Presidents Cup grades: American pair with A+ weeks; two receive D’s
The 15th Presidents Cup is in the books, so it’s time to hand out some player grades.
Taking into account players’ records, strokes-gained statistics and other intangible factors, here is a determination of who passed and who failed at Royal Montreal:
A+
Patrick Cantlay (U.S.): Overcame some driving struggles and rode stellar approach play to a 4-1 record. His birdie putt at the last on Saturday night to win his foursomes match against Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim was perhaps the most pivotal moment of the week.
Xander Schauffele (U.S.): Capped a 4-1 week of his own with a beatdown of Jason Day. His status as the Americans’ fearless leader was further solidified.
A
Russell Henley (U.S.): What a debut for the 35-year-old rookie, who paired nicely with Scottie Scheffler and was the best putter on either team (+3.87 strokes gained) en route to a 3-1 showing.
Collin Morikawa (U.S.): The third U.S. player to go 4-1. Morikawa may have lost over 2.5 strokes on the greens, but he made up for it tee to green.
A-
Keegan Bradley (U.S.): Only got the call for three matches, though won two of them. The putter was solid, and he hung on to earn the clinching point.
Max Homa (U.S.): Despite his 1-2 record, Homa finished third in total strokes gained for the week while leading the field in strokes gained approach (+6.25). Had he had another foursomes partner besides Brian Harman, Homa could’ve easily been 3-0.
Si Woo Kim (Int.): He and Tom Kim almost single handedly kept the Internationals’ spirits high. Si Woo went 2-2, pouring in big putt after big putt, and chipping in late in his Saturday foursomes match. However, he ran into Bradley in singles in what was a must-win match.
B+
Sam Burns (U.S.): Lost strokes for the week, mainly because of his irons (-5.99), but he got the most out of his game, posting a 3-0-1 record.
Corey Conners (Int.): He gets Most Valuable Canadian, as he played in all five sessions and went 2-3.
B
Tom Kim (Int.): Went 1-2-1, capped by a tie with Sam Burns in singles, and teamed with Si Woo Kim to produce some great moments. But some of his comments were either distracting or fuel for the Americans – or both.
Scottie Scheffler (U.S.): The world No. 1 earned more points this week than he had in his previous three cups combined, and his 2-5-3 record entering the week improved to 5-7-3. But he missed some important putts and dropped his singles match against an inconsistent Hideki Matsuyama.
B-
Sungjae Im (Int.): Statistically, he was the second-worst player in Thursday foursomes, but he was among the Internationals’ best for the remainder of team play, a stretch that was highlighted by he and Hideki Matsuyama’s 7-and-6 drubbing for Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. The 1-4 record probably should’ve been better.
Adam Scott (Int.): Went 2-3, and though he passed Ernie Els for most career points among International players, he is still one match win short of tying Els’ record for most career match wins.
C+
Wyndham Clark (U.S.): His 1-2-1 week was so-so, but Clark clearly got under some of the International players’ skins (see Ben An’s now-deleted tweet), which probably counts for something.
Jason Day (Int.): We’ll remember that up-and-down at No. 18 to win his foursomes match on Friday, but Day disappeared after that, not playing at all on Saturday and then getting blown out by Xander Schauffele in singles.
C
Sahith Theegala (U.S.): Went 1-1-1 in his cup debut, capped by a tie with Ben An. Made just five birdies all week, though four of those came against An.
C-
Mackenzie Hughes (Int.): Sat out the first season and then went 1-3 while playing the rest of the way. He lost 1.18 shots on the greens despite being picked largely because of his putting.
Byeong Hun An (Int.): The 1-1-1 record is not terrible, but his quick Twitter fingers certainly weren’t helpful on Saturday night – and that now-deleted comment probably gave Wyndham Clark a little extra motivation on Sunday.
Hideki Matsuyama (Int.): He looked great on Friday alongside Sungjae Im, and he did beat the world No. 1 in singles to cap a 2-3 week. But in the other three sessions, he was really bad.
D+
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Int.): The only International with a winning record, though he was statistically the fourth worst player of the entire competition. He lost strokes in every facet, and he was benched all day Saturday.
Tony Finau (U.S.): He lost nearly five shots with the putter, though managed to finish at 2-2.
Taylor Pendrith (Int.): Gutted out a 2-3 record, but the approach player, specifically the wedges, put his team in tough positions.
D
Brian Harman (U.S.): No player lost more strokes this week than Harman (-8.54). He went 0-3, one of just two players on either side to go point-less.
Min Woo Lee (Int.): Played just twice, and at 0-1-1, he most certainly did not cook.
Best and worst
According to strokes-gained data from DataGolf.com
Best overall: Xander Schauffele (U.S.), +8.89
Worst overall: Brian Harman (U.S.), -8.54
Best putter: Russell Henley (U.S.), +3.87
Worst putter: Tony Finau (U.S.), -4.53
Best around the green: Si Woo Kim (Int.), +2.94
Worst around the green: Hideki Matsuyama (Int.), -4.97
Best on approach: Max Homa (U.S.), +6.25
Worst on approach: Sam Burns (U.S.), -5.99
Best off the tee: Collin Morikawa (U.S.), +3.06
Worst off the tee: Jason Day (Int.), -3.86
Best in foursomes: Si Woo Kim (Int.)
Worst in foursomes: Brian Harman (U.S.)
Best in four-balls: Xander Schauffele (U.S.)
Worst in four-balls: Hideki Matsuyama (Int.)
Best in singles: Xander Schauffele (U.S.), +4.76
Worst in singles: Tony Finau (U.S.), -4.45