Justin Thomas on rookie Jackson Koivun // Scottie on fans yelling at Nico Echavarria // Snedeker on the pressure of being the Cpt.
By Roy J. Akers –www.skyviewsports.net
The US has only lost one time in the history of the President’s Cup and through the first three days of the competition, it looked like it may be two. The words used by Brandt Snedeker saying it was his fault the US was behind but a new day was coming during singles play proved to be motivational and prophetic and we will have more on thatbelow.
The Winners-Why they Won
Singles play, pure and simple. It blows me away when the American’s consistently lose four ball or best ball and are behind, and then on Sunday, the magic begins. The key for the US is not getting too far behind in the matchplay before the singles. On Sunday, The American’s went 9-2-1. Assistant Team Captain Jim Furyk on lessons learned. “I’ve been around these teams for a long time.
I started playing in my first one back in ’97. So I’ve seen alot of lineups; I’ve seen a lot of team rooms. I think you’re always learning. I’m always trying to find ways, new ideas.We had some new people in the room this year. Always sharing ideas, always trying to learn, always trying to be a calming influence.”
Why Runnerup for the International Team?
Geoff Ogilvy’s squad came into Sunday with a three point lead but played themselves out of the lead by match 26 of 30. In the final four singles matches, the US went 3-0-1 enroute to a 17-13 win. Ogivly explains it this way. “Obviously pretty disappointed. We had a pretty good Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We put ourselves in a really good position today. I thought we had some pretty good matchups out there, and I thought we did all that stuff pretty well.”
Best Match in Singles- Russell Henley vs. Nick Taylor
With the American’s putting a lot of red on the board early, Russell Henley going up by two by the fourth hole looked to be a quick out against Taylor. By the 7th, Taylor got a stroke back and then the lead stayed 1up through the14th when a birdie evened the match. Both golfers had their chances and gave the Internationals a slim chance.
Worst Singles Matchup- Justin Thomas vs. Corey Conners
This match got out of hand early. Thomas goes up by five after six holes. Conners got it to within three after 12, but Thomas played it safe and got itquickly back to four.
Why did Snedeker make his Saturday comments?
He knows his team has come up short through four rounds and 18 matches. Snedeker’s ‘owning it’ approach was only part of the story. Snedeker worked with his staff to make the picks after captain consultations, player interviews, and countless armchair QB opinions from former players, so-called experts. It all comes down to a gut feeling. Snedeker knows it costs him nothing to own it and also said “I think we’ve got a great lineup here. I’m excited about what the guys can bring tomorrow”(Sunday).
Best Rookie-Jackson Koivun
Jackson Koivun looked the part the entire weekend. For the week, Koivun went 2-0-1 and his match against Si Woo Kim, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour was one of perserverence. Koivun went down by one on the second and took a two shot deficit to even on the 12th. Koivun went one up onthe 15th and twice had a two hole advantage before winning the match.
Koivun on what he will takeout of the President’s Cup experience. “Yeah, I think I’ll just take a lot of knowledge that I can be out here and I can compete. It’s just exciting being able to call these guys my friends, and now when I go to tournaments it’s not like, oh, there’s so and so. It’s like, I was on a team with them and we won the Presidents Cup.”
Best and Worst Match play records
The Internationals went Tom Kim: 4–1–0 For the US…
| Wyndham Clark | USA | 1.0 | 1-4-0 |
Next President’s Cup
Future Venues & Details
- Year: 2028
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Course: Kingston Heath Golf Club
- Following Event (2030): Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri
