US team rallies from 10½-7½ down to win Presidents Cup 17-13

The United States rallied to beat the International Team 17-13 and retain the Presidents Cup near Chicago on 27 September, with Jacob Bridgeman clinching the winning point. Bridgeman beat Australia's Min Woo Lee 1-up to give the Americans the 15½ points required to secure the trophy, completing a final-day turnaround at Medinah Country Club's No. 3 Course.channelnewsasia.com

The victory was the United States' 11th consecutive Presidents Cup title, and it came from a position no American team had held before. The US began Sunday's singles trailing 10½-7½, the first time in the event's history that Team USA trailed on home soil entering the final session. The Americans improved their overall record in the biennial team event against an International side drawn from outside Europe to 14-1-1.foxnews.com

What the final-day deficit was

The US needed eight points from 12 singles matches and received wins from Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Chris Gotterup, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Jackson Koivun before Bridgeman delivered the decisive point in his tournament debut. Xander Schauffele later won his match and Russell Henley halved his, extending the final margin to four points over the Internationals.

The Internationals had been in position to claim their first outright Presidents Cup victory since 1998, and early singles wins by South Koreans Tom Kim and Sungjae Im moved them within striking distance of the title. Tom Kim beat world No. 5 Wyndham Clark 3 and 2 and finished as the tournament's leading scorer with four points, while Sungjae Im beat world No. 8 Sam Burns.desmoinesregister.com

The Americans took control as the day wore on, while the International side struggled on the greens. The US won nine of the 12 singles matches and outscored the Internationals 9½-2½, which Golfweek's live blog recorded as the largest margin of victory in singles in Presidents Cup history. Cameron Young won the first match out, and Justin Thomas beat Corey Conners 5 and 3.

How the singles session turned

Patrick Cantlay provided one of the defining moments when he holed a 57-foot putt from off the 16th green in his match against Australia's Adam Scott. Cantlay pumped his fist as the home crowd erupted into chants of "USA! USA!" before he closed out the match on the next hole, 2 and 1. Collin Morikawa then won a tight, back-and-forth match against Japan's Hideki Matsuyama to put the United States ahead 13½-12½.

Jackson Koivun, aged 21, beat South Korea's Si Woo Kim 2 up to move the Americans within a point of victory. Koivun, a Presidents Cup rookie, was 2 down at the turn but won holes 11, 12, 13 and 15 to take the lead. He went undefeated in his Presidents Cup debut. "It has been such a cool learning experience," Koivun said. "And to come out on top after a large deficit coming into today is a feeling I can't explain."

Bridgeman then sealed the comeback, sinking a decisive 3-foot putt at Medinah Country Club's No. 3 Course. He had earlier buried an eight-foot par putt on 16 after Min Woo Lee missed a four-footer for par, squaring their match with two holes to play. "To let it out on the last hole was pretty sweet," Bridgeman said. Schauffele won the anchor match against Ryan Fox 2 and 1.

Where the decisive putts fell

US captain Brandt Snedeker said his players refused to give up on each other. "I saw a bunch of guys who didn't want to quit on each other," Snedeker said. "I saw the best golfers in the world come out here on a mission... I'm just so damn proud." Snedeker also thanked President Donald Trump, the event's honorary chairman, who briefly addressed the crowd from the first tee before play began.

Former US captain Tiger Woods praised the rally in a social media post. "What a comeback!" Woods wrote. "Congrats to Team USA on an incredible Presidents Cup victory. They needed all the matchups to go their way today, and they got it done. Great team win." The result left the Americans with an 8-0 record in Cups played on home soil and 11 straight wins overall.

The victory also came a year after the US lost 15-13 to Europe at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, the team's previous team-event defeat. Chris Gotterup, aged 27, finished 3-1 for the week after beating Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1 up, while Scottie Scheffler went 3-1-0 over the tournament. The Presidents Cup is played every two years, with the next edition falling in 2027.