How Did Things Go So Wrong for the U.S. Presidents Cup Team on Friday?
The International team swept Friday foursomes for the second straight Presidents Cup and took a 7-3 lead over the U.S. heading into the weekend.
- It happened again: the International team swept Friday foursomes for the second straight Presidents Cup.
- Sean Zak, senior writer: Anyone who has watched American team golf over the last five years has seen this happen a few times now.
- You hate to simplify it to the Internationals putting better, but that’s how many holes were won: the players in yellow made 10- to 20-foot putts.
- If I wanted that, I’d watch reruns of the Harlem Globetrotters vs.
It happened again: the International team swept Friday foursomes for the second straight Presidents Cup. This time, it took a 7-3 lead over the U.S. heading into the weekend at Medinah Country Club.
How did things go so wrong for the American team?
Sean Zak, senior writer: Anyone who has watched American team golf over the last five years has seen this happen a few times now. It starts slowly: a hole here, another hole there, and then suddenly there’s a flood of yellow on the board. Or blue. I think some anxiety creeps in for the Americans during this event, particularly when they’re considered such heavy favorites. You hate to simplify it to the Internationals putting better, but that’s how many holes were won: the players in yellow made 10- to 20-foot putts. It can flip very quickly in the other direction.
Josh Sens, senior writer: It’s match play. Anything can happen. But as Sean notes, this does feel like a familiar script. Some putters go cold. Others get hot, which frees some guys up and prompts others to press. Momentum swings, and on it goes.
Smart money says the U.S. will close the gap Saturday and then pull away in singles, their historical strength. But I hope not. How can you not be pulling for the Internationals in this? What kind of event is it if the same team wins over and over again? If I wanted that, I’d watch reruns of the Harlem Globetrotters vs. the New Jersey Generals.
Josh Berhow, managing editor: Foursomes have never been the Americans’ strength, and Friday was just weird. You saw guys make physical and mental mistakes they rarely make: Justin Thomas hit one into the penalty area when he absolutely couldn’t; Xander Schauffele failed to get out of a bunker; and there were a ton of missed mid-range putts.
It happens. I think it’s too easy to say the Americans have won the last 10 of these and therefore should be favored. That’s all true, but when it gets close or they start trailing, the pressure really builds. They aren’t supposed to lose.
What’s funny, though, is that the Internationals winning might be the best thing to happen to the Presidents Cup.
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