BRADENTON, Fla. – For a first-time competition pitting three teams in competitions with a newfangled scoring system that seemed direct from Mars – three days, six sessions and 648 available points – the inaugural World Champions Cup delivered a rousing, memorable finish at The Concession Club.

Sparked by playing Vice Captain Billy Andrade, who filled in for injured U.S. Captain Jim Furyk, and always steady anchorman David Toms at the back end of its six-man lineup, the U.S. team overturned a late deficit Sunday afternoon to capture a thrilling two-point triumph over hard-luck captain Ernie Els and his International squad.

The U.S. finished with 221 points, two points clear of the International team, which finished with 219. Europe, the Day 1 leader captained by 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke, finished third, with 208 points.

“There was a time in the middle of that back nine where we were six (points) down and these guys just fought, and I mean fought really hard,” said Furyk, captain of the 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup team that will compete in Montreal. “I’m just so happy for them. It was a pleasure to be their captain. ... We're good buddies every week of the year, but to get together as a team is really cool.”

The U.S. trailed until the final few holes of Sunday’s final nine-hole Singles session. The team entrusted Andrade, who will be 60 next month but never before had the opportunity to play in a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, and Toms at the back of its afternoon lineup. Behind their late efforts, those two flipped the entire match, stunning the Internationals, who had performed so well up until the final moments of Singles.

“This is a total team effort,” said Andrade, who originally was slated to be Furyk’s non-playing assistant captain. He received a text last week from Furyk telling him that the captain’s bad back would prevent him from competing at The Concession. So Andrade ramped up his practice sessions at home near Atlanta. He was ready.

”Jim made a comment when we were talking about pairings before this tournament started about lifting each other up, and having partners that lift each other up," Andrade said. “Every single player up here lifted their partner up, and lifted all of us up.

“We were truly together, truly a team. And great teams like this win.”

Toms two-putted from 50 feet at the 550-yard par-5 eighth for birdie, earning two points (of the available 3) alongside World Golf Hall of Famers Retief Goosen and Bernhard Langer. He and Andrade then earned 1.5 points apiece at the difficult 18th, tying for their group’s low score. Andrade hit the green in regulartion and narrowly missed his birdie putt, earning par; Toms settled for a conservative bogey after his approach with a 4-iron bounded over the firm green. He pitched to about 20 feet, and could three-putt from there and still win. He only needed two.

“Man, I was just, I guess I was ready for the moment,” Toms said. “I'm not really sure, but it felt good out there.”

Vijay Singh and Goosen of the Internationals failed to record any points at the final hole, both victimized by poor tee shots. Singh, a three-time major champion, had to lay up short in two and failed to get up and down for par from about 100 yards.

Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, drove it left into an awkward lie in a fairway bunker,. He had a bad stance, and probably tried to get too much out of his second. Els lamented that they probably should have laid back. Goosen's second squirted right, into a watery penalty area. He dropped, knocked his fourth shot onto the green, and watched his long bogey putt drift past the cup. Double. Both he and Singh had played well in the morning to give the Internationals a chance.

Els, captain of an International side that lost a close Presidents Cup in Australia in 2019, was gutted at the poorly timed breaks his team had encountered on the final hole.

“Yeah, it's unfortunate, I think we let one slip away,” Els said. “Right now, it stings, but it was great matches, great golf. The format works. The games are tight, evenly spread, all the teams. Nobody really broke away.”

Andrade was the lone American to win his three-way match on Sunday afternoon, which speaks to the team’s depth as the others managed to earn enough points to give the U.S. a chance. Each player on the U.S. roster earned at least eight points Sunday afternoon. It was Jerry Kelly who was declared "Man of the Match" by tournament chairman Peter Jacobsen. With his 89-year-old mother, Lee, watching on, Kelly finished six sessions with 61 points, one more than Internationals standout Steve Alker, the 2022 PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year.

The Internationals scored 55.5 points in Sunday’s morning session, one better than the U.S., to protect its ultra-slim lead. Europe struggled early and left the morning trailing by 13.5 points, but still within reach with a big afternoon.

“I was a little worried that, in the format, one of the teams could really get out ahead,” Furyk said in a break between the two Singles sessions. “Really, for our first event, to have it come down to last session, Singles, anything can happen. The Euros are what, 12 or 13 points back, and that’s still very do-able in this format.”

Furyk put his two Wisconsin standouts out first in both sessions; Steve Stricker and Kelly delivered nicely. Both players birdied three of their first four holes and the U.S. was off and running. Kelly’s 12.5 points against Stephen Ames (Internationals) and Clarke were the most in the session. Els putted beautifully and inspired his team with 12 points.

It all set the stage for a wild afternoon.

“I was watching the scoreboard a little bit when I was out there on the par 3s ... You’re down four, you’re up two ...” Furyk said. “I mean, it’s moving around a lot. It’s exciting. I’m probably better off if I don’t just stare at my phone all day, and watch some golf.”

Tee times were moved up to 8 a.m. on Sunday because of expected rough afternoon weather that eventually arrived, allowing the U.S. those final few holes and final few points. As the U.S. team took part in the winners’ championship celebration on the 18th green, only then rain began to fall. Everybody seemed too happy to care.

“I've got to honestly say that this was probably the most fun of all the teams I've been on,” said Stricker, who has played on, and captained, winning U.S. Presidents and Ryder Cup teams.

“We all wanted to win, but there is a casualness to it, too. I mean, we're at the stages in our careers that this is kind of the icing on the cake to play in something like this.”

As he started to talk about Andrade, the team rookie, his friend and Stricker’s partner for two days, Stricker, an emotional man, began to choke up, having trouble getting his words out.

His teammates know his reputation well, and marked the moment with cheers and applause. Steve Stricker, tears welling up? Ah, yes, the World Champions Cup officially had arrived. The first edition was an absolute doozy.