Weekly PGA Recap: A Presidential Performance

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

If you believe in Hollywood endings or poetic justice or the golf gods or even just plain old karma, the 15th edition of the Presidents Cup struck the perfect note.

Oh, not if you were rooting for the International team, which was handed a worse defeat than it ever had before on home soil. But the way the United States clinched the competition was just so, so right.

Keegan Bradley -- glumly snubbed for last year's Ryder Cup in the Netflix series "Full Swing," and who subsequently was named captain of next year's Ryder Cup -- clinched the deciding point for the Americans in their 18.5-11.5 pasting of the Internationals on Sunday at Royal Montreal.

Heck, that could be a Hollywood ending/poetic justice/golf gods/karma all rolled into one after Bradley defeated Si Woo Kim, 1-up.

"Geez. Wow, that was incredible," Bradley said in response to the very first question asked of him in Sunday evening's media session. "I was saying all week I didn't know if I'd ever get to do this again. To just play in this tournament and then to win the point, my goodness, the last time I played, I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup." 

That was at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland and Bradley hadn't been back since, even though many people thought he deserved a shot last year in Paris on the Ryder Cup team. But Bradley surely will be on the team next year -- heck, he already is -- as captain of the U.S. team at Bethpage Black against a European team that always puts up a better fight than the Internationals.

Still, this turned out to be the biggest U.S. road win ever in a Presidents Cup. In fairness, it was close for roughly 2 ½-3 days. The highlight -- at least if you just wanted to see a close match -- came when the Internationals came back from a 5-0 deficit after Thursday to tie things at 5-5 after Friday. The Americans opened up a four-point lead after Saturday's double session and just kept adding on Sunday.

There was not really any way U.S. captain Jim Furyk could've screwed this up, giving the Americans their 13th Presidents Cup win against one loss and one tie. Further, International captain Mike Weir likely couldn't have done enough different to win, though his heavy reliance on his three fellow Canadians, who were far from the stars of the team, surely deserves some examination.

"Oh, of course I'm going to be thinking about things I would have done differently," Weir said. "I think that's human nature, when you don't win, you're going to look at yourself in the mirror and see what you could have done different, no doubt about it. I have plenty of time to do that after."

The next Presidents Cup will be at Medinah in 2026, followed by Melbourne, Australia, in 2028 -- will we see Adam Scott captaining the Internationals then? -- and Bellerive in 2030.

UNITED STATES TEAM

Points won in parentheses

Xander Schauffele (4)
Even though Schauffele and longtime partner Patrick Cantlay split for parts of the competition, both golfers led the way with four points out of a possible five. In fact, their one loss came together, when they were boat-raced by Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im in Friday foursomes, 7&6. Schauffele came back for Sunday's lead singles match and got the American rout going with a 4&3 win over overmatched Jason Day. 

Patrick Cantlay (4)
While Schauffele played some with Tony Finau, Cantlay joined up with Sam Burns. In singles, Cantlay had little trouble with Taylor Pendrith, 3&1. Over the past 12 months, Cantlay has showed more in the Ryder and Presidents Cups than on the PGA Tour.

Collin Morikawa (4)
Morikawa was the Swiss Army knife of the U.S. team, partnering with Scottie Scheffler, Sahith Theegala and Sam Burns -- and winning with each of them. He also handled Scott in singles, 2&1.

Sam Burns (3.5)
Burns rebounded from a dreadful Ryder Cup a year ago. He won with multiple partners  -- Cantlay and Morikawa. He had had one of the tougher singles assignments in Tom Kim, and they tied in the second match out. No shame in that, especially with Furyk showing the confidence to send Burns out so early. With Burns' successful second half of the PGA Tour season followed by this strong performance, it's fair to wonder whether he will continue to improve next year and perhaps finally contend for a major.

Scottie Scheffler (3)
Scheffler was far better than he was in the last Presidents Cup and last Ryder Cup. His main partner was a bit of a surprise in Russell Henley, but they won two of three matches together. In one of the few surprises on Sunday, Scheffler lost to Matsuyama in a battle of the top golfers on each side, 1-up.

Russell Henley (3)
Henley's first Cup appearance of any kind as a professional was a great success, topped off with a 3&2 win over Im in Sunday singles. This course fit Henley's game much more than Bethpage Black will at next year's Ryder Cup. If he continues to play well, he'll likely be on that team. 

Keegan Bradley (2)
Bradley won only one other match besides his singles, and he played in only three total. He split two fourball matches with Wyndham Clark. Bradley certainly is still good enough to compete for titles on the PGA Tour. But next year his primary job will be the Ryder Cup captaincy. We'll see whether he can balance the two. He said if he qualifies for the team, he will be a playing captain but he wouldn't tab himself as a captain's pick. It would probably be best to stick to captaining no matter what. 

Tony Finau (2)
After being left off the Ryder Cup team last year, and deservedly so, Finau had the good fortune of being paired with Schauffele twice, and they won both those matches. But Finau got drubbed in two other matches, in foursomes with Clark against Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes, 6&5, and then against Conners in singles, 5&3. So, not a great Cup for Finau.

Sahith Theegala (1.5)
In Theegala's first of probably many team competitions, he won once with Morikawa, lost with Morikawa and tied Byeong Hun An in singles. It was a good entry into these types of competitions, as Theegala was not asked to carry a heavy load.

Wyndham Clark (1.5)
An automatic pick, Clark got to play four matches. He won only one. He tied his singles match against an inferior opponent in Min Woo Lee. He also has 1.5 points in last year's Ryder Cup. 

Max Homa (1)
Homa was a semi-controversial pick as his game had plummeted in 2024. He lost two matches alongside Brian Harman, another semi-surprise captain's pick. Homa won his singles, but he inspired little confidence from Furyk, going out in the 12th and last match. He defeated Hughes, 2&1, in a meaningless encounter after the Cup had been decided.

Brian Harman (0)
The only difference between Harman and Homa was that Harman lost his singles match, 2&1 to Christiaan Bezuidenhout. He was the only player on either team without a point. The U.S. won't get able to carry two players playing the way Homa and Harman were and expect to beat the Europeans next year in the Ryder Cup.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM

Points won in parentheses

Hideki Matsuyama (2)
The best player on the International side, Matsuyama lost three of four partner matches with Conners and Im, and the team had no shot of winning with that happening. Matsuyama did win his singles over Scheffler, and before the Cup was won, so that counts for a lot. 

Adam Scott (2)
Scott has played more Presidents Cup matches than anyone else -- in fact, heading into this year he had played more than the entire U.S. team combined. He's far from done as a player, as he's still ranked top-20 in the world. But he was forced to play five matches, and that speaks to the lack of depth on the team. He won only twice. He lost in singles to Morikawa, 2&1, though by then the Cup had been decided. It seems a natural fit that Scott should captain the Internationals in four years in Melbourne, by which time he will be almost 50 and unlikely a playing member of the team.

Si Woo Kim (2)
Kim was one of the Internationals' best players two years ago, so it was curious that he sat out Thursday's opening session. He again showed his strength by winning two of three matches, one in four-ball and one in foursomes, before falling to Bradley. That was a match Kim needed to win.

Corey Conners (2)
Not only did Weir go with three Canadians for his team, he played them a lot. Yes, they were at home and inspired the galleries. But Conners is simply not a five-match talent. He won only once in four four-ball/foursomes matches before blowing out Finau in singles.

Taylor Pendrith (2)
Pendrith also played five matches and didn't deliver accordingly. He lost to Cantlay in singles, 3&1, and that was at a time the Cup had not been decided. Pendrith deserved to be on the team but, like Conners, is not a five-match player.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (2)
Bezuidenhout got only three chances, and he won two of them. He didn't play at all on Saturday, which was a real snub by Weir. Bezuidenhout and Day beat Homa and Harman, then he beat Harman in singles. He probably could've helped in more pivotal matches.

Tom Kim (1.5)
For being the loudest guy on either side, Kim talked the talk but did not walk the walk. He played only four matches, which seemed a bit of an indictment of him by Weir. Yes, he did tie Burns in singles. But that was the second match of the day and a must-win for the Internationals. In fairness, we do need to remember that Kim is still only 22. 

Byeong Hun An (1.5)
An played both Thursday and Friday, and partnered with Kim to win Friday foursomes over Scheffler and Henley. He then didn't play at all on Saturday. Again, a head-scratching decision by Weir. An tied Theegala in singles on Sunday after the Cup was decided.

Sungjae Im (1)
This was a killer for the Internationals. Getting only one point from maybe their second-best player – and in five matches. Im certainly deserved to play five, and he needed to for the Internationals to have any shot. He and Matsuyama did destroy Schauffele and Cantlay in Friday foursomes, 7&6. But no matter how big a rout, one point doesn't cut it, especially after losing to Henley in singles.

Jason Day (1)
Day was trusted with only two matches over the first four sessions. Then, in another curious move by Weir, was in the all-important leadoff position on Sunday. Day got smoked by Schauffele, 4&3. Day deserves to be a captain one day. But if he's still qualifying to play on the team in two years, that won't be a good sign for the Internationals.

Mackenzie Hughes (1)
The third and most controversial Canadian selected by Weir, Hughes played a whopping four matches. He won only one. He was put in the 12th and final singles match, which makes you wonder why he then played three of first four sessions.

Min Woo Lee (0.5)
Lee got only two starts, playing Thursday and then sitting till Sunday. If Weir though highly enough Lee to go out in the first session alongside Scott, and they lost only 1-up to Morikawa and Theegala, why get benched after that? Lee tied Clark Sunday in a meaningless singles match.