United States overturn three-point deficit to win Presidents Cup 17-13 at Medinah

The United States overturned a three-point deficit on Sunday to beat the International team 17-13 at Medinah Country Club and retain the Presidents Cup. The Americans won nine of the 12 singles matches, turning a final day that began with the visitors ahead into an 11th consecutive victory in the competition. Rookie Jacob Bridgeman supplied the point that secured the trophy.

Bridgeman beat Australia's Min Woo Lee one up, holing a four-foot par putt on the 18th green to finish the match. His point put the Cup beyond the International team's reach; the remaining matches established the final four-point margin. The closing session gave the United States 9.5 of the 12 points available, including a halved match, after it had started the day three points behind.

A singles session turns the contest

The Americans had spent the first three days behind an International side that performed better in the team matches. Associated Press reported that the visitors led going into the final day on US soil for the first time in Presidents Cup history. Sunday's individual matches changed that position quickly: early wins narrowed the gap, and the later matches left the International team with too few points to recover.

Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup were among the American winners. Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Jackson Koivun also won their singles matches. The spread of victories across the lineup mattered as much as the clinching putt: the United States needed to reverse a substantial deficit across 12 separate matches, rather than rely on one late result.

Cantlay also produced a late highlight, holing a birdie putt from just inside 60 feet on the par-three 16th against Adam Scott, according to AP. Scott was making his 12th appearance in the competition and has yet to be on a winning side. Russell Henley and Nick Taylor halved their singles match, completing the American total of 9.5 points from the session.

Captains describe a close day

US captain Brandt Snedeker had been part of the American team beaten by Europe in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah. After Sunday's reversal, he said he had reminded his players the previous night that ‘funny stuff happens here.’ He praised the group for fighting for one another and for the team. Medinah's earlier comeback supplied a striking setting, although this time the Americans were the side recovering from the deficit.

International captain Geoff Ogilvy said the contest had been ‘on a knife edge’ for much of the day. He pointed to close matches that might have changed the momentum had a few holes gone the other way. He also acknowledged the difficulty of facing a strong US singles lineup before an American crowd. His team had led after the opening three days but could not turn enough of Sunday's matches into points.

The result continued a long-running pattern in the event. The United States has now won 11 Presidents Cups in succession; the International team has won the competition once, in 1998, and the teams tied in 2003. At Medinah, the visitors had put themselves in an unusually strong position before singles, but the American finish produced the widest singles-session margin in Presidents Cup history, according to AP.

What the final score records

The tournament was played from 24 to 27 September on Medinah's No. 3 course near Chicago. Sunday's 17-13 score records a completed comeback, not merely the point at which the trophy was retained. Bridgeman's win made the outcome certain; subsequent finishes added to the margin. The next Presidents Cup is due at Kingston Heath in Australia in two years, giving the International team another opportunity to end the American run.

The result also closes a week in which Snedeker's team had entered as the established power in the competition but faced a difficult final-day task. For context on the captain's approach before play began, see the earlier report on how Snedeker wanted the Americans to approach this Presidents Cup.