The United States versus the rest of the world. It’s what we like to see most. Well, everyone except Europe.
The Presidents Cup takes place every other year and puts the best American golfers up against some of the best international players. This is a similar format to the Ryder Cup, which pits Team USA against Team Europe, but gives other countries a chance to compete as well.
Like the Ryder’s Cup, players are not awarded any prize money in the Presidents Cup. It is considered an honor to be chosen to compete. Winners are also given a choice of a charity or organization to donate the funds raised. Since 1994, the Presidents Cup has raised over $56.4 million.
As unique a tournament as it is, it’s been one-sided, and this year was no different. On Sunday, in Montreal, Team USA defeated the Internationals for the 10th straight time.
Over the first three days, competitors play in four-ball and foursome (alternate shot) matches, and the event is topped off on Sunday, like it was yesterday in Canada, with singles matches.
This year’s American team was quite strong. And it started at the top, with the No. 1 player in the world, Scottie Scheffler. If you’ve been living under a rock this golf season, Scheffler is the 2024 Players champion, Masters champion, FedEx Cup champion, and Olympic gold medalist, just to name a few. Xander Schauffele, currently No. 2 globally, also represented Team USA. Joining them were Max Homa, Sam Burns, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Sahith Theegala and Russel Henley.
The winning team was packed with crowd favorites, and the lowest-ranked player was Max Homa, standing at 25th in the world.

For Bradley, it was his first Presidents Cup entry in ten years, and he was thrilled.
“I went at a point in my career where I thought I was going to play in this every year — Ryder Cup, President’s Cup — and then there became a point in my career where I thought I may never play,” he said. “I was almost sure I’d never play in another one. To be back here a decade later, [it’s] pretty surreal.”
The International team was also packed with talent, but just couldn’t muster enough for Sunday’s finale. Some crowd favorites on that team were Australians Jason Day, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott. They were joined by the very popular South Koreans, Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, as well as Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Taylor Pendrith (Canada), Corey Connors (Canada), Sungjae Im (South Korea), Byeoung Hun An (South Korea), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa) and Mackenzie Hughes (Canada).
Thursday, the tournament’s first day, saw a clean sweep by the Americans, finishing at 5-0. Morikawa and Theegala took down Scott and Lee with a 1-up finish on the 18th hole. Schauffele and Finau then earned a point against Day and An. Cantlay and Burns defeated Matsuyama and Connors 2-and-1. Ultimately, Bradley and Clark beat Pendrith and Bezuidenhout, 1-up.
Thursday’s most headline-grabbing match was Scheffler and Tony Finau’s 3-and-2 win over Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim. A video of this match circulated on social media quite a bit after it concluded. On the seventh hole, Tom Kim sunk a putt for birdie and gave a loud celebration, to which Scheffler matched him by also draining his birdie putt. He turned around and screamed, “What was that?”, which was unexpected as Scheffler is known for being quiet and calm. Tom Kim went on to birdie the next hole and walked off the green to the next tee before Scheffler had putt out. It was all part of the gamesmanship of the tournament.
In the post-round press conference afterward, assistant captain of the American team, and beloved tour professional over the years, Kevin Kisner spoke on the matter saying that “they took gamesmanship too far and over the line on sportsmanship and lost some integrity.” He then said that he told Camilo Villegas, the Internationals’ assistant captain, “if you can piss off my No. 1 player in the world, then I’m all for it.”
It’s safe to say that is exactly what they did. Scheffler and Finau went on to win every following hole, closing out the match on the 15th. After the round, Scheffler stated that Tom Kim had “poked the bear.”

On Friday, the tables turned when the international team swept the Americans. The stakes, indeed, got higher, and every player’s energy visibly intensified. In what felt like a second, the score went from 5-0 to 5-5 and back to even heading into the weekend.
Team USA, however, won a majority of the matches on Saturday, tallying up the score to an 8-6 lead over the Internationals, setting up the pivotal Sunday finale, featuring the infamous Sunday singles matches.
Love or hate them, Sunday singles are the most personal of them all, and anything can happen. Some of the most notable yesterday were Scheffler versus Matsuyama, Schauffele versus Day, Bradley versus Si Woo Kim, Clark versus Lee, and Morikawa versus Scott.
But in the end, it was the Americans who took it home, winning six of the 12 matches and leaving three ties and three victories to the Internationals.
Indeed, the 10th consecutive President’s Cup won by the Americans was dramatic and memorable. But is anyone really surprised? Everyone in the golf world knew this team was stacked from the day the players were announced. And on Sunday, they flaunted that.
“All of our 12 guys can compete,” Schauffele said. “My goal was just to set the tone, get red up on that board as early as possible, and I was able to do that.”
Bradley, a bit more emotional after the win, expressed his gratitude for the experience, adding, “Wow, that was incredible. The last time I played, I was the point that lost the Ryder Cup. If this is my last round as a player — maybe it is — I’m happy with that.”
Captain Jim Furyk’s final words summed it all up: “These players were amazing. It was a really good group of 12, and an easy bunch. I had great leadership at the top. They made the captain’s job really easy, and these guys played their hearts out this week.”