By Rory Carroll
Sept 27 (Reuters) – Jacob Bridgeman clinched the winning point as the United States rallied to beat the International Team 17-13 and retain the Presidents Cup near Chicago on Sunday.
Bridgeman beat Australia’s Min Woo Lee 1-up to give the Americans the 15-1/2 points required to secure the trophy, completing a final-day turnaround after the US began Sunday trailing 10-1/2 to 7-1/2.
The victory was the United States’ 11th consecutive Presidents Cup title. The Americans improved their overall record in the biennial team event against an International side drawn from outside Europe to 14-1-1.
The US needed eight points from 12 singles matches and received wins from Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Chris Gotterup, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Jackson Koivun before Bridgeman delivered the decisive point in his tournament debut.
‘BEST GOLFERS IN THE WORLD’
“I saw a bunch of guys who didn’t want to quit on each other,” US team captain Brandt Snedeker said.
“I saw the best golfers in the world come out here on a mission… I’m just so damn proud.”
Bridgeman said the emotions he had kept in check throughout the day spilled out after he sank the decisive 3-foot putt at Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 Course outside Chicago.
“To let it out on the last hole was pretty sweet,” he said.
Xander Schauffele later won his match and Russell Henley halved his, extending the final margin to four points.
The Internationals had been in position to claim their first outright Presidents Cup victory since 1998, and early singles wins by South Koreans Tom Kim and Sungjae Im moved them within striking distance of the title.
But the Americans took control as the day wore on, while the International side struggled on the greens.
CANTLAY DRILLS 57-FOOT PUTT
Cantlay provided one of the defining moments when he holed a 57-foot putt from off the 16th green in his match against Australia’s Adam Scott. Cantlay pumped his fist as the home crowd erupted into chants of “USA! USA!” before he closed out the match on the next hole.
Morikawa then won a tight, back-and-forth match against Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama to put the United States ahead 13-1/2 to 12-1/2.
Koivun, 21, beat South Korea’s Si Woo Kim to move the Americans within a point of victory before Bridgeman sealed the comeback.
“It has been such a cool learning experience,” said Koivun, who went undefeated in his Presidents Cup debut.
“And to come out on top after a large deficit coming into today is a feeling I can’t explain,” he said. “I’m just grateful for the trust the captain put in me.”
Former US captain Tiger Woods praised the Americans’ final-day rally in a social media post.
“What a comeback!” Woods wrote.
“Congrats to Team USA on an incredible Presidents Cup victory. They needed all the matchups to go their way today, and they got it done. Great team win.”
(Editing by Toby Davis and Bill Berkrot)
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