Kim-possible, underrated heroes and surprising strategies: Everything to remember from 2024 Presidents Cup

MONTREAL – OK, so that was a lot. Sometimes these international team events feel like you’re drinking from a fire hydrant. Matches are flipping constantly. You’re losing track of who is where on the golf course and what it all might mean. There was even that energizing moment on Sunday when it looked like everything might flip the International Team’s way for an improbable victory.

It didn’t end up that way; the U.S. Team won the Presidents Cup for the 10th straight time, claiming the Sunday Singles session, 7.5-4.5. The Americans won the cup, 18.5-11.5, narrowly missing out on the biggest margin of victory in Presidents Cup history.

But there was more to it than the final score would suggest, and plenty that happened will have implications moving forward. Here are five things you should remember from this Presidents Cup that will impact team events going forward.

1. The performances of Sam Burns and Russell Henley

Six American players earned at least three points at this year’s Presidents Cup. Four are names you would probably have guessed before the week started: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay.

Those have been mainstays for the last few international team events and almost certainly will be moving forward.

Then there are Russell Henley and Sam Burns, who made the case this week that they deserve consideration every year these team events come around.

Henley went 3-1-0 in his team event debut, pairing with Scottie Scheffler in three sessions. That might lead you to believe Scheffler carried the inexperienced Henley along. That’s far from the truth. Henley gained three strokes more than Scheffler for the week, outplaying him in two of their three sessions together. Henley also won his Singles match over Sungjae Im, 3 and 2.

On Sunday, Scheffler gave him a beaming vote of confidence.

“He's one of the guys where we were looking at the picks towards the time the Playoffs were starting, he was a guy we all wanted on the team,” Scheffler said. “He was one of our locks to be picked. He proved why this week. He's a really talented player. I'm excited for him to be a future part of these teams as well.”

Burns has more experience to point to, having played in Rome last year and at Quail Hollow in 2022, but was just 1-5-2. He played many of those matches alongside Scheffler. Many expected them to play together again this week, but that never materialized. Out from under the shadow of his best friend, Burns thrived.

It gives the U.S. yet another two players with proven success to lean on in future team events. Whether they make it there is still a question, but the duo proved they belong, and can help carry, the U.S. Team for years to come.

2. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim’s Saturday show

Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim weren’t sure the magic they conjured at the 2022 Presidents Cup would sustain. Two years ago, the Kims played Saturday’s Four-ball session and took down Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, 1-up. It was the high point of Tom Kim’s breakout performance and a day later Si Woo Kim shushed the crowd and took down American stalwart Justin Thomas in the first match out, 1-up.

They didn’t play together in the opening two sessions at The Royal Montreal Golf Club, but Weir unleashed the pairing for 36 holes on Saturday. They split their matches, winning in the morning Four-ball session, 4 and 3, before losing on the 18th hole in Foursomes to Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, but that undersells the show they put on.

The Kims proved to be the emotional heartbeat of the team, winning the International Team’s only match in the morning and breathing life into a home crowd that had reason to doubt. They celebrated their way into the spotlight. Tom Kim roared with every holed putt. Si Woo Kim walked in a match-clinching birdie, then erupted after holing a chip shot in the afternoon, doing his best Stephen Curry “night night” celebration as he pranced around the green. They were the energy in a day that could have lacked it as the Americans won the day 6-2.

The International Team has needed someone like them. In the team’s three-decade history, they’ve seldom had a no-doubt pairing – a team that could be reliably sent out to win more than they lost and infuse energy toward their cause. It will take more than two Presidents Cups to ascertain whether the Kims have staying power on the course, but a 2-1 record in three is a good start. Perhaps more importantly, they also bring the showboating, pimp-stepping confidence that the International Team, forever the little brother, has seldom had.

“I mean, those boys – this course might be, I don't know, 7,000 yards, but those boys cover about 9,000 yards in a round of golf, at least the ones that I played against them,” Schauffele said. “They hit unbelievable shots. P.C. (Patrick Cantlay) and I saw it. They were very hard – P.C. and I had to bring out some of our best stuff to beat them last night.”

The International Team is still searching for a win that will provide a surefire statement that they can compete. It didn’t happen this week, but the Kims gave a sneak preview on Saturday of what it might look like when it finally does.

3. The International Team’s star problem

For as much as depth, or a lack thereof, on the International Team is discussed every two years at the Presidents Cup, none of that matters if the stars don’t perform.

Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Sungjae Im and Tom Kim, the International Team’s top four players by Official World Golf Ranking, went a combined 6-12-1. Matsuyama lost almost four strokes to the field for the tournament, ninth amongst the International Team.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Team’s four team-event stalwarts – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay – went 15-5.

It’s fun to debate the captain’s picks and pairings. It will always be one of the most interesting subplots of these international team events, and on occasion, that’s what makes the difference. Far more often it comes down to your best players performing like it.

The International Team has consistently struggled to do that. Jason Day is 6-13-4 in the Presidents Cup. Matsuyama is 9-13-5. Im was the lone modern International Team player with a winning record. That went by the wayside with his 1-4 record this week.

The International Team has historically opted to match strength with strength. In Sunday Singles, they matched up Matsuyama to Scheffler and Tom Kim to Sam Burns, who was undefeated for the week. They saved Adam Scott to match up with Collin Morikawa. They lost every match.

Until the International stars shine, it’s hard to see them celebrating on these Sundays.

4. Mike Weir’s surprising Saturday strategy

In any team event, the losing team’s captain is almost always second-guessed on something, be it pairings or captain’s picks. That’s just the nature of the beast. We want concrete takeaways about what went wrong and why.

Weir didn’t evade that fate. He played the same four pairings in both of Saturday’s sessions, a vote of confidence in those eight players who were part of Friday’s 5-0 sweep. Still, it came as a surprise at the time and garnered more scrutiny when they lost Saturday by a 6-2 margin.

It meant four players – Jason Day, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Min Woo Lee and Byeong Hun An – went almost 48 hours between matches. It also meant eight players faced a stiff physical test of 54 holes on the weekend.

Those eight players went 2-5-1 in Sunday Singles. The four players who sat Saturday went 1-1-2, earning 2 of the 4.5 points the International Team won on Sunday.

Weir admitted he will probably second-guess the decision himself.

“Of course, when you lose the Cup, as captain you look back and say, ‘Was that a good idea or not?’ You've got 12 great players here, and you're trying to make the best decisions over the course of four days out there,” Weir said. “Look, I'll second-guess it. You know what, we didn't win. I think in my career anytime I've fallen short, I've taken a hard look. So that will be something I'll do when I have time to process it.”

5. The U.S. Team finds the right game plan

It was the main critique of the Americans after the 2023 Ryder Cup: they didn’t come prepared. Most of the team didn’t play for a month in the lead-up. Wyndham Clark admitted he felt rusty well into his first match on Thursday.

They also felt rushed. Arriving on Sunday, overcoming jetlag, and trying to prepare for a team event didn’t jive. There was a similar feeling at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

So the Americans arrived a day early, flying in on Saturday morning. The team played a full 18 holes on Sunday, essentially slowing down what is one of the most hectic weeks of the year. It’s hard to argue with the results. The U.S. swept Thursday’s opening session, 5-0, and had the energy to outlast the International Team until the end.

“I know after the Ryder Cup, a bunch of us were talking about what we can do differently, especially going on away trips," said Homa. "I think this has been awesome. I think everybody has done a 10-out-of-10 job. So it's been cool. I don't feel like I haven't done enough, and at times in the Cups with all the obligations we have, there are just a lot of things you have to do. You don't necessarily get to spend a ton of time practicing before and after, and I feel like we've had plenty of time.”

Collin Morikawa, one of those American stalwarts who influenced the decision, expects it to be a staple of the U.S. team's event strategy moving forward.

“I see no reason why it wouldn't be,” Morikawa said. “Time is not in your favor in these weeks.”