‘Do not forget’: Fiery proof Presidents Cup is far from dead… and why Australia holds the key

The scoreboard did not tell the full story.

The US team defeated the Internationals 18.5-11.5 at Royal Montreal Golf Club and the score line alone seems to support the views that the Presidents Cup is dying because of the one-sided nature of the biennial event.

The Americans prevailing for a tenth straight time as the Internationals recorded their lowest ever points tally when hosting the event makes for grim reading, but this Presidents Cup was different.

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It was full of passion from both sides, the Canadian crowd were loud, and a lot of the matches were balanced on a knife’s edges as they could have gone either way but for a lip out, a bad bounce or a freakish shot here or there.

In fact, it was so tight that 13 of the 30 matches were decided on the 18th green – six American wins, four International wins, and three ties was the breakdown of those nail-biters.

Plus, seven other matches finished one hole later and the US dominated those contests with six wins.

The fighting spirit of the Internationals was admirable as, based on talent, they were always going to be up against.

Every American sits inside the top 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings, compared to only four Internationals being ranked that high including Hideki Matsuyama as their only top ten player.

But the tenacity of the new generation of International players made this Presidents Cup a thrilling affair.

As golf reporter Dan Rappaport explained: ”When people talk about how one-sided the results of the Presidents Cup have been, do not forget how much fun the actual competition has been to watch,” he posted on X

“At the end of the day, that’s what this is: entertainment. And Saturday was entertaining as hell.”

YOUNG TALENT BRING FIRE AND BRIMSTONE

There was no love lost between the two teams across the four days of heated competition, and Tom Kim was in the thick of it.

The 22-year-old Korean star never took a backwards step as he and good friend Scottie Scheffler got in each other’s faces as they traded large celebrations when making birdie putts in their fiery four-ball clash on Thursday.

He sat out on Friday before ramping the tension up a notch on Saturday when he expressed his displeasure with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay when they did not give me a ‘gimme’ from close range.

Massive celebrations followed when he and Si Woo Kim won holes from then on, and post-round he dropped a bombshell that the Americans had been “cursing at them” throughout the course of the day.

Then on X, teammate Byeong Hun An carried on the drama by quote tweeting “you always have a guy in your group, who doesn’t do s— but talk s— all day” in response to a video from the PGA Tour’s official account of Wyndham Clark mocking Si Woo Kim’s ‘night, night’ celebration.

An later deleted his tweet and posted again saying “I’m deleting my tweet. My apologies. I want to be a better person than that”.

The main takeaway from the feuding is that the International team deeply care.

Critics have always lamented how players from varying corners of the world can unite under a single banner.

They have done so since 2019 in the form of ‘the shield’ which is emblazoned on their shirts, jumpers and caps on course, and Adam Scott believes it has genuinely created a better sense of belonging within the team.

Tom Kim completely agrees and is fired up already at the prospect of a return bout at Medinah Country Club outside of Chicago in two years’ time before heading to Kingston Heath in Melbourne in 2028.

“I just think we’re hungry. I’m sure the American team feels the same way. But when you lose so many times, I feel like there’s always a story where people come back,” Kim said.

“Winning doesn’t last forever. There’s eventually times when you’re going to lose. There’s going to be times where lip-outs are going to go our way. A few breaks, a few bounces are going to go our way, and that’s going to make a difference.

“We play great and we keep falling short sometimes, but I’m not losing hope. I’m going to support really, really hard. I don’t have a voice anymore and I’m going to lose it more today, but I really believe that our fans can bring us on and hopefully soon we’ll have a chance to win the Cup.”

POSSIBLE MERGER TO BENEFIT INTERNATIONALS?

An underlying factor from the past two Presidents Cup has been the erosion of the International team’s depth because LIV golfers are barred from taking part.

You cannot help but believe the presence of Australian star Cameron Smith along with the likes of 25-year-old Chilean Jaoquin Niemann would have helped the Internationals this week.

The Americans are of course missing superstars of their own like Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, but they have greater depth to cover those losses.

Four-time major champion Ernie Els – who has previously captained International team and was a captain’s assistant – shared his views on how the changed golfing landscape – including the impact of LIV – has made life harder for the Internationals.

But he insists that their fortunes are turning around.

“We were in a really golden period there for a while. Not sure why. We had a lot of people in the top 10, top 15, top 20 in the world for a long period of time in the ‘90s and early 2000s,” Els recalled on Sunday night at Royal Montreal.

“It could be that the way people play now it’s tough to pick up World Ranking points. On the US Tour, it’s very competitive. Just to stay on Tour, you’re doing very well. It’s so competitive on the Tour, the US PGA Tour. Money is very competitive. People want to play in the US It’s tough to play Europe.

“My day, we played a lot of Europe, picked up a lot of ranking points. I remember going through Dubai, and you play well at Dubai, you’re good to go. You’re top 10 for the rest of the year, basically, and some of the other tournaments. But that’s kind of gone away a little bit now.

“A lot of our players were lost to LIV. So, we’re in the process. These guys may not rank very high in world ranking, but they’re coming. There’s a lot of good, great talent here, so we’ve got to give this a little bit of time.

“When they start winning tournaments on the US PGA Tour, their real confidence is going to come through. Give it a bit of time. It was a different animal back in the day, but this thing’s coming, I promise you.

“Even the U.S. Team, how many players in the top 20 this week? A lot of the guys live here. We’ve just got to give it some time. I think the next year or so, these guys start winning tournaments, the whole thing will change again.”

Men’s professional golf is stuck in somewhat of a holding pattern right now as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf try to agree upon how they can achieve the proposed reunification of the two tours which was first announced in June last year.

Reports suggest that disagreements regarding financial penalties for LIV players, the ongoing future of LIV among others are delaying the process, and Australian golf fans will be desperate for LIV golfers to be eligible for the Presidents Cup when it returns to our shores in four years’ time.

The support for the all-Australian LIV team ‘Ripper GC’ captained by Smith has been monumental at LIV’s Adelaide tournament the last two years and the sights and sounds of a jam-packed, hostile hole crowd would be unlike what the Presidents Cup has seen before.

The atmosphere was similar at Royal Melbourne in 2019, but LIV has undeniably heightened the parochial nature of Australian crowds, which would benefit the Internationals.

So too would having Smith and some of his colleagues.

SIGHTS SET ON MELBOURNE

The Americans have never lost on home soil, so Medinah is going to be tough despite Australian Geoff Ogilvy – who has been a captain’s assistant for the last four Presidents Cup – being one of the course designers.

Kingston Heath, however, presents a massive opportunity.

Adam Scott has all but assured that he will be the International team captain then.

The question remains if, at age 48, he can follow in Tiger Woods’ footsteps and be a playing captain as Woods did in 2019.

“I think I can play for another couple years. I’ve come this far. If I can play in a couple more years and contribute a point, then I’d love to be on a winning Presidents Cup team,” Scott said at the post-tournament press conference.

“Like I said before, I believe there’s something happening with this team internally under this Shield. I’d love to push along and give it one more shot if I can.”

The Internationals will surely be targeting Kingston Heath for their second ever victory.

Their only triumph came at Royal Melbourne in 1998 and there is likely to be a strong Australian-flavour to the International team in 2028.

Canadian Mike Weir backed in three of his countrymen in Royal Montreal, and Scott could opt for even more Australians.

Min Woo Lee – who made his debut this week – expressed his frustrations with only playing two of the five sessions at Royal Montreal but he is a star on the rise, is a fan favourite at home and appears likely to play a greater role for the Internationals in the future.,

Fellow Australian PGA Tour player Cam Davis should also be in the frame.

The 29-year-old debuted in the Presidents Cup two years ago – but was not picked by captain Mike Weir this time – and he loves the Melbourne Sandbelt having played, and won, the fledgling Sandbelt Invitational in recent years.

Throw LIV player Lucas Herbert into the mix too along with Jason Day continuing his career resurgence and there could be an overwhelming Australian presence in the International team in years to come.

The inclusion of most of those Australians would no doubt galvanise the home crowd and help dispel the Presidents Cup’s naysayers.