CHARLOTTE (North Carolina): The United States was forced to work harder than expected to earn a ninth consecutive Presidents Cup on Sunday, taking down a scrappy International team that vowed to fight until the final bell.

Robbed of top players who defected to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, the depleted Internationals were expected to be easy pickings for an American squad packed with nine players in the world’s top 15.

But the biennial showdown was far from the blowout predicted ending in a respectable 17½ to 12½ scoreline.

“They were fighting. Man, they were fighting,” said International captain Trevor Immelman. “I hope fans out there really do appreciate. These guys have got massive hearts. Massive hearts. And I’ll go to battle with them any day.”

The Internationals, with a record eight Presidents Cup debutants in their 12-man squad, kept the outcome in doubt until late into Sunday’s singles when Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele beat Canada’s Corey Conners 1-up, sinking a three-foot par putt at the 18th hole to register the winning point.

Needing 4½ points from 12 singles matches to reach the winning total of 15½ , the US got the job done with five contests to spare sparking early celebrations among the 40,000 mostly American supporters at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

“We just wanted to get it done,” said Schauffele. “It’s always hard to win. It’s not about me, you know. Everyone else got their points up on the board. It was close. It was stressful.”

The Americans, who led 11-7 entering the 12 final singles matches, improved to 12-1-1 in the all-time rivalry and have never lost on home soil.

“They played great,” US captain Davis Love said. “It was hard. They put in a lot of effort the last three weeks. They came in ready to go.” Conners, winless for the week, missed a five-foot par putt at 17 to keep Schauffele 1-up.

At 18, Schauffele dropped his third shot three feet from the hole and, after Conners missed his third from a bunker, rolled in the deciding putt to tie the hole, win the match and set off a US celebration.

“I was handed the opportunity and I was able to take advantage of it,” Schauffele said.

With 10 of the world’s 16 top-ranked players, the US team was a heavy favorite over a global side that lost British Open champion Cam Smith and several other top players who jumped from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, making them ineligible.

“Trevor and his guys did a great job of rising to the occasion,” Love said.

Tony Finau won five of the last nine holes to defeat Canada’s Taylor Pendrith 3&1 and lift the Americans within a point of clinching the Cup.

“I fought as hard as I’ve ever fought in a match,” Finau said. “You just have to get the job done.”

Jordan Spieth, winless in seven prior Ryder and Presidents Cup singles matches, became only the sixth player to go 5-0 in a single Presidents Cup, winning four holes in a row late to defeat Australia’s Cam Davis 4&3 for the first US point.

“I was extra nervous,” Spieth said. “I wanted to get that monkey off my back. They are looking for red on the board and it feels really good to finally provide that. You can’t put a price on this. I did as much as I could this week.”

Patrick Cantlay never trailed in beating Australia’s Adam Scott 3&2 for the second US point. Cantlay went 3-up after four holes and Scott, Cup-less in 10 tries, was never nearer than 2-down after that.

Sam Burns finished the week winless but helped the US cause by tying Japan’s Hideki Matsu­yama.

The global stars had pulled off two early upsets to delay the US party.

South Korea’s Kim Si-woo beat Justin Thomas 1-up, the American falling to 0-3 in career Presidents Cup singles.

Thomas, who went 4-0 with Spieth in pairs, lost after Kim sank a 10-foot birdie putt at 18 and Thomas missed his from three inches closer.

Colombian Sebastian Munoz beat top-ranked Scottie Scheffler 2&1, the Masters champion going 0-3-1 this week, worst mark of any world number one in a Presidents Cup.

In post-clinch finishes, South Korea’s Im Sung-jae beat Came­r­on Young 1-up, Lee Kyoung-hoon downed Billy Horsc­hel 3&1, Max Homa beat South Korea’s Kim Joo-hyung 1-up, Collin Morikawa defeated Chile’s Mito Pereira 3&2 and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout downed Kevin Kisner 2&1.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2022