A great day for the Americans was a terrible day for the Presidents Cup | Golf news and tour information

MONTREAL — The most touching moment of the day came when Keegan Bradley buried the winning putt on the 18th, ending the day 5-0 for the Americans. His effusiveness represented a decade of suppressed emotions, days of missing these teams by the skin of his teeth and days of being denied what he clearly loves most about professional golf. The most exciting moment of the day came when Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim exchanged long birdies and animated cheers at each other on the seventh hole at Royal Montreal, inspiring the feeling that maybe the International Team had their Ian Poulter, and maybe we were in for a real battle, both in this match and in a broader perspective.

And that, unfortunately, is as good as it gets. At least for this weekend, and at least for the 2024 Presidents Cup.

To answer the obvious question with an even more obvious answer, yes, this thing is over. The Americans’ 5-0 lead means their opponents would have to win the remaining games by a slim margin of 15-10 to get a draw. The cold reality is that they will have to do it with a weaker team. The fact that there have been great comebacks in the past doesn’t apply when the Americans have top 20 players and major winners at their disposal. to beat these guys, you jump on them early and stick with it for dear life. To do the opposite, as on Thursday, is to admit defeat.

Nor does the Royal Montreal Golf Club give the slightest hint of the home-course advantage that the international team believed would strengthen its case, and which the Americans dutifully pretended were coming in the week leading up to play. Having been on the course all day, I can say it was little better than neutral (“sparse” or “half-hearted” would be a better description) and Tod Leonard’s story about the two wives of the International Band trying to start singing and watching them as if they were playing the trombone in library, is a perfectly representative example of this This played. Imagine Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, desperately scanning the horizon for cavalry that would never come, and you can imagine how Mike Weir felt, hoping for some sound from beyond the ropes.

Whatever happens from now on will not be able to reach the heights of those great moments from day one, as Bradley’s putt on 18 buried the final field. And while it was a nice day for Jim Furyk, who sought redemption one last time when he led the Americans into French-speaking territory, it was a miserable day for the Presidents’ Cup as a whole. In fact, you could argue that this is one of the hardest days for the event’s image… well, maybe ever. The fact that the Americans had won nine times in a row reflected poorly on competitive balance, yes, but the counter-argument was that the Internationals had at least maintained that balance in the last two cups, hosted in Melbourne and South Korea, getting closer each time a hair away from upsetting your opponents.

Well, we’re back in international territory, at least technically, and bro, it’s not close.

And when they lose Montreal, it can be taken into account that they will lose in Medinah in two years – generously, this team is not close to scaring the Americans in America – which means the most optimistic thing that can be said about the Presidents Cup is that maybe in 2028 they will worship at Kingston Heath. This little sprig of optimism is more bleak than anything else, and you can bet this result will only intensify calls for a format change. Watch this space. Hell, look everyone space.

I write this with some regret, I just wrote an essay arguing that in 20 years this tournament will be better than the Ryder Cup. It’s true that I have two decades before I have to pay it back, but I already wish I could get it back.

What was particularly moving about Thursday was how tangible it all seemed. The matches were close! Each of them was 16 years old, and three were 18! Quite late on the back nine, they could easily talk themselves into international play, winning a few games and maintaining a slight lead. But at every critical moment they failed where the Americans succeeded. Bradley made the putt, Bezuidenhout missed 17 to tie the score, Schauffele birdied the same hole, etc. etc. etc., five devastating times in a row. Overall, the Americans won only eight more holes than the Internationals throughout the day, but the distribution was perfect and gave them narrow wins each time. Relative closeness is cold comfort – only five points matter.

After announcing the pairings for Friday, captains Furyk and Weir took part in one of the most senseless press conferences imaginable. It’s not like you can ask an American captain about the implications for a bigger event… he was excited to lead, and the last guy who asked him if it would be better if the International won one of these things got a few choice words back. For Weir’s part, he could not admit the devastation he must have felt after two years of sincere preparation, much less consider the fate of the event, because a good captain never gives up, and the last thing his team needs is to face a leader abandoning hope . So we have a farce – a necessary farce for both sides, but a farce nonetheless.

Apart from miracles (and even this ray of hope that I offer under duress), all that remains is the funeral march of the international side. Losing won’t feel good, but the real loss here is the bigger picture. The President’s Cup takes time to succeed, and that time is measured in decades, but as the pressure mounts, what is most needed is for the tournament in its current form to throw us a bone. What happened on Thursday is a worst-case scenario and poses a clear and present threat to the rosy future some of us like to imagine. What can you say to doubters? What is left except blind faith? In the world of team sports, it takes years of planning and hope, but only one day to see everything fall apart and the tangible horizon be pushed back into the distant fog.