The US swept to its 10th consecutive victory at the Presidents Cup, this time with an emphatic 18.5-11.5 point winning margin.
That manner of the victory was markedly different to the US performance just 12 months earlier when eight of the team took on the Europeans in the Ryder Cup.
Back then, one of the players who eventually appeared in both contests, Patrick Cantlay, was reported to have led a split in a ‘fractured’ US Ryder Cup team over player payments.
That claim was later dismissed by Cantlay as “complete lies” and “totally unfounded,” although the team was ultimately well beaten by Luke Donald’s men at Marco Simone, by 16.5-11.5 points.
Another player who appeared in both matches was Wyndham Clark, and after he picked up 1.5 points at Royal Montreal Golf Club, the 2023 US Open champion insisted that the suggestions of divisions in Italy last year were not just untrue, but that the team was actually closer than their European counterparts.
He said: “Yeah, we are a very close team. Contrary to what people thought last year at the Ryder Cup, we were in my opinion closer than the Europeans. The media tries to divide us apart, and this year we were just as close if not closer."
“We had so much camaraderie and positive energy between us. When : things weren’t going well, we still were all picking each other up. It was an amazing team room. So many laughs, so many fond memories.”
The US Presidents Cup team saw Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Sahith Theegala and Keegan Bradley step in for Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
In Bradley's case, he was making his first US appearance in either competition since the 2014 Ryder Cup, and the experience in Canada proved invaluable to him, particularly as he captains Team USA in next year’s Ryder Cup against the Europeans at Bethpage Black.
After clinching the winning point for the US, he had nothing but good things to report about the togetherness of the team room in Canada, saying: “I gained a knowledge of the team room. You always hear about the US team room not being whatever, and this is the most - the greatest team room I've ever been a part of.”
That’s a big statement from Bradley considering that, following his omission from the 2023 Ryder Cup, he admitted he had been an something outsider in the game and added: “I feel like moving forward I’m going to have to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup.”
However, there is no suggestion Bradley was an outsider among the US Presidents Cup team. On the contrary, he feels he was made especially welcome this time around.
“It's the first time I've been on one of these where I've really, truly felt like I belonged on the team,” he said. “It's a lot of thanks to Tabitha and Jim. But these guys really love each other. It's really special. It's amazing to see.”
The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place between 26 and 28 September.
