MONTREAL – The most touching moment of the day came when Keegan Bradley sank the winning putt on the 18th, capping a 5-0 day for the Americans. His statement reflected a decade of pent-up emotions, the days when he missed those teams by a whisker and was denied what he seems to love most about professional golf. The most exciting moment of the day came when Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim exchanged long birdie putts on the 7th hole and gave animated shouts in each other’s direction, creating the feeling that perhaps the international team had its poulter and perhaps we too expected it a real struggle, both in this game and further on.

And that, unfortunately, is as good as it gets. At least for this weekend and at least for the 2024 Presidents Cup.

To answer an obvious question with an even more obvious answer: Yes, this thing is over. The Americans’ 5-0 lead means their opponents would have to win the remaining games by a lopsided 15-10 margin to force a draw, and the cold reality is that they must do so by a 15-10 margin inferior team. The fact that there have been big comebacks in the past doesn’t apply in a situation where Americans are outnumbered with top 20 players and big winners; To beat these guys, you have to jump on them early and hold on for dear life. The opposite, as on Thursday, means admitting defeat. The Royal Montreal Golf Club also doesn’t show even a hint of the home-field advantage they thought might help their cause and which the Americans dutifully feigned in the week leading up to the game. After being on the course all day, I can tell you that it was little better than neutral (“sparse” or “half-hearted” would be a better description) and Tod Leonard’s story of two women from the international team trying to Getting a chant going and being stared at like they were playing the trombone in a library is a perfect example of this The played out. Imagine Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, desperately scanning the horizon for the cavalry that would never come, and you get an idea of ​​what it might have been like for Mike Weir, who was hoping for some volume from outside the ropes .

Whatever happens from here on out, it won’t be able to match the great moments from day one, as Bradley’s putt on 18 buried the final bet. And as nice as that was for Jim Furyk, who sought redemption for the last time he led Americans into French-speaking territory, it was a miserable day for the Presidents Cup overall. In fact, you could say it’s one of the toughest days for the event’s image…well, maybe ever. While the fact that the Americans have won nine in a row speaks poorly of the competition’s record, the counterargument was that the Internationals had at least kept it close in the last two cups they hosted in Melbourne and South Korea. Each time they came within a whisker of angering their opponents.

Well, we’re back in international territory, at least technically, and bro, it’s not even close.

And if they lose Montreal, you can expect them to lose in Madinah in two years – generously, this team is not close to scaring Americans in America – which means the most optimistic thing you can say about the Presidents Cup is about perhaps praying in Kingston Heath in 2028. This little hint of optimism is bleaker than anything else, and you can bet this result will only increase calls for a format change. Watch this area. Damn, watch out everyone Space.

I write this with some regret, as I just wrote an essay arguing that this tournament will be better than the Ryder Cup in 20 years. Granted, I still have two decades to go before I have to pay for it, but I do wish I could get it back.

What’s particularly poignant about Thursday is how tangible everything seemed. The games were close! Each of them turned 16 and three even turned 18! Pretty late on the back nine, you could easily talk your way into the Internationals by winning a few games and maintaining a slim lead. But at every single critical moment they failed where the Americans succeeded. Bradley hit a putt, Bezuidenhout missed a shorty on the 17th hole to tie his match, Schauffele birdied the same hole, etc. etc. etc., five devastating hits in a row. Overall, the Americans only won eight holes more than the Internationals all day, but the distribution was perfect, giving them narrow victories each time. The relative proximity is cold comfort – only the five points count.

After Friday’s pairings were announced, captains Furyk and Weir sat down for one of the most pointless press conferences imaginable. It’s not like you could ask the American captain about the impact on the larger event… he was excited to take the lead and the last person to ask him if it wouldn’t be better for the Internationals was one of these Winning things had the choice of words in return. Weir, on the other hand, could not admit to himself the devastation he must have felt after two years of serious preparation, let alone ponder the fate of the event, because a good captain never gives up and the last thing his team needs is to lose their leader see giving up hope. So we got a charade – a necessary charade on both sides, but a charade nonetheless.

Barring miracles (and even the glimmer of hope I offer under duress), it remains a funeral march for the international side. Losing won’t be fun, but the real loss comes here in the grand scheme of things. What the Presidents Cup needs is time to succeed, and that time is measured in decades, but as the pressure mounts, what you need more than anything is for the tournament in its current form to give us an edge. What happened Thursday is the worst-case scenario and represents a clear and present danger to the bright future some of us like to imagine. What can you say to the doubters? What’s left but blind faith? In the world of team play, it takes years to plan and years to hope, but only a single day to watch everything collapse and the tangible horizon disappear back into the distant fog.