Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Team USA Procures Another Presidents Cup

If you hadn't paid attention to the 16th Presidents Cup until seeing the final score, 17-13 for the United States, perhaps you'd have said something like, "Yeah, that sounds about right, though it looks like the Internationals might've had a bit of a fight this time."

You wouldn't have known the half of it.

The International team led after every session except for the one that matters most: the last one. They exposed weakness on the American side in both the players and captaincy. But in the end, in the purest form of golf -- singles -- they just weren't able to match the sheer talent of the U.S. side.

The Americans entered Sunday's 12 singles matches down three points, 10.5-7.5, and proceeded to win nine of them and halve another in the most dominating singles session ever in a Presidents Cup. There also hasn't been such singles dominance in a Ryder Cup in more than a half-century, since before that competition expanded beyond Britain and Ireland to include all of Europe in 1979.

For the record, Cup rookie Jacob Bridgeman got the deciding point in a 1-up win over Min Woo Lee in the 10th match of the day to give the U.S. a 14-1-1 all-time record in the Presidents Cup.

Here's a recap of all 24 golfers in the competition.

UNITED STATES TEAM

Scottie Scheffler (3 points)
Maybe the biggest surprise of the entire Cup was U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker sitting Scheffler in Saturday's afternoon session, stunning most observers and apparently Scheffler too. At the time, the Americans were losing and to sit the best player in the world was, at best, curious. Snedker also raised eyebrows when he exposed Scheffler to play the weakest International player in singles, Nico Echavarria, when he might've been needed to take down a stronger foe. Scheffler defeated Echavarria handily. He  tied for the most points on the American side, winning three matches and losing one. The loss came in Friday's foursomes while paired with Sam Burns against the Canadian tandem of Corey Conners and Nick Taylor. Scheffler continues to struggle in that format, as did Tiger Woods when he was ruling the golf world.

Chris Gotterup (3 points)
The Presidents Cup rookie was a revelation, winning three matches and losing one. He teamed with Cameron Young to win in both foursomes and four-ball on Saturday, then handled the overmatched Christiaan Bezuidenhout in singles on Sunday.

Cameron Young (3 points)
As mentioned, Young and Gotterup were a force in both formats, something assistant Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk will carry with him to Ireland as the captain for next year's Ryder Cup. Young was handed the important first-man-out position on Sunday, and he took down Ryo Hisatsue.

Jackson Koivun (2 .5 points)
Only one of the 24 golfers did not lose a match, and it was the youngest one. Koivun was sent out with Justin Thomas in the very first session on Thursday and they won in four-balls, then did it again on Saturday. That was one of the smartest moves made by Snedeker. Koivun faced the most formidable task of any American in singles, as he was matched against the Internationals' top player in Si Woo Kim. The Korean was 2-up through 10 holes, but then Koivun took over and won by 2-up. The experience he got this week will be invaluable for next year's Ryder Cup.

Justin Thomas (2.5)
The cries rang out as soon as Snedeker named Thomas a captain's pick: Same ol' good ol' boys network. But there's a reason Thomas keeps getting picked. Actually, multiple reasons. One, he's good at golf. Two, he's as fiery as any American in the team room and in rousing the U.S. gallery or infuriating the opponent gallery. Three, he continues to show he belongs. Snedeker sent Thomas out four times and he won three of them. His guidance with Koivun could benefit U.S. teams for years. And in singles, Thomas went out and bludgeoned Conners, 5 and 3.

Sam Burns (2)
Burns played all five sessions but went only 2-3. He played three times with Scheffler and lost twice. And he was one of only two U.S. players to lose in singles, falling 3 and 1 to Sungjae Im.

Patrick Cantlay (2)
Cantlay was another captain's pick who received blowback. But he's a guy the other teams truly despise (on the golf course) and he did have a very good second half to the season. He went 2-2, including a vital point on Saturday when he and longtime partner Xander Schauffele took down the top International team of Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim. Cantlay then defeated Adam Scott in singles.

Collin Morikawa (2)
Morikawa played three times with Wyndham Clark and they won only once. He had one of the toughest singles matchups in Hideki Matsuyama, yet rallied for an important 1-up win.

Xander Schauffele (2)
Schauffele went 2-2, winning one important match alongside Cantlay. He was the last man out in singles, a final stop-gap if needed. But he wasn't and dispatched Ryan Fox easily.

Wyndham Clark (1)
Clark was one of two Americans to play all five sessions. He won only once, making one wonder why it was Scheffler who sat and not Clark. Every American wanted to play Tom Kim -- the big annoyance on the International team. Clark got him and lost handily, 3 and 2.

Jacob Bridgeman (1)
Another Presidents Cup rookie, Bridgeman played twice with Russell Henley and they were terrible. He went out 10th in singles and, as luck would have it, he was the one who delivered the deciding point in an impressive 1-up win over Lee.

Russell Henley (0.5)
Henley was largely an afterthought for Snedeker, especially considering his world ranking. He played three matches, losing two with Bridgeman and then going out 11th and halving his meaningless singles match against Nick Taylor.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM

Tom Kim (4 points)
It started two years ago – Kim was doing his best impersonation of Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia, the longtime pains in the butt of the European Ryder Cup team. He was sort of Poulter- and Garcia-lite. But now Kim is a better golfer, and that makes him even more annoying. He was demonstrative and riled the American crowds, and the U.S. golfers, too. Kim was one of five International players in all five sessions. He was the overall point leader in the Cup, including a singles win over Clark when the matches were still very much in doubt.

Si Woo Kim (3)
The best player on the International team coming in, they relied heavily on Kim. And in four sessions, he delivered, winning three times. But on Sunday, when they absolutely needed their star to win his match, he wilted on the back nine against Koivun. It was more than a lost point; it was an emotional letdown for the whole team.

Sungjae Im (2.5)
Im is now one of the veterans on this team. He played five matches. Along with Lee, they halved against the strong Thomas-Koivun team. And Im was one of only two Internationals to win a full point on Sunday, taking down Burns.

Min Woo Lee (2.5)
This was Lee's second Presidents Cup. He was no longer a rookie and captain Geoff Ogilvy relied heavily on his fellow Aussie. Lee went 2-2-1, and at the start of the Cup that would've looked good. But he also didn't deliver in singles, falling to the rookie Bridgeman in a match the Internationals certainly had expected to win.

Nick Taylor (2.5)
Taylor had never played Presidents Cup before. But he's also not a very young guy. And his age and experience showed with an impressive 2-1-1 mark. He won twice alongside Canadian countryman Conners, once defeating Scheffler-Burns in foursomes. Taylor halved his meaningless singles match with Henley.

Hideki Matsuyama (2)
The veteran won his matches on Thursday and Friday but that was that. Matsuyama lost on Saturday and, even worse, on Sunday to Morikawa in singles, 1-up. That was a crushing development for the Internationals.

Ryan Fox (2)
Fox played four matches and won two. He twice teamed with Lee in foursomes to defeat Morikawa-Clark and Burns-Clark. Fox's singles match proved meaningless as the last man out, and he lost to Schauffele.

Corey Conners (2)
Conners played all five sessions and won two matches. He played three times with Taylor and they won twice, including a stunning comeback to defeat Henley-Bridgeman in foursomes in, at the time, a huge momentum swing. But Conners was waxed by Thomas in singles, 5 and 3.

Adam Scott (1)
Scott is the unquestioned team-room leader for the Internationals. But he simply did not deliver on the course. He won only once, and he fell to Cantlay in singles, 2-1. It's harder to be a team leader when you aren't playing well. Who knows whether this was the 46-year-old's last Cup. He is destined to be a captain, perhaps in two years in his native Australia.

Ryo Hisatsune (1)
These last three guys are really where Ogilvy was behind the 8-ball. Hisatsune played only three matches and the next two guys only two each. Hisatsune teamed with Matsuyama on Thursday and they stunned Young-Schauffele. But that was his only point. He lost to Young in the first singles match, and it's fair to wonder whether Ogilvy should've put so much pressure on a rookie who turned 24 only this month.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1)
Bezuidenhout teamed with Scott to surprisingly win their Friday foursomes match against Thomas-Young. He didn't play at all on Saturday and lost in Sunday singles to Gotterup, 1-up. Tight match, but in the end, a loss.

Nico Echavarria (0)
Echavarria is a three-time winner on Tour. But he looked out of his comfort zone this week. He was the only player on either side without at least a half-point. He played with Conners on Thursday and they got blown out in four-ball to Thomas-Koivun, 5 and 3. We didn't see Echavarria again till Sunday, when Ogilvy sent him out as a sacrificial lamb to get beaten by Scheffler, and he did, 2 and 1.
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.