MONTREAL — Here’s the thing about teams: You can ride the same bus to the golf course, wear the same matching polo shirts, and have matching golf bags. It’s easy to look like a team.
But what does it all matter if you don’t feel like one?
“You’re not going to find a tougher match than within a team,” said Keegan Bradley, standing next to the 18th green, moments after clinching the winning point for the 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup team with a 1-up victory over Si Woo Kim.
The words of the always analytical and emotional Bradley echoed with an additional emphasis on Sunday afternoon, because this week, the Americans conquered the “toughest match.” They united 12 individual athletes and discovered a formula they’ll amplify and bolster for years, because it came from within.
Perhaps Captain Jim Furyk knows this feeling better than anyone in the U.S. franchise, as the captain of the losing 2018 Ryder Cup team on foreign soil in Paris. When things start to go wrong, there’s a very easy and tempting path that you can go down. It starts and ends with panic.
On Friday evening, the U.S. team left Royal Montreal with a polar opposite set of emotions compared to those they were feeling on Thursday. A 5-0 sweep of the Internationals set them off on a high. A reverse sweep — a 5-0 stomping of their own — knocked them right back down. The Internationals pulled the momentum onto their side. The Americans had nothing of the sort. The team room could have been a mess that night. Voices overshadowing each other — trying to figure out what to do, what to change, how to proceed.
Furyk said, however, the U.S. team maintained a surprising level of zen that evening. The captain was the first to admit that he had almost nothing to do with it. Player leadership helped the Americans rediscover the key to the team golf code.
“Could have been a little bit of a panic, but it was a very calm night, very ‘let’s right the ship and get out there,” Furyk said, standing on Royal Montreal’s 18th green. “Then we got up early, at 3:30 a.m., on the bus at 4:15. Those guys came out — I mean, the looks getting off the bus, I was excited about getting out onto the course yesterday.”
The best players on the American side — and in turn, the best players in the world — stepped up to give the U.S. team direction. It started with Xander Schauffele, a five-time U.S. team veteran, and his best friend Patrick Cantlay, who has played on each of the same squads. It was carried on by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa, both of whom have played on the same four. The energy from the top percolated through the roster.
A new generation of American veterans has arrived.
“Talk about X, Pat, Scottie, Collin. Some pretty damn good leadership there,” Furyk said. “You know, maybe they’re not the ra-ra, not the loudest guys, but those guys stepped up when it needed to be said and done. You just see veterans, you see guys that have been on a bunch of teams. There was no one that had been on more of these teams than them.”
Those four players stepped up with their voices, but they also stepped up with their games, as the best players on the planet need to do in these events. Schauffele, Cantlay, Scheffler and Morikawa each played all five sessions, earning 13 of the 18 1/2 American points.
Schauffele and Cantlay finished the week first and second in strokes gained. Schauffele led with his putting, draining a 26-foot bomb on the opening hole of Sunday singles and eventually shutting down Jason Day, 4 and 3, to set the tone for the afternoon. Cantlay dominated with his approach game, gaining 5.16 shots on the field in strokes gained approach, leading to a win against Taylor Pendrith. Morikawa beat Adam Scott, 2 and 1, late in the day, and had success this week playing alongside three different players in Sahith Theegala, Scheffler and Burns. Schauffele and Cantlay gained 8.89 and 8.87 shots on the field, respectively, beating the rest of the players by almost three full shots.
Scheffler didn’t have a glowing week by his standards, losing to Hideki Matsuyama in Sunday singles. But the pre-established team room unity allowed Scheffler and his partner, rookie Russell Henley to thrive, winning two matches as a duo. Henley, now a strong candidate for a 2025 Ryder Cup pairing for the world No. 1, soaked up everything that came with that role all week: “The team room aspect was amazing,” Henley said. “I feel already like I’m a lot closer to these guys even though I’ve been playing golf against them for a while.”
The best were their best in Montreal. And that allowed the rest of the players to do their part.
We’ve been waiting for this one 😮💨
On attendait celle-ci.#PresidentsCup | @XSchauffele pic.twitter.com/BRTQMTTVLN
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 29, 2024
The Presidents Cup, a PGA Tour-run event, has always had a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than the Ryder Cup, as it isn’t as competitive and doesn’t necessarily hold the same weight. The Americans now hold a 13-1-1 record in the 30-year history of the tournament, and according to one caddie who has also worked several Ryder Cups, “It doesn’t feel like everyone’s mad at each other” at the Presidents Cup. But the U.S. team would be amiss to not learn from the week anyway — to reflect, and think about what worked to lead them to another dominant victory.
Bradley, with Bethpage almost exactly a year away, is already taking notes. The team room in Montreal wasn’t what he thought it would be. The last time the U.S. team competed at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone there were rumors of disconnect, poor leadership and a lack of togetherness. They lost 16 1/2 to 11 1/2. The Presidents Cup , with eight of the same names, suggested to Bradley that it was just talk.
“There are so many misconceptions about the team room with these guys that I know now are false,” Bradley said. “I’m just really proud to be a part of this team.”
Furyk will admit it — he stumbled upon a perfect storm. The best players stepped up, exhibited veteran leadership, and made themselves contagious in a room full of varying personalities.
“It’s a captain’s dream,” Furyk said.
The best part is, the player leadership that helped this squad win the Presidents Cup doesn’t have an expiration date: Cantlay is 32, Schauffele 30, Scheffler is 28 and Morikawa is 27. If Bradley wants to carry the Montreal energy to Long Island, there’s a lot left where that came from.
Brody Miller contributed to this story.
(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
