MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker won't have to second-guess the outcome of this Presidents Cup. The Americans won for the 11th straight time Sunday with key rallies on the back nine by two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun.
Outplayed over three days in team matches, the Americans leaned on their strength in singles to make up a three-point deficit.
President Donald Trump was on the first tee for
the start of 12 singles matches, and he kept his speech short. “It’s going to be a very interesting game of golf,” he said.
That it was, even if the outcome was all to familiar.
Cameron Young and Justin Thomas set the tone early. Scottie Scheffler took down Nico Echavarria with a show of pure sportsmanship when a spectator disrupted the Colombian's swing. Patrick Cantlay had another moment, as he always seem to do in this competition, holing a birdie putt from just inside 60 feet on the par-3 16th against hard-luck Adam Scott.
Five matches remained on the course — the Americans were 1 up in three of them, the other two were all square. All the Internationals had to do was find three points from them. The Americans simply refused to budge.
Koivun was 2 down through 10 holes to the Internationals' top performer this week, Si Woo Kim, when he won three straight holes to flip the color to American red on the board. The kid drilled his tee shot on the 18th, and twirled his iron when he knew the approach was pure. He wound up with a 2-up victory, and then it was a matter of time.
The clinching point came from Jacob Bridgeman, who rolled in a 3-foot par putt on the 18th green for a 1-up victory over Min Woo lee, assuring the Americans the 15 1/2 points they needed.
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