, I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup," Bradley said. "If this is my last run as a player [in team events] -- maybe it is -- then I'm happy with that."