Staff Reporter.
The United States continued their dominance of the Presidents Cup by claiming an 18½-11½ win over the International team to seal a 10th straight title.
The US led 11-7 before Sunday’s 12 singles matches, needing 4½ points on the final day to defend their title in Canada.
Keegan Bradley beat Kim Si-woo to secure the winning point at Royal Montreal, with the US winning six of the singles matches and halving three.
“Wow, that was incredible,” said Bradley, 38, who will be the US captain for next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island.
“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 (2014), I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup. If this is my last round as a player – maybe it is – I’m happy with that.”
Xander Schauffele set the Americans on their way with a 4&3 victory over Australian Jason Day in the opening contest.
“My goal was just to set the tone, to get [American] red up on that board as early as possible, and I was able to do that,” Schauffele told NBC.
Schauffele, who has won two major championships this year, finished the week with a 4-1-0 record, as did team-mates Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa.
Bradley’s only previous Presidents Cup appearance was when the US won in Ohio in 2013 and his two Ryder Cup appearances were defeats by Europe in 2012 and 2014.
“I’m so proud of the team and proud of being here,” he said. “We’re going to copy a lot of what [captain] Jim Furyk did this week [at the Ryder Cup].
“He set a culture here for us, and we’re going to carry that over into Bethpage. I hope a lot of these 12 are on that team.”
All 12 players on the US team are ranked in the world’s top 25, compared to four of the International players.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (2-1-0) was the only International player with a winning record.
“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.”