Team golf at its finest

The Presidents Cup has just concluded and while Team USA came out victorious, they had to dig deep.

On paper, it seemed like the 2024 edition of US vs The World (except Europe) would be a walk in the park. The Americans had five of the World’s top 10 on their squad, with the rest of their squad all inside the top 25 on the Official World Golf Rankings.

In comparison, the Internationals had in their line-up just one top 10 player, and another two inside the top 25. In short, if world rankings were the sole basis of this biennial golf spectacle, the US has a 12-3 advantage.

Of course, rankings and records don’t mean as much when it comes to team competitions like The Presidents Cup. Just like in the Ryder Cup, players who hardly make a splash on tour can sometimes outperform top players.

Does Ian Poulter ring any bells? The flashy Englishman hardly has any wins on the professional tours but is a feared Ryder Cup competitor. In the 2024 edition of the Presidents Cup, Tom Kim provided the energy and feistiness that kept the competition relatively close.

I wasn’t actually planning to watch much of the Presidents Cup. Hosted by Canada this year, the games were played at The Royal Montreal Golf Club. Being on the east coast of North America, it meant that we are 12 hours ahead, with matches starting close to or past midnight Philippine time.

I just caught the start of the first day Fourball matches and slept. I woke up on Friday and saw the US beat The Internationals, 5-0, a sweep! The Internationals couldn’t even tie a match, they lost every match on the first day. Even with the International Team’s big guns out on the first day, it seemed like the US just had too deep a bench. I felt the rest of the weekend would be the same, a blowout win by the Americans. Boy, was I wrong!

The story of this year’s Presidents Cup is actually the second day, the Foursomes. Captain Mike Weir must’ve said something special after their humiliation on the opening day, because on Foursomes Friday, it was as if a completely different team came out — and they came out swinging!

The five matches played on Friday were all won by the International Team, some by huge margins. It was sweet payback for the sweep the day prior. The US pair of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay were handed a beating and their match ended on the 12th hole, with Matsuyama-Im pair winning 7-and-6.

Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau, two of the longest players on tour, were likewise handed a 6-and-5 beat down by Canadians Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes. Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith also demolished Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa, 5-and-4 and dispatched the US pair by the 14th hole. Even World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and partner Russel Henley weren’t spared, although they only lost 1 up on the 18th. The Friday Foursome matches proved to be the highlight on the week. It proved how exciting and unpredictable team golf can be.

The rest of the weekend matches were still fun to watch, especially with the energetic and bordering on obnoxious Tom Kim leading the pack for the Internationals. Patrick Cantlay, a bit of a polarizing figure on occasion, played his “villain” role well and proved to be a strong member of the US squad.

The final result wasn’t as close as fans would have wanted, with the US winning 18.5 — 11.5. Regardless of the result, it was another weekend of spectacular golf, and proof that team formats should make their way to more professional events.