Americans rally in nick of time to capture Presidents Cup at Medinah

MEDINAH, Ill. – Brandt Snedeker jumped to his feet, raised two jubilant fists and lifted Keegan Bradley into the air.

The two most recent captains in U.S. team competition, both Bradley and Snedeker had helmed a Sunday rally in Singles’ play on home soil. While Bradley’s came up short last year at the Ryder Cup, Snedeker’s troops got across the line on a course that had become a hallmark of U.S. disappointment 14 years ago.

A few feet in front of them on the 18th green, Jacob Bridgeman had just holed a short par putt to finish off a 1-up win over Min Woo Lee and put another red point, this time the decisive point, on the board to deliver a memorable American victory at the Presidents Cup.

Despite Snedeker’s self-declared mistakes, a wobbly run across the first three days of matches and a Sunday lineup that prompted quick second-guessing, a talented American team galvanized at just the right time and found a way to pull off a comeback for the ages. It’s a win that continues more than two decades of dominance in the biennial competition, albeit in a form and fashion no one saw coming entering the week.

The final 17-13 tally that will go into the history books won’t do justice to the tense scene that enveloped Medinah Country Club on Sunday afternoon. While the Americans put a handful of early points on the board to stoke hopes of a rally, having trailed 10.5 to 7.5 entering the final day, the International Team still had a reasonable path to victory as the final matches stretched across the back nine. But an American roster that seemed superior on paper entering the week finally played like it, with Snedeker enjoying contributions from nearly every spot in his lineup.

The 9.5 to 2.5 margin in Singles set a record for Sunday domination, as each of Snedeker’s three rookies won their match. Chris Gotterup cruised to victory over Christiaan Bezuidenhout, while Bridgeman’s win against Lee, one of the International standouts this week, got the final tally across the necessary 15.5-point mark. Then there was Jackson Koivun, a pick that raised some eyebrows but who delivered in a big way while toppling the Internationals’ top-ranked player, Si Woo Kim, by winning five of the final eight holes.

“I thought he brought everything and more,” Snedeker said. “I put him in a big spot today, a really big spot. That was a massive match. If we were going to have any chance today, he had to win that match.”

The veterans that provided the backbone of Snedeker’s lineup, many of whom had come up short a year ago at the Ryder Cup, provided a steady hand at just the right time. The quartet of Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele never trailed in any of their matches. Four points expected, four points delivered. Cameron Young wrestled the opening match away from Ryo Hisatsune to set the tone for the day, while Collin Morikawa flipped a pivotal battle against Hideki Matsuyama that seemed to take the last remaining wind out of the International sails.

Trailing 1-down on the 15th green with Matsuyama in tight for a birdie chance, Morikawa buried a 30-foot birdie putt of his own to flip the script. Matsuyama couldn’t match from inside 4 feet, sending the hearty Chicago crowds into a frenzy. Instead of facing a 2-down deficit with three to play, Morikawa had drawn even and ultimately won the match, 1 up, with a par on No. 18.

“I know my focus is on my match, but it took every single ounce of energy for us to go out there and do what we had to do today,” Morikawa said. “There was a lot of back and forth. (No.) 15 was the pivotal moment. That’s match play right there in a nutshell.”

The American team that ultimately draped "W" flags around each other’s shoulders on the 18th green, a nod to the flag flown by the Chicago Cubs after every victory across town at Wrigley Field, had plenty to celebrate. But make no mistake – this is a group that had stared into the abyss and rallied from the brink of a defeat that would have proved a monumental upset.

Snedeker’s side entered the week as hefty favorites, gifted with a brawny lineup that afforded ample margin for error while playing on home soil. They had burned through most of it by Saturday night, when Snedeker met with the media and spoke openly about the mistakes he had made with lineups and matchups that he felt hadn’t “put these guys in the best position possible.”

But on a course where the Americans had been on the wrong side of a Sunday comeback at the 2012 Ryder Cup, and with many players still stinging from the Singles’ rally that came up just short last year at Bethpage Black, the U.S. Team offered an emphatic victory that illustrated just how high their collective ceiling is when the skill of all 12 members is on full display.

“We’ve made some good runs on Sunday, but it’s hard to really get them over the hump and actually finish it off,” said Captain's Assistant Jim Furyk, who will likely lean on several of this week’s combatants when he captains the U.S. Ryder Cup team next year in Ireland. “These guys finished it off like I’ve never seen before.”

Snedeker seemed on his heels for much of the week and, standing behind the 18th green after Bridgeman’s decisive match ended, he opened up about the stress that the captaincy had created for him. The questions about his team’s composition, or the Americans’ ability to rise to meet the moment in match play, still lingered.

But for the first time all week, Snedeker spoke with the assured confidence that only victory can provide.

“I knew these guys were special. I knew they were close,” Snedeker said. “I saw it last year at the Ryder Cup, how hard those guys fought for Keegan on Sunday. I was just trying to get them to fight for me the same way.”

The Americans were pushed, tested and challenged this week more than anyone expected. They responded just in the nick of time, authoring a record-setting Singles performance that saved Snedeker from further scrutiny and ensured he’ll be remembered as a winning Presidents Cup captain.

The trophy is back in American hands, even if the path to victory proved a little more scenic than anticipated.