South Korea’s Si Woo Kim missed a birdie putt on No. 18 and lost his match to Keegan Bradley as the United States clinched another win over the International team at the Presidents Cup.
Bradley’s victory gave the Americans the 15 1/2 points required to win the tournament with five matches still on the course Sunday at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
It’s the U.S.’s 10th consecutive victory at the elite biennial tournament.
The Presidents Cup sees 12 Americans play 12 golfers from around the world, excluding Europe.
All 24 golfers played in individual matches in the final round, with the Internationals entering the day trailing by four points.
Each match is worth a point and a score of 15 1/2 is needed to win the tournament. The Americans held an 11-7 lead heading into the final round, meaning the Internationals needed to take at least eight matches and earn one tie out of the 12 pairings to win.
The largest final-round comeback in Presidents Cup history was when the Americans rallied from a two-point deficit at Australia’s Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 2019.
Medinah Country Club outside Chicago will host the next Presidents Cup in 2026.
Xander Schauffele got the first match of the day done quickly, beating Australia’s Jason Day 4&3.
South Korea’s Tom Kim, easily the most outspoken member of the International team, backed up his words with a birdie on No. 15 to earn a draw with Sam Burns.
World No. 7 Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, the highest-ranked member of the Internationals, eked out a 1-Up win over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
See also Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tough Bronx persona is under fresh scrutiny with a resurfaced childhood nickname from her suburban upstate New York upbringing casting doubt on that publicly portrayed image. The progressive champion’s latest spat with President Donald Trump over the Iran strikes again called into question her true upbringing when she declared on X she was a “Bronx girl" to make her a point against the president. The 35-year-old congresswoman wrote in part on X: "I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully," she said, referring to the president’s upbringing in Queens as she called for his impeachment over his decision to bypass Congress in authorizing U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx but moved to Yorktown – which is nearly an hour outside New York City -- when she was 5 years old and went on to attend Yorktown High School where she graduated in 2007. She was considered an accomplished student there and well thought of by teacher Michael Blueglass, according to a 2018 report by local media outlet Halston Media News. “There, known by students and staff as ‘Sandy,’ she was a member of the Science Research Program taught by Michael Blueglass," the report states. “She was amazing," Blueglass said, per the report. “Aside from her winning one of the top spots and going to the [Intel International Science and Engineering Fair], she was just one of the most amazing presenters in all of the years I've been at Yorktown. Her ability to take complex information and explain it to all different levels of people was fantastic." After high school, Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she majored in economics and international relations, per the report. Ocasio-Cortez’s “Sandy" nickname — which carries a more suburban and preppy tone — appears to undercut her politically crafted image as a tough, inner-city fighter, one she has portrayed since her famous 2018 congressional campaign where she eventually ousted former 10-terms Congressman Joe Crowley. New York GOP Assemblyman Matt Slater, who now represents Yorktown, added to the scrutiny of Ocasio-Cortez’s persona in the wake of her brash with Trump and released images of Ocasio-Cortez from his high school yearbook. He claimed he and the rising Democratic star attended Yorktown High School at the same time when she was a freshman and he was a senior. "I saw the attacks on the president and her [Ocasio-Cortez] claims that she's a big, tough Bronx girl," said Slater. "To sit there and say that she’s a Bronx girl is just patently ridiculous." "Everybody in our community knows this is just a bold-face lie," said Slater on "Fox & Friends First" last week. "She grew up in Yorktown, she was on my track team." "She's lying about her background, she's lying about her upbringing," Slater claimed. Slater’s post sent social media ablaze and prompted Ocasio-Cortez to respond after an image if her family’s home was posted online. “I’m proud of how I grew up and talk about it all the time," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X Friday responding to the post. “My mom cleaned houses and I helped. We cleaned tutors’ homes in exchange for SAT prep." “Growing up between the Bronx and Yorktown deeply shaped my views of inequality & it’s a big reason I believe the things I do today!"
At almost the same time, Russell Henley completed a 3&2 victory over South Korea’s Sungjae Im.
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Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., breathed life into the Internationals’ cause with a 5&3 win over Tony Finau in the Canadian’s best performance of the week.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., conceded to Patrick Cantlay on the 16th green for a 3&1 loss to move the Americans to within a point of winning the tournament.
Si Woo Kim could have tied the match against Bradley if he’d sunk his birdie putt on No. 18, but he missed for the 1-Up loss.
In the remaining pairings, Wyndham Clark matched up with Australia’s Min Woo Lee, Sanith Theegala played South Korea’s Byeong Hun An, Collin Morikawa faced Australia’s Adam Scott, Brian Harman took on South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Max Homa and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., met in the tournament’s final match.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2024
