USA cruise to 10th consecutive Presidents Cup win

The United States continued its dominance of the Presidents Cup with 18½-11½ win over the International team.

The US led 11-7 before Sunday’s 12 singles matches, needing just 4½ points on the final day to defend their title in Canada.

Xander Schauffele set the Americans on their way with a 4&3 victory over Australian Jason Day in the opening contest.

Team USA secured further full points through Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay, leaving them close to victory despite world No.1 Scottie Scheffler being beaten by Hideki Matsuyama.

Canada’s Corey Conners claimed the biggest victory of the day as he thrashed Tony Finau 5&3, although the United States moved on the brink of victory when Keegan Bradley won four of his first five holes on the back nine to go three up with three to play.

Sam Burns claimed a share of the spoils with Tom Kim, with Bradley then surviving a late wobble to defeat Si Woo Kim on the final hole and take the US to the 15.5 points required with five matches still on the course.

“Wow, that was incredible,” said Bradley, who will be the US captain for next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. “I didn’t know if I would get to do this again and to be able to just play in this tournament, and to win the point… my goodness.

“The last time I played in a team event I was the point to lose the 2014 Ryder Cup. If this is my last round as a player – maybe it is – I’m happy with that.”

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele helped Team USA to secure its 10th consecutive win in the Presidents Cup having both gone unbeaten in their four matches

Sahith Theegala tied his match against Byeong Hun An after squandering a birdie chance on his final hole, with Collin Morikawa beating Adam Scott 2&1 and Max Homa brushing aside Mackenzie Hughes 2&1 in the bottom match.

Despite suffering yet another heavy defeat, the Internationals impressed in large spells – especially when winning all five foursomes matches on Friday after losing all five four balls on Thursday.

With the scores tied at 5-5, International captain Mike Weir made the questionable decision to use the same eight players in both sets of four balls and foursomes on Saturday, which resulted in a 6-2 win for the USA, and a 11-7 lead in the match.

“We’ve put a lot of heart and soul into it,” said winning captain Jim Furyk. “Ultimately these players were amazing. It was a really good group of 12, an easy bunch. I had great leadership at the top.

“We talked about being a dog all week, being the tougher team,” Furyk added. “Those back nine holes, if you look at how many holes won and lost, I’ve got to feel we owned the back nine this week and that was the difference.”