2024-09-27 17:20:03
In a world where protecting the integrity of one team competition will be a key outcome from golf’s civil war, another looks set to be collateral damage.
For just the fourth time in Presidents Cup history there was a five nil whitewash in the opening session and it went in favour of the United States.
Rich Beem broke out the dance moves in studio and it was an indictment of where this competition is going. As golf’s landscape faces an uncertain future, the Presidents Cup continues to journey down a path of irrelevance.
Jim Furyk’s USA made the short trip north of the border to the noisy neighbours in Montreal and after five fourball matches on Thursday, they look set for a tenth successive triumph and a thirteenth in fifteen editions.
The International side have won just once in 1998 and their hopes of delivering a win which would drag this contest from the life support machine upon which it clings to appear over already.
Furyk faced questions as to why he didn’t select formidable pairing Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay particularly given that Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are not part of the team.
He needn’t have worried.
There were close matches in the five played with the Americans winning three of them on the 18th but the gap on the scoreline is seismic.
Schauffele/Finau edged An/Day on the last while Morikawa/Theegala and Clark/Bradley celebrated a similar scoreline over Scott/Woo Lee and Pendrith/Bezuidenhout.
In the bottom match Cantlay and Burns beat Matsuyama and Conners 2&1 before Clark and Bradley secured the clean sweep.
There are only two men who can rattle Scottie Scheffler. A Louisville police officer and Tom Kim, but the world number one can’t be stopped and he and Henley dished out a 3&2 win over Kim and Im in a fiery contest.
They’re supposed to be good friends, but things got a little tense between Scheffler and Kim during their fourball on the seventh and eighth.
Kim delivered two boisterous responses to birdie putts on 7 and 8 and to Scheffler’s credit he awoke a passionate character that lies within which we never see as he replied with a birdie of his own on 7.
He wasn’t able to repeat the feat on the 8th but this time around, Kim and Im were already 60 yards away on the 9th tee box before Scheffler had the chance to putt out.
Camillo Villegas and Kevin Kisner rolled back the years to the Keegan Bradley, Miguel Angel Jimenez spat of 2015 and as it stands, if the Internationals are to get back into this contest they will need a full on brawl and hope the US can’t continue.
“It’s a lot of fun being out here and competing. It’s all in good fun, I think. That’s all I’ve got to say. It’s good fun,” said Scheffler.
“We’re out here competing, doing our best. Like Russell said, Tom obviously loves this stage, but Russell and I were a good match today and we did some good stuff out there.
“Russell did some good shots early in the match and hit some key shots late. Really glad to have this guy on my team.”
At the start of the week, many questioned the relevance of this competition due to the International side being unable to arrest the American wave despite some close contests in recent years.
In truth, this competition is the Leinster Championship of golf and the Dublin-esque Americans look like they will sail off into the sunset without breaking sweat.
LIV golfers are not eligible for Presidents Cup selection and there is no doubt that it has limited the depth of pool for International skipper Mike Weir to pick from.
The absence of top class talent in Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann has been felt while steely competitor Abraham Ancer won three out of five matches on his only outing in 2019.
The USA have started to become a behemoth of team golf with only the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup providing competitions where they are truly tested, although Great Britain and Ireland did secure a first Curtis Cup victory since 2016.
