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U.S. Wins Presidents Cup As Keegan Bradley Secures Clinching Point

The Americans beat the International Team for the 10th consecutive time.

Bob Harig

Keegan Bradley secured the winning point for the U.S. on Sunday at Royal Montreal.
Keegan Bradley secured the winning point for the U.S. on Sunday at Royal Montreal. / Harry How/Getty Images

MONTREAL — Perhaps it is fitting that Keegan Bradley earned the clinching point for the U.S. Presidents Cup team on Sunday.

Shunned a year ago as an at-large pick for the Ryder Cup, where the U.S. suffered another defeat to Europe, Bradley was the surprise choice of the PGA of America to lead the team next year.

Then he got hot at the end of the PGA Tour season, won the BMW Championship, earned one of captain Jim Furyk’s at-large picks for the U.S. team at Royal Montreal and was the oldest player on a U.S. team he will lead a year from now.

Bradley’s 1-up victory over Si Woo Kim came with a little more angst than he would have preferred—he had two chances to close out the match on the 16th and 17th holes.

But he finished it with a par on the 18th in just the sixth match and secured the necessary point for the U.S. to win the Presidents Cup for the 10th consecutive time.

There were still five matches being played on the course when Bradley prevailed. He finished with a 2-1 record for the week in his first team competition since the 2014 Ryder Cup. It was Bradley’s first singles victory in either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.

The U.S. team began the day with an 11-7 lead and needed only 4½ of 12 available points to win the Cup. The International team needed to win 8½ points to win, or 8 to tie.

It didn’t help the International cause to see so many matches turn scoreboards into U.S. red in the early stages. Xander Schauffele went 5 up through 9 holes on Jason Day before prevailing 4 and 3 to give the Americans their first point.

U.S. captain Jim Furyk put considerable strength at the top of his lineup, although Scottie Scheffler, out third, was unable to win his match against Hideki Matsuyama after Sam Burns tied Tom Kim. Matsuyama defeated Scheffler 1 up.

Russell Henley then defeated Sungjae Im 3 and 2 and Patrick Cantlay defeated Taylor Pendrith 3 and 1 to put Bradley in position to clinch the Cup.

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Bob Harig
BOB HARIG

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.

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