Inside a shocking Presidents Cup comeback: Scenes, second-guessing from 5-0 sweep

Three of our writers are on the ground at Royal Montreal for this weekend’s Presidents Cup. After Thursday went one way (a 5-0 U.S. sweep) and Friday went the other (a 5-0 International sweet) we got ’em together for a post-round breakdown.

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): Hello, James. Hello, Nick. It’s Friday night in Montreal and whew — what a difference a day makes. I can’t stop thinking about this time last night, when things were bleak. It didn’t just feel like this event was over after the heavily favored U.S. side went up five zip. It felt like the Presidents Cup itself might be over. If that sounds dramatic and dumb, well, it probably was. Anyway, now it feels different. So I’ll start with a simple question: What the hell did we just watch?

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): Man, I think we just watched a blowout. The Internationals beat the brakes off the Americans from the opening bell. In five alternate-shot matches, only two lasted past the 14th hole — and both of ‘em were won by the INT anyway. It’s hard to make sense of what two utter clobberings from either team mean for where this thing is headed, but man, that was exciting.

Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): The road-Ryder Cup Americans appeared. They were hit in the mouth in the opening match (Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im took down Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 7 and 6) and the dominoes — and International putts — fell from there. Wild. We were also kinda talking about this after a wonderful Tim Horton’s breakfast (shout-out Tim Bits!) about how the U.S. seems to play better on the road in the Presidents Cup, versus the Ryder Cup. Maybe the jinx came from us?

Dethier: Can’t rule it out! There’s no question that Friday was just an all-around drubbing, but the putting stats were particularly jarring: Every single American lost strokes on the greens Friday, while eight of 10 Internationals were in the positive. Our Sean Zak wrote about this more but it made me think of the match-play cliches about how the winning side “just made more putts” and how, on Friday, that was basically true.

So how do we make sense of that? We could throw our hands up and cite randomness, I guess, or the golfing gods, but that’s not very interesting. Instead I think it’s worth focusing on what we saw and heard and felt — and what the players did, too. How different did things feel out on the course Friday vs. Thursday?

Colgan: Like the difference between a funeral and a rock concert. The fans were jacked up. The players were jacked up. Whatever aerosolized Xanax used on Royal Montreal on Thursday had worn off by the time play began.

Piastowski: The fans were way different, for sure, and I spent the afternoon canvassing a few, including Mackenzie Hughes’ closest pal — who was easy to spot while holding a gigantic Hughes head cut-out. Well done. But I’ll add a different thought and say that it appears a few speeches were given last night by the Internationals, and they came out with their hair and golf bags on fire. Friday, the U.S. were the flat bunch. 

Dethier: Agreed on the fans. And look, there’s some chicken-and-egg stuff here. Like, the fans were quiet Thursday because their team was losing, but maybe, just maybe, their team was also partly losing because they were quiet?

Regardless, things were different on Friday right away. The opening tee was rocking. My dumbest take that I actually kind of believe is that the change in the set list of the first-tee DJ (quicker cuts, louder music, better choices, dramatically different, I’m telling you) made the difference in the match. It was the first domino to fall. The fans got hyped, the players got hyped, the Internationals went 3-0-2 on the first hole and kept it going big-time from there. If Thursday’s crowds felt like they were out for a pleasant walk and stumbled on a golf tournament, Friday’s felt like they were out at a hockey game — and they’d been tailgating on the way in. Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes have never felt that in their lives.

But let’s do some second-guessing. Anything U.S. captain Jim Furyk should have done differently?

Colgan: Eh, the pairings were mostly fine. If Furyk made a mistake, it was in failing to prepare his team for the all-out offensive everybody knew was coming today. This happens to U.S. teams way too often in these events, but I’m not sure how much of that falls on the captain.

Piastowski: Maybe play Keegan? But only him and Burns sat, and the pairings were partly the same. Maybe the 5-0 lead made them relaxed and I’d prefer they channel “ruthless” instead. 

Dethier: When captain’s picks came out, my immediate reaction was surprise that Furyk had gone with Brian Harman over Justin Thomas. I couldn’t help but think about that all Friday afternoon, when Harman struggled while playing alongside Max Homa. Then again, I couldn’t believe International captain Mike Weir sat Tom Kim for Friday’s matches, so I’m not sure they should be taking advice from me anyway — that strategy worked out okay.

But fellas, I kept running into you out there, roaming inside the ropes on this lovely Quebecois afternoon. Gimme a scene from out there that made you feel something.

Colgan: Standing off to the side of the 18th hole when Si Woo Kim poured in the par putt to vanquish World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was pretty epic. (Check out that “C’mere” he gives his teammates when the putt drops in the video below.) All day that match felt like the one the Americans might steal back, but Si Woo and Ben An took it to them when it mattered. Incredible, improbable, unbelievable win to bring the score right back to even.

Dethier: No. 13 is an arena-style par-3 surrounded by massive grandstands. I’d just arrived when Corey Conners stuffed his tee shot, which sent up a massive roar. And when Hughes finished it off with a short birdie putt, I couldn’t help but think it must have been the coolest sporting moment of both their lives. Two Canadians of the same age, junior opponents, college teammates out together in front of a rowdy home crowd, finishing off two top Americans 6 and 5? Man, what a feeling. One drunk fan kept screaming to Conners as the two conducted interviews. Corey! Corey! That was a f—– dart, Corey! And Tom Kim was at the back of the green, dancing, jumping, screaming, floating. That was a moment.

Piastowski: You guys nailed it. I was, happily, there for both of those. I’ll simply add that it was a delight seeing Tom Kim dancing on the 13th green after the match was won. And Kim didn’t even play today. You like to see that.

Dethier: Final question, then: What happens now?

Colgan: Dylan, I sincerely wish I knew, but right now I feel like I just stepped into the eye of a storm. It’s quiet for the moment, but I’ve got no idea what the hell happens next. I think uncertainty favors the home team? 

Piastowski: 25-5, U.S. Kidding, kidding. It’s going to get louder. Everyone I talked to said it might get a little boozier, too. Cheers. And game on.

Dethier: I’ll go big-picture: What happens now is the Presidents Cup continues to exist. How’s that for an overreaction? We’ve got an incredible weekend ahead, because Friday saved this tournament. At least for another day…