The United States was once again the overwhelming favorite at the start of the week and was on the ropes in the Presidents Cup on Friday night after winning four games in five games.

With the score at 5:5, the long-held momentum was back for the home team. The crowd at the Royal Montreal on Saturday was prepared for a historic weekend celebrating the international team’s breakthrough.

Captain Jim Furyk and the US team were not matched.

The American juggernaut repeatedly dashed hope in two clinical Saturday sessions, building a four-point lead in singles that looked difficult to overcome. It proved impossible.

These are the key numbers and notes from Sunday at the Presidents Cup.

1. By placing the world’s top two players at No. 1 and No. 3 in singles, Furyk hoped to quell any thoughts of a record-breaking international team comeback. The United States did just that, going 3-1-1 in its first five singles matches.

Those five players – Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay – combined for a 3-1-1 record on Sunday, all but ending the drama. The quintet combined for 24 under par on the day, leading the matches for 53 holes and only trailing by five.

2. The sixth individual player eliminated for the Americans, Keegan Bradley, officially secured the win with a par on the 18th hole. Bradley, who was left out of last year’s Ryder Cup squad, won holes 10, 11 and 12 to edge out the fiery Si Woo Kim. Bradley, the oldest player on the team (38) and next year’s U.S. captain at Bethpage, hadn’t made it to a Ryder or Presidents Cup in a decade.

3. The United States improved to 13-1-1 all-time in the Presidents Cup, with its only loss coming at Royal Melbourne in 1998. The dominance the Americans have had throughout the event’s history can hardly be overstated: They have trailed after just four of the last 46 sessions played in the Presidents Cup, dating back to singles in 2005.

There was undoubtedly some great golf played this week and the excitement on Friday and Saturday made for an entertaining event. However, some competitiveness questions need to be addressed as the future of the Presidents Cup progresses. Greg Norman, who turns 70 next year, played for the national team in the week of their only win. The Internationals have been within three points of the lead just twice in the last seven dups.

The heart of the team ❤️🤍💙@Keegan_Bradley gets the decisive point for the US victory at the Royal Montreal. pic.twitter.com/WczGgDznl1

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 29, 2024

4. The American team had the lead in the world rankings in every individual game on Sunday. This fact underlines the core problem: a total of 90 games have been played in the last three editions. In 89 of these, the US side was ahead in the world rankings. The only exception was a singles match between Louis Oosthuizen (20) and Matt Kuchar (24) at Royal Melbourne in 2019.

The United States has not had a player outside the OWGR top 30 on its Presidents Cup roster since 2011. The six international teams fielded since then have had 64 percent of their rosters comprised of players outside the top 30. An evolving team culture, good chemistry and an analytical approach can only partially close the talent gap.

5. The Americans played better on the back nine most of the week at Royal Montreal, finishing with a hole winning margin of plus-8 after the turn. Holes 13 and 14 were of particular importance, with the USA winning 19 holes and the international team winning nine holes.

In four-ball, the United States really stood out from the competition, outscoring opponents 8-1 in both sessions. Not only was it the first time in Presidents Cup history that the away team won more points in four-ball, it was also the largest margin of victory for either team in the format in a single week, whether on home or away soil.

6. The final score of 18 1/2 to 11 1/2 is the largest margin of victory in Presidents Cup history for an away team. When this event was last held here in 2007, the previous score was five points.

The United States came away with the win despite the foursome on Friday. In the entire history of the Presidents and Ryder Cup, there have been 17 instances in which a team has won four or more games. The 2024 American Presidents Cup team is the first team to be defeated and still win this week.

7. Three players shared the honor of scoring the best points of the week: Schauffele, Cantlay and Collin Morikawa each went 4-1-0 and capped their performances with an individual win. The only player of the 24 who didn’t lose a single game was Sam Burns, who won three times before tying Tom Kim in Sunday’s singles.

Unheralded South African Christiaan Bezuidenout, who did not play in either session on Saturday, was the only international player with a winning record (2-1-0). American Brian Harman, the 2023 Open champion, was the only player to score no points, losing all three games this week.

8. On paper, the Americans once again started the week as a powerful monster. According to this season’s PGA Tour statistics, eight of the top 11 players in both total strokes gained and strokes gained per round competed in the United States. They also achieved a better average placement near the hole in virtually every category tracked.

In the end, the difference was just as big as stated in the preview numbers. According to Data Golf, the Americans each had the top six players this week in tee-to-green strokes. They were in the top eight in strokes gained six times and, as a team, had an advantage of about 16 strokes in that metric over their opponents. Statistically, the Internationals putted slightly better, but it wasn’t nearly enough to defeat the flag-rattling Americans.

HOMA HOLE OUT!
@MaxHoma it’s all business after you get involved with 1. pic.twitter.com/8OdlAiCEXI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 29, 2024

9. Now 44 years old, there’s a chance this was Adam Scott’s final Presidents Cup appearance as a player. Scott is still playing tour golf at an extremely high level – he was sixth on the PGA Tour in scoring average this season – but the possibility is certainly there. When he’s finished, Scott will have come away without having won any of those games, although as captain he will undoubtedly have the opportunity to do so if he wants to.

Scott posted a match record of 2-3-0 this week, winning both of his four-man matches alongside Canada’s Taylor Pendrith. On Sunday, Scott played his 54th career game in the Presidents Cup, one shy of Phil Mickelson’s record for most games in the event’s history. That’s at odds with his long, highly successful career, but his 28 games lost are ten more than any other Presidents Cup player ever.

10. The 2026 Presidents Cup will be played at Medinah Country Club, site of Europe’s historic comeback win on Sunday at the 2012 Ryder Cup.

That was also the last Ryder Cup won by a team on foreign soil. Bradley and the Americans will try to keep it that way at Bethpage Black next year. Europe won last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome by a comfortable five-point margin.

(Top photo by Xander Schauffele: Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)