Jordan Spieth capped off a perfect week at the Presidents Cup as the United States claimed their ninth straight victory over the international team.
The arrival of the Saudi-funded LIV circuit undermined the chances of the international team, which lost several of its key cogs. Despite the result, the international team fought hard. However, she has no trophy to prove it.
Barely a year ago, the United States inflicted Europe’s worst Ryder Cup defeat, with a young and hungry squad. She returned to the charge for the Presidents Cup.
Xander Schauffele offered the game-winning run when he hit a six-foot putt at 18e hole. This par allowed him to defeat the Canadian Corey Conners by one stroke. That gave the Americans a total of 15½ points with five games still in play.
Conners and Taylor Pendrith, the only Canadians on the team, were the only golfers to be shut out.
Conners needed three putts at 17e hole, when he had a chance to tie the match. He then sent his ball into a pit from the fairway at 18e.
Spieth putted from all over the Quail Hollow course to earn a 4-3 victory over Cameron Davis that prevented the international team – who needed their best performance on a Sunday – from returning to the race.
Spieth became the sixth player to win all five Presidents Cup games, winning all four games as a team with Justin Thomas.
Spieth, a three-time major champion and former world number one, first qualified for Team USA at the age of 20. However, he had never won a solo match. He was 0-3 in the Presidents Cup and 0-3-1 in the Ryder Cup.
The Americans have improved their record to 12-1-1 since the event’s inception in 1994. They have lost only once, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia, and a draw in South Africa. South in 2003.
The international squad quickly trailed 8-2 after the first two days with a squad comprising eight rookies. Half of them replaced golfers such as British Open champion Cameron Smith and Louis Oosthuizen who were ineligible after the PGA Tour suspended them for signing with the lucrative rival Tour.
One of them, Colombian Sebastian Munoz, beat world number one Scottie Scheffler and went undefeated throughout the week (2-0-1). Another is 20-year-old Tom Kim, who gave the international team hope on Saturday night with a performance as flamboyant as his personality.
However during the four days, the Americans were too strong and demonstrated the strength of their entire formation.