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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