MONTREAL — Golf has never seen a rivalry as lopsided as the Presidents Cup, so heavily weighted toward the Americans it can barely be considered a rivalry.
Adam Scott needs no reminder.
He was a 23-year-old making his Presidents Cup debut in 2003, right in the middle of the action in South Africa, urging for a Tiger Woods-Ernie Els playoff to continue in the dark if it meant the International team not getting a share of the trophy. It ended in a tie. They shared the gold trophy.
But for Scott and the Internationals, it’s been all downhill — more like plunging off a cliff — ever since then.
The Americans have won nine in a row since that tie, and the only International victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.
What makes Scott think this will be any different?
“I think our team is deeper than we’ve seen for a while, as far as the world ranking goes — not that it’s the be-all and end-all, but it’s something,” Scott said. “I feel like we’re putting together a formidable side, and 18-hole match play and some momentum, we can get right in it.”
He has said that before. He just hasn’t done that before.
The Presidents Cup starts Thursday at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America and site of another U.S. romp in the Presidents Cup in 2007. The only consolation for Canada that year was Mike Weir taking down Woods, even though the outcome had been decided.
Weir is now the International captain and hopeful Canada has more to cheer.
That starts with being in front of a home crowd.
“We know what they can do,” Xander Schauffele said Monday as both teams played nine holes at Royal Montreal in cool weather and occasional rain. “And they’re on home soil.”
That certainly doesn’t hurt the cause, as the last two times illustrated. The International team, led by Els at Royal Melbourne in 2019, had the Americans on the ropes and was leading 10-8 going into the last day, only for the Americans to rally in singles and win.
Before that was South Korea in 2015. The Internationals thought they had it won until Chris Kirk made a 15-foot putt and Anirban Lahiri missed from 4 feet. With a chance for at least a tie, Sangmoon Bae in the final match duffed a chip on the final hole.
Close, but no trophy. That’s been the case since 1998.
In America, it’s been no contest. The U.S. built an 8-2 lead after two sessions the last time, at Quail Hollow in North Carolina in 2022, against an International team that lost two key players, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, who joined the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.
And then there was Liberty National in 2017, such a shellacking that the Americans had a chance to win the cup before even getting to the 12 singles matches on the final day.
Schauffele, playing in his third Presidents Cup, believes the home crowd matters, especially if U.S. players fall behind early.
“If you start out shaky, the fans can make a big difference. You can be made to feel like you’re playing worse than you really are,” Schauffele said.
Most of the Americans haven’t played since the Tour Championship three weeks ago — Max Homa missed the cut at the Procore Championship in Napa, California, while Presidents Cup rookie Sahith Theegala tied for seventh.
But they arrived on the weekend, a few days earlier than normal, to get acquainted with Royal Montreal. The International team spend two days in Montreal after the Tour Championship.
“I know they’re putting a lot into it to kind of make it feel like as much of a home game as possible for us, and we’re counting on the Canadian fans for that,” Scott said. “But we’re all going to have to do our job and win some points to get them on our side.”
As for the little things, Weir points to a big starting point in 2019 when Els had a logo — it’s more like a shield — as a symbol of an International side that is starting to feel more like a team. This team has players from six countries. Three of them are Canadian, all of whom Weir chose with his captain’s picks.
“You can just see it. You feel it. The guys are more comfortable with one another,” Weir said. “And I think that’s a big factor for our team.”
Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day are the only players who have competed in at least three Presidents Cups. For the rest of the players, the losing streak is only what they hear.
“We do know the past, and we want to change that,” Weir said. “And we’re doing all the little things behind the scenes to help to change that.”
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