In the end it was a thumping victory to the United States of America and an equally painful loss to the International team.
The President’s Cup once again has become the residents’ cup. The handsome trophy will reside once more, for the next two years at least, in America.
In the 30-year history of this unfortunately one-sided event, only once has the Cup left the US shores
and that was back in Melbourne in 1998.
This year’s 18 and a half to 11 and a half shore line above all else underlines the formidable strength that presently exists in the American game. The International team was, make no mistake about it, a strong looking one on paper. All 12 players selected by the International captain, Mike Weir, play on the USPGA Tour. Most, if not all, of them have won on the US Tour and a handful are Major Championship winners. So yes, these guys could play and they showed that on the second day when they bounced back from their first day whitewash by doing the same to the Americans, winning all 5 foursome matches on Day Two to even up the overall score to 5 all after two of the four days.
Belief must have been high in that International team as Day Three dawned. Could that 26-year winless drought be about to be broken. The emphatic answer from the American team smarting from that 5 nil the day before was a definite no. The last two days quickly became an American runaway benefit as they grabbed 13 and half of the 20 points available. Their 7-point winning advantage was not the biggest winning margin by an American team, but close to it.
So, some deep soul searching has to take place within the International team management ranks.
As mentioned above, the International team has for some time now been made up of experienced USPGA Tour pros, unlike the winning International team back in 1998 which included a fair few European Tour based players such as Kiwis Greg Turner and Frank Nobilo. No longer is it a given that just because you’ve earned your card to play on the US Tour you are guaranteed a place in the President’s Cup team. A good example of this is the case of Ryan Fox and his non-selection. He was in real contention for a place in the team at the beginning of the year. Adjusting to a new Tour in a different part of the world from where he had been playing for the previous 4 or 5 years meant he wasn’t able to produce his best form in 2024. An annoying hip problem didn’t help his cause either. So, when the President’s Cup captain Mike Weir came to pick his team, Foxy stood as the 18th ranked International player on the World Rankings list and so missed out both as an automatic selection and/or a captain’s pick.
The frustrating irony from an International perspective is, on the one hand more world class players from many different parts of the world are now finding their place on the USPGA Tour which clearly ensures the International teams picked are now much stronger on paper than those picked 20 and 30 years ago, but winning this damn Cup is proving harder than ever. Sadly, there’s no obvious sign America’s vice-like grip on the President’s Trophy will weaken in the immediate years to come.
Oh well! At least every other two years we can become mad fanatical European golf fans and cheer them on as they try and wrestle the Ryder Cup from the Americans. Strange though isn’t it. Europe is always more than a match for the Americans (having won 12 of the 22 Ryder Cups since Mainland Europe was added to the Great Britain team in 1979). Pity the rest of the world isn’t.
Meanwhile on the DP World Tour our two regulars Sam Jones and Daniel Hillier lined up for the Spanish Open. Both made the cut but didn’t kick on over the weekend. Sam Jones had the better finish of the two, finishing in a tie for 45th place at 1 under for his 72 holes. Hillier had to settle for a share of 65th place.
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