There’s something to be said for representing your country or region on an international stage, and that’s what makes events like the Presidents Cup so special.
“When you look at our team, what we’re trying to tap into is the International team represents billions of people all over the world,” said 2022 captain Trevor Immelman. “So we’re trying to tap into that, inspire the youngsters all over, and welcome fans from all of those countries to come on down and support us in some way, shape, or form because we’re their team.”
The best players from the United States and around the world (Europe aside) gather every other year to compete in a series of matches, and even though the Americans have dominated the event, there have been close calls (and a fair share of blowouts) along the way.
As the 15th playing of the biennial bout prepares to tee off at Royal Montreal Golf Club, take a scroll through the year-by-year history and results of the Presidents Cup.
1994 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 20-12
The United States won the inaugural Presidents Cup, 20-12, in 1994 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Virginia. Playing captain Hale Irwin earned two points in three matches for the Americans, including a win in Sunday singles against Robert Allenby. Team USA’s Fred Couples (3-0-0) and Davis Love III (4-0-1) both went undefeated while Vijay Singh (3-1-1) and Peter Senior (2-1-0) were the lone players with winning records for the Internationals.
1996 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 16 ½-15 ½
The second edition – once again at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Virginia – was much closer than the first. David Duval (4-0-0) and Mark O’Meara (5-0-0) led the way for Team USA, but the effort on Saturday from the Internationals kept it close. Peter Thomson’s side trailed 7 ½-2 ½ entering Saturday before they won the morning four-ball, 3-2, and afternoon foursomes, 4-1, to climb within one point of the Americans. The teams split Sunday singles, 6-6, to give the U.S. a narrow win.
1998 Presidents Cup
Internationals def. United States, 20 ½-11 ½
For the first and only time in the history of the event, the Internationals got the better of their American counterparts in 1998 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. Four Americans went winless, including Duval, who was the second-best player for the U.S. in ’96. Tiger Woods made his event debut with a 2-3-0 record, including a Sunday singles win over Greg Norman. Seven International players scored 3 or more points, with Shigeki Maruyama going a perfect 5-0-0.
2000 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 21 ½-10 ½
When the event returned to Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in 2000, the outcome was more similar to the first event than the second. The Americans won by 11 points thanks to a Thursday foursomes sweep, 10 of 12 players earning 3 points or more and Stewart Cink and Davis Love III each going a perfect 4-0-0.
2003 Presidents Cup
United States and Internationals tie, 17-17
When the 2002 event was rescheduled after the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., Jack Nicklaus took the Americans to South Africa to battle Gary Player’s International side at the Links at Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate. Tied 17-17 at the end of regulation, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els battled in a playoff, but tied the first three holes, which went on to produce the lone tie in the event’s 28-year history.
2005 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 18 ½-15 ½
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club hosted for the fourth time (the only course to do so in the event’s history) in 2005, and the match was tied entering Sunday singles. Davis Love, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco earned 2 ½ points down the stretch to give the Americans a three point win.
2007 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 19 ½-14 ½
Player and Nicklaus squared off as captains for the final time in 2007 at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. The U.S. lost Sunday singles 7-5, but held on for a five point win after dominant showings in Thursday foursomes (5 ½-0 ½) and Saturday foursomes (5-0).
2009 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 19 ½-14 ½
Welcome to the party, Anthony Kim. The viral star (before going viral was even a thing) went 3-1-0 in his Presidents Cup debut, but the talk of the event was none other than Tiger Woods, who went a perfect 5-0-0 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California.
2011 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 19-15
The competition returned to the site of the lone International win in 1998, Australia’s Royal Melbourne, where Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, served as Honorary Chairwoman, the first woman to hold the role. Fred Couples and the Americans got the better of Greg Norman’s Internationals for the second consecutive year with a lineup of six rookies including Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson. Jim Furyk did his best Tiger Woods impression with a perfect 5-0-0 record.
2013 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 18 ½-15 ½
Fred Couples converted the three-peat as American captain, taking down a feisty side led by Nick Price at Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Jordan Spieth, the longest-tenured member of the 2022 Presidents Cup team, made his debut and went 2-2-0 in the winning effort (despite the Americans losing Sunday singles by three).
2015 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 15 ½-14 ½
At another Jack Nicklaus course, this time in South Korea, the Internationals had the Americans on the ropes before Bill Haas earned the crucial final point on the last hole with his 2-up win over Sang-moon Bae to clinch the one-shot win. Branden Grace went 5-0-0 and Louis Oosthuizen went 4-0-1 in the losing effort.
2017 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 19-11
After the close call in Korea the Americans got back to their winning ways at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey. The U.S. won every session except Sunday singles where, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, they lost by three (though the event was already in the bag seeing as the Americans led 14 ½-3 ½ entering the final day). Half the U.S. teamed earned 3 ½ or more points.
2019 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 16-14
The event returned to Royal Melbourne for the second time in a decade and the Americans struggled once again. Entering the Sunday singles down two, 10-8, playing captain Tiger Woods’ squad fought back against Ernie Els and the Internationals, winning six matches and drawing four more to flip the match and win by two.
2022 Presidents Cup
United States def. Internationals, 17 ½-12 ½
After watching his team lose both sessions on Saturday and its lead heading into the final day trimmed to four points, U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III trusted that his 12-man team would deliver in Sunday singles.
“This is one of our best formats, and they’re going to come out mad tomorrow,” he predicted.
Love front-loaded his lineup with several of the top players in the world to attempt to put a sea of red on the scoreboard early: Justin Thomas in the leadoff spot followed by Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. They delivered mixed results, but Team U.S.A. needed just four points to retain the Presidents Cup.
