Internationals lose Presidents Cup but blood dogged new talent

Xander Schauffele of the United States Team smokes a cigar in celebration of the United States Team defeating the International Team during Sunday singles matches on day four of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 25, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)

By Steve Keating for Reuters

26 Sep 2022

The US won the 2022 Presidents Cup by a comfortable margin, but they were pushed all the way by a callow International team led by South Africa’s Trevor Immelman.

What the world of professional golf will look like when the next Presidents Cup is staged in Montreal in two years’ time is unclear as the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series feud over the sport’s structure.

That messy squabble directly impacted this year’s event at Quail Hollow Club, robbing both the United States and International teams of the services of top players who had left for the breakaway Tour.

Without the deep talent pool available to US captain Davis Love III the International team were particularly hurt as the Americans went on to claim the golden trophy for a ninth consecutive time on Sunday with a 17-1/2 to 12-1/2 victory.

Presidents Cup USA Team (Back L-R) Assistant Captain Steve Stricker, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Assistant Captain Fred Couples, Cameron Young, Captain Davis Love III, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, (Front L-R) Xander Schauffele, Assistant Captain Zach Johnson, Assistant Captain Kevin Kisner, Sam Burns and Assistant Captain Webb Simpson of the United States Team pose with the Presidents Cup during the closing ceremony after defeating the International Team during Sunday singles matches on day four of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 25, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images)

But that dispute may have provided an unexpected opportunity that could pay dividends in 2024 with International captain Trevor Immelman forced to blood new players in the Presidents Cup pressure cooker.

Immelman was pushed into a late overhaul of his team after losing talent such as British Open champion and world No 2 Cameron Smith of Australia, Chile’s Joaquín Niemann and South African Louis Oosthuizen, who were suspended by the PGA Tour for signing on with the LIV venture.

That resulted in the International team arriving in Charlotte with a Presidents Cup record of eight debutants on their 12-man roster going up against a power-packed US lineup that featured nine players in the top 15 of the world rankings.

Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, Colombian Sebastian Munoz, Australian Cam Davis, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Chile’s Mito Pereira and South Koreans Kim Joo-hyung and KH Lee all received a baptism under fire.

“It’s just the beginning for this team, really,” said Australian Adam Scott. “I think you're seeing a lot of guys here who will be returning on the next one.

“The US team’s really going to be up for a hell of a fight.”

One player the International team is predicting big things for is 20-year-old Kim Joo-hyung, who also goes by Tom Kim.

The Presidents Cup was the coming out party for the charismatic and hugely talented South Korean, who oozes charisma and magnetism that even allowed him to pull in American fans.

The youngest player in the field, Kim impressed with his fearlessness and playfulness, providing the spark that energised his teammates.

“This young kid has burst onto the scene in the last six months, he’s been such a tremendous gift to our sport,” said Immelman. “He has an ability to be a global superstar.

“We’ve seen he has the game but what I’ve learned about his personality and his heart and what he stands for this week, man, I am a huge fan.

“I met him for the first time in person at The Open this year on the 4th hole at the Old Course, and immediately he made an impression on me.

“He’s just wired different.”

US worked hard

The United States was forced to work harder than expected to earn a ninth consecutive Presidents Cup.

“They were fighting. Man, they were fighting,” said International captain Trevor Immelman. “I hope fans out there really do appreciate it. These guys have got massive hearts. Massive hearts.

“And I’ll go to battle with them any day.”

The Internationals, with a record eight Presidents Cup debutants in their 12-man squad, kept the outcome in doubt until late into Sunday’s singles when Xander Schauffele beat Canada’s Corey Conners 1-up to register the winning point.

Xander Schauffele during the Presidents Cup Xander Schauffele of the United States Team smokes a cigar in celebration of the United States Team defeating the International Team during Sunday singles matches on day four of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 25, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)

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Needing 4-1/2 points from 12 singles matches to reach the winning total of 15-1/2, the US got the job done with five contests to spare sparking early celebrations among the 40,000 mostly American supporters at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

“We just wanted to get it done,” said Schauffele. “It’s always hard to win. It’s not about me, you know. Everyone else got their points up on the board.

“It was close. It was stressful.”

Unable to match the US depth and quality Immelman challenged his player to go down fighting a call to action they took to heart.

What had looked like a rout after the US steamrolled through the opening two sessions on Thursday and Friday turned into a tight contest after the Internationals hit back in stunning style on a marathon Saturday, splitting the morning foursomes (2-2) and then taking three of four points in the afternoon fourballs.

Daunting task

While it was an inspiring performance from the Internationals, they still entered Sunday’s singles facing the daunting challenge of overhauling a US team with a comfortable four-point edge.

Still, the Internationals had the momentum going into the day, having planted the seeds of concern in the heads of their opponents, some of whom were spotted on the practice green late into the evening working on their putting under golf cart lights.

No one was more aware of the dangers lurking than US captain Davis Love III, who was also leader of the American squad at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah.

On that occasion, the Europeans climbed out of a similar four-point hole on the final day to snatch the trophy in what is still regarded as one of the greatest comebacks in golfing history.

“I’ve been a part of, unfortunately, a lot of losing teams,” said Love. “There was a lot of different reasons to have pressure.

“But being the big, big, big favourite carries a little bit of weight. I’m glad they ignored it and just played great.”

Not wanting a repeat of that, Love opted to go for the early knockout by top-loading his lineup with his best performers.

Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, who formed a perfect partnership going 4-0-0, were at the top of the order.

Thomas, who won his first of two PGA Championships at Quail Hollow in 2017, was first off to chants of “USA, USA” taking on South Korea’s Kim Si-woo.

But it was multiple major winner Spieth putting the first American point on the board the three-time major winner easing to a 4&3 win over Australian Cam Davis.

In the end, the early hole the Internationals had dug for themselves proved too big to escape Tony Finau taking down Canada's Taylor Pendrith 3&1 to put the US on 14-1/2.

That left it to Olympic champion Schauffele to seal the deal, who drained a six-foot par putt on the 18th hole to clinch the Cup. Reuters/DM

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