A rendition of the Miracle at Medinah wasn’t meant to be.
Fourteen years ago, Europe overcame a 10-6 deficit to beat the U.S. for the Ryder Cup on American soil. While the situation at Illinois’ Medinah Country Club this week wasn’t quite the same, the odds were stacked against the International team in their pursuit of the Presidents Cup.
The Internationals started Sunday leading the U.S., 10.5-7.5, but by the end, Honorary Chairman President Donald J. Trump was awarding the trophy to the home team for a 17-13 victory.
“I think these guys never lost faith,” said U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker, who was part of the losing team at Medinah in 2012. “I know what that team room is like. I told the guys last night that funny stuff happens here. Medinah has a history of funny things happening.”
First on the board was Cameron Young, who defeated Ryo Hisatsune, 3 and 2. Justin Thomas followed with the most dominant win of the day, besting Corey Conners, 5 and 3.
The Internationals answered with a point from Tom Kim, defeating Wyndham Clark, 3 and 2, to move to 4-1 for the week. It’s the first time an International player has won 4 points since 2015.
Scottie Scheffler defeated Nico Echavarria in the next match, winning 2 and 1, but Sungjae Im defeated Sam Burns, 3 and 1, to maintain a 2-point lead for the away team.
Then the wallop really began. The U.S. rattled off 4 points to take the lead, 14.5-12.5.
Chris Gotterup beat Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 1 up. Patrick Cantlay beat Adam Scott, 2 and 1. Collin Morikawa beat Hideki Matsuyama, 1 up. And Jackson Koivun beat Si Woo Kim, 2 up, in a particularly impressive comeback win.
“I cannot get over what Jackson Koivun did today,” Snedeker said of the 21-year-old rookie. “I put him in a really tough spot out there. We thought he could handle it. Sure enough, he did. He went out there and looked like the stud we know he’s going to be.”
The next point was the final nail, with Jacob Bridgeman winning, 1 up, over Min Woo Lee.
That moved the U.S. to the needed 15.5 points to secure its 11th consecutive Presidents Cup.
“Someone in the crowd yelled, ‘You’re the best putter in the world,’ and I was like, ‘Yep, I’m going to make this thing.’ It was the coolest moment,” Bridgeman said. “I felt like I held in my emotion all day because I didn’t really have that moment where I had done anything to where I felt like I had won my match, and to let it out on the last hole was pretty sweet.”
There were two more matches on the course, with Xander Schauffele winning, 2 and 1, over Ryan Fox, and Nick Taylor and Russell Henley tying.
With a final score of 17-13, the Americans move to 14-1-1 all-time in the event.
“When those pairings came out last night, it was the first time I got them right all week,” Snedeker said of his hotly-debated selections. “Those were my mistakes; I messed up the matchups. I messed up the snake draft this week, and that was the first time I got it right, and those guys were ready to walk through that door for me.”
Despite holding the lead after Friday and Saturday, the Internationals will have to wait until 2028 for another chance at ending the drought. The next Presidents Cup will be in home territory for them, with Australia’s Kingston Heath Golf Club set to host.
“At some point everybody has got to play well,” International captain Geoff Ogilvy said. “It’s a tough thing to do to win singles in the U.S. It’s a challenge. I was hopeful on the first tee. We were all pretty excited coming out here, and they all started well and it drifted during the day.”
