At Medinah Country Club, where 14 years ago Europe staged a "miracle" in the Ryder Cup, the Americans on Sunday produced one of their own. Trailing 7,5–10,5 before the final day, they took 9,5 points out of 12 in the singles and won 17–13. An eleventh consecutive victory in the Presidents Cup no longer looks like an accident, but a pattern.
The International team under the leadership of Mike Weir played an almost perfect week in the team formats. They won all five foursomes on Friday and held the lead until Saturday. The Canadians Corey Conners and Nick Taylor even beat Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. It seemed that at last the moment had come when the "rest of the world" would break American hegemony.
But on Sunday everything changed. Eight of the eleven best players in the world in the USA lineup went out for the singles and simply left no chances. Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and especially the 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun turned the matches around on the back nine. Koivun, having come back from two holes down against Si Woo Kim, became the symbol of this team — young, fearless and unbeaten over the week.
Captain Brandt Snedeker the day before reminded the players of the story of Medinah. "Strange things happen here," he said. And strange things did indeed happen: the Americans dominated in the individual matches, where depth of squad and psychological resilience matter more than team chemistry. The International team, assembled from players of different countries and continents, could not maintain its momentum.
The final point was made by Jacob Bridgeman, sinking a four-foot par putt on the 18th hole against Min Woo Lee. 17–13 — and another trophy for the USA. President Donald Trump, who was present at the start, witnessed an already familiar scenario.
This victory once again raises the question of the tournament's future. As long as the USA possesses such a concentration of top players, and the singles remain the decisive format, the Internationals will be fighting for second place. To change the balance, either the format must be radically altered, or one must wait until the next generation from Asia and Australia finally matches the class of the American machine.
