At St. Jude, Cink poised for emotional victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The U.S. Team has won the 14th Presidents Cup, defeating the International Team by a 17.5-12.5 margin at Quail Hollow Club. PRESIDENTS CUP: Scoring The U.S. improves to 12-1-1 all-time in the biennial competition, remaining undefeated on American soil at 8-0-0. The U.S. Team entered Sunday Singles with an 11-7 advantage over the International Team, and the United States weathered an early opposing surge with consistent play across the lineup. Here’s a match-by-match breakdown of Sunday’s 12 Singles matches at Quail Hollow Club. SUNDAY SINGLES MATCH 19 Si Woo Kim (Intl.) def. Justin Thomas (U.S.), 1-up This first match got tense on the back nine, with the normally stoic Kim showing some fire as he won the 14th (par) and 16th (birdie) holes and “shushed” the partisan crowd with a nice par putt at 15. Thomas, who led most of the match, hit his approach close for birdie at 17 to tie; both players had good birdie looks at 18. Kim putted first and made from 10 feet. Thomas, just inside, missed his putt left. Thomas had a strong week (4-1-0) but fell to 0-3 in Presidents Cup Singles. QUOTES: “I’ve never (felt) like pressure, even when I won THE PLAYERS Championship. It was a really hard match. … My goal was playing 18 holes. I kept the pressure on him.” – Si Woo Kim Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 12, International Team 8 Player records this week: Thomas (4-1-0), Si Woo Kim (3-1-0) MATCH 20 Jordan Spieth (U.S.) def. Cameron Davis (Intl.), 4 and 3 Spieth, the most seasoned U.S. player, came into Sunday having never won in Presidents Cup/Ryder Cup Singles play, holding a record of 0-6-1. He lost his first two holes, but he got going with the putter, birdied Nos. 4 and 5 and was tied after nine. Spieth would run away by winning six of the last seven holes. Not only did he get his Singles victory, but Spieth became only the sixth player in Presidents Cup history to finish 5-0-0. QUOTES: “I had a great back nine … I rattled off three straight birdies (starting at 11) and then just kept trying to hit greens. It feels really good. I was more nervous than I probably should have been today, just because I wanted to get that monkey off my back.” – Jordan Spieth Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 12, International Team 7 Player records this week: Spieth (5-0-0), Davis (2-3-0). MATCH 21 Sam Burns (U.S.) tied Hideki Matsuyama (Intl.) Another close match near the top of the lineup, with Burns, a rookie on the U.S. Team, and Matsuyama, an International Team veteran, heading to the 18th hole tied. Matsuyama hit a drive down the left side that struck a marshal and caromed left into the rough, a terrible break. From 182 yards, he hit his approach just over the green. Burns piped a drive, and hit his approach to 24 feet. Matsuyama’s long curling chip hit the flagstick and stayed out. Burns, playing the 18th hole for the fourth time, watched his birdie putt to win drift off right. Burns played much better on the week than his record would show. QUOTES: “He just blew the lid off this place.” NBC’s Paul Azinger after Burns made birdie from 48 feet at the 10th hole Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 13.5, International Team 8.5 Player records this week: Burns (0-3-2), Matsuyama (1-3-1) MATCH 22 Patrick Cantlay (U.S.) def. Adam Scott (Intl.), 3 and 2 Cantlay came out a determined man after he and partner Xander Schauffele lost their afternoon Four-ball match on Saturday. He birdied the second, third and won the fourth with a par when Scott putted off the green. There was some beautiful golf in this match at times. Scott, the oldest man of the match at 42, stiffed his approach at the ninth with Cantlay’s ball sitting just 2 feet from the hole. Cantlay simply left Scott with few openings in a tactical victory. Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 13, International Team 8 Player records this week: Cantlay (3-1-0), Scott (2-3-0) MATCH 23 Sebastian Munoz (Intl.) def. Scottie Scheffler (U.S.) 2 and 1 Scheffler, the world No. 1, came in fired up after going winless (0-2-1) in three team matches, but he faced a formidable foe. Munoz, from Colombia, was 2-down through seven, but kept punching. He won holes 8-10, then holed a bunker shot for eagle at the short 11th. Scheffler would answer, holing a curling downhill putt from 62 feet to keep from going 2-down. Munoz had a 1-up lead when the players traded birdies at 15 and 16. A poor tee shot by Scheffler at 17 cost him, his bogey clinching the match for Munoz. QUOTES: “It was tough. I really had to focus. It’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever achieved in my life, playing this week, holding him off two times this week. I threw everything at him, and luckily we got the win.” – Sebastian Munoz Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 13.5, International Team 9.5 Player records this week: Scheffler 0-3-1, Munoz 2-0-1 MATCH 24 Tony Finau (U.S.) def. Taylor Pendrith (Intl.), 3 and 1 Finau clinched at least a half-point for the U.S. side when he birdied the 16th hole against the long-hitting Canadian rookie, then secured a full point at the par-4 17th when he made his seventh birdie of the round. Pendrith, winless on the week, led from the sixth hole through the 11th, but did not win a hole after 11. Finau won five of the final nine holes of the match. QUOTE: “I fought as hard as I think I’ve ever fought in a match. We know what’s on the line here this week, and it just adds that little intensity. I needed every bit of it. I played really nicely. I had to if I was going to beat Taylor today.” – Tony Finau Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 14.5, International Team 9.5 Player records this week: Finau (3-1-0), Pendrith (0-4-0). MATCH 25 Xander Schauffele (U.S.) def. Corey Conners (Intl.), 1-up The man who won gold at the 2020 Olympics now owns a clinching point at the Presidents Cup, too. Schauffele was struggling mightily on the back nine, tugging his tee shot into the water at the par-3 14th and then driving his ball into the left-side creek at 15, but he showed lots of fight. He hit an incredible third shot from 218 yards after his drop and saved his 4 at 15 to regain a 1-up lead. Schauffele was 1-up with two to play and cold-shanked his approach at the par-4 17th with Conners sitting on the green in two. Conners, who had a rough week, three-putted to allow Schauffele to tie the hole with bogey. A scrambling par at 18 sealed his 1-up victory and the cup for the U.S.. QUOTES: “This is a really strange feeling. Man, we were struggling out there, and I’m really happy there are no pictures on the scorecard. I had all the boys pulling for me. I knew it was going to be close. Corey just let me in, and I was able to take advantage of it.” – Xander Schauffele Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 15.5, International Team 9.5 Player records this week: Schauffele (3-1-0), Conners (0-4-0) MATCH 26 Sungjae Im (Intl.) def. Cameron Young (U.S.), 1-up Young had a nightmare start. Im came out with three pars and was 3-up on the fourth tee. But Young, one of six U.S. rookies, can go on some incredible stretches of golf, and he worked his way back into the match. When he birdied the par-4 15th, Young owned the lead. Im, an incredible ballstriker, was tough all week, and he would birdie the last two holes – making from 22 feet at 18 – to turn around the deficit and pull out a hard-earned point. Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 15.5, International Team 11.5 Player records this week: Young (1-2-1), Im (2-2-1) MATCH 27 K.H. Lee (Intl.) def. Billy Horschel (U.S.), 3 and 1 In a battle of two Presidents Cup first-timers, the South Korean Lee steadily built a 3-up advantage through 11 holes, and he held off the fiery Florida Gator with just one hole surrendered the rest of the way – Horschel’s birdie at No. 13. Lee two-putted for birdie at the par-5 16th to match Horschel’s up-and-down from a greenside bunker, and the reigning back-to-back AT&T Byron Nelson champion was conceded the match while facing a 21-foot birdie try on No. 17, as Horschel faced 43 feet for par. Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 15.5, International Team 10.5 Player records this week: Lee (2-1-0), Horschel (1-2-0) MATCH 28 Max Homa (U.S.) def. Tom Kim (Intl.), 1-up No player at Quail Hollow has been on a hotter run than Homa, who, one week after winning the Fortinet Championship, capped off an undefeated week (4-0-0) at the Presidents Cup by beating Kim. Homa did not start well – he was 3-down through 11 to the 20-year-old – but won holes at 12, 13, 14 and 15 to flip the match. Kim missed an 8-foot birdie putt at the last to tie the match. Homa’s birdie at the 15th, the end of Quail Hollow’s daunting Green Mile, produced an incredible roar that echoed across the course. Kim was one of the real standouts from the week, winning two points on Saturday. Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 17.5, International Team 11.5 MATCH 29 Collin Morikawa (U.S.) def. Mito Pereira (Intl.), 3 and 2 Morikawa set the tone for the match on No. 1; after Pereira hit his approach on the long par-4 to within inches, the Cal Bear drained a 17-foot birdie to tie the hole. Pereira never led the match at any point. Morikawa matched his U.S. Team compatriot Spieth for largest advantage at any point Sunday (4-up), which he held through 10 holes on the strength of four birdies and an eagle. Pereira won the par-4 11th with a birdie but could draw no closer, and the two-time major winner drained a 24-foot curling birdie at the par-5 16th to conclude the proceedings, lightly flipping his putter and delivering a stout fist pump to the fans. Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 16.5, International Team 11.5 Player records this week: Morikawa (2-1-0), Pereira (0-2-1) MATCH 30 Christiaan Bezuidenhout def. Kevin Kisner (U.S.) vs. (Intl.), 2 and 1 Birdies were difficult to come by in the day’s anchor match. Bezuidenhout, who was on the golf course for only the second time all week, played solidly and never trailed, though Kisner never let him far out of his sight. Bezuidenhout went 2-up with two to play with a deft up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the par-5 16th. When Kisner’s par putt at 17 spun out of the hole, victory was Bezuidenhout’s, and the Presidents Cup had ended in a five-point U.S. victory. Score at match’s conclusion: U.S. Team 17.5, International Team 12.5 Player records this week: Kisner (0-2-1), Bezuidenhout (1-0-1)

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SOUTHAMPTON, BERMUDA – APGA Tour star Willie Mack III emerged victorious in a three-man playoff thanks to a tap-in par on the first extra hole, capturing the Butterfield Bermuda APGA Championship Wednesday at Port Royal Golf Course. It was the first international competition in the history of the burgeoning APGA Tour. First round leader Joseph Hooks of Farmington Hills, Michigan, and Marcus Byrd of Washington D.C. joined Mack in the playoff after a competitive back nine left them all at four-under-par 138. The threesome replayed 18 and Mack secured his par before Byrd and Hooks missed the putts needed to extend the battle. Mack won the first-place check of $15,000 from the purse of $60,000, the fourth largest in the history of the APGA Tour. Mack, the 34 year-old stalwart from Flint, Michigan, now carries another tournament win into the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School next week at Plantation Preserve Golf Club in Plantation, Florida, where he hopes break through following multiple near-misses in recent years. He has upwards of 70 wins on the APGA Tour and mini-tours over the years and made the cut in two PGA TOUR events during the summer of 2021 as part of his journey in professional golf. Mack advanced out of the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School last month at Championsgate Golf Club in Championsgate, Florida. Mack sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole Wednesday to start his charge from three strokes back and all three held the lead down the stretch in windy conditions on the 6,842-yard par 71 Port Royal layout. The PGA TOUR’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship will be contested at Port Royal later this month (Oct. 27-30). “I tried not to make mistakes today,” stated Mack, who battled injuries earlier in the year and is now feeling confident with next week’s challenge on deck. “My putting was there today when I needed it. Hopefully I can bring what I accomplished this week into next week. It was good to play a PGA TOUR-level course these last two days.” Christian Heavens of Fairview Heights, Illinois, finished in fourth place at 71-68-139 with Joey Stills of Orlando in fifth at 71-70-141 and Ryan Alford of Shreveport, Louisiana, in sixth at even par 142. APGA Tour Player of the Year Kamaiu Johnson of Oviedo, Florida, and Aaron Grimes of Compton, California, tied for seventh. Among the Bermudian participants in the tournament, Damian Palanyandi shot 73-75-148, finishing 13th; Camiko Smith shot 78-76-154, finishing 18th; Oliver Betschart carded a 74-83-157 for 20th; and Cory Desilva registered a 87-78-165, placing 21st. The invitational tournament was hosted and sponsored by the Bermuda Tourism Authority, Butterfield, The Hamilton Princess and Beach Club and Life & Annuity Services (LAS). The APGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Fall Series resumes later this month with the APGA Tour Charlie Sifford Centennial at Kingswood Forest Golf Club, October 25-26, in Houston, Texas. Byrd, winner of APGA Tour Valley Forge, and Brad Adamonis, winner of the Ascension Classic/APGA Tour St. Louis, are tied atop the Fall Series Point Standings with 600 points. The season culminates Nov. 8-10 with the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale at Tustin Ranch Golf Club in Tustin Ranch, California. The APGA Tour was established in 2010 with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs, and introducing the game to inner-city young people. The tour has grown from seven events with $200,000 in prize money in 2020 and 14 events with over $400,000 in prize money in 2021, to 18 events with over $900,000 in prize and bonus money in 2022.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Ted Scott thought he was done as a caddie. RELATED: Leaderboard | Sahith Theegala wins fans in WM Phoenix Open close call | Winner’s Bag: Scottie Scheffler, WM Phoenix Open The Lafayette, Louisiana, resident had racked up double-digit wins over a long career carrying the bag for Paul Azinger and then, most famously, Bubba Watson. It had been a good run. Then Scottie Scheffler, who birdied the third hole of a sudden-death playoff against Patrick Cantlay to make the WM Phoenix Open his first PGA TOUR victory, hit his radar. Scheffler needed a caddie last fall, and they shared the same faith, which seemed like a good start. “The other thing he said is, ‘I really like competing,’” Scott said. “I said, ‘I like competing. Sounds like it could be a fun thing.’ So, we hashed out the details.” They started at The RSM Classic last November. First round: 63. The rest: forgettable (T57). Faith was at a premium as Scheffler made four bogeys in the middle of the final round Sunday, but he and Scott knew the game was there. After all, this was a player who had hit all 18 greens and shot a best-of-the-week, 9-under 62 just the day before. They just had to hang in there. They did, and the partnership yielded a victory for the first time as Scheffler birdied four of his last six holes in regulation – nearly winning it in regulation from just inside 5 1/2 feet – before ending it with a birdie putt from 25 feet, 7 inches on their third extra crack at the par-4 18th hole. Scott reminded Scheffler that one putt, the miss at the end of regulation, didn’t define him. “Yeah, you know, it’s tough to really say exactly what’s going on between us,” said Scheffler, who goes to fourth in the FedExCup, ninth in the world. “But I think we kind of sit on the same wavelength. We get along really well. He does a good job keeping me level-headed and making jokes and having fun. “He’s a really, really hard worker, which I appreciate,” Scheffler continued. “I have a lot of faith in him as a caddie and I trust him on the golf course, and it really helps me kind of believe in myself. Just having him out there by my side is extremely helpful.” Scheffler, 25, held the outright 54-hole lead at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open last fall before finishing T2. That marked his second career runner-up on TOUR and first since the 2021 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. But he wasn’t obsessed with winning, seemingly the only thing he hadn’t done after shooting 59 in a TOUR event, coming so close at the WGC-Dell Technologies in Austin, Texas – where he was a star for the University of Texas – and beating world No. 1 Jon Rahm at the Ryder Cup. “The only time I thought about it was when you guys asked about it,” he said of the hole in his resume. Now, though, he’s done it, hoisting his first trophy one week after Tom Hoge broke through at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and two after Luke List won the Farmers Insurance Open. Scheffler’s victory marks the first string of three straight first-time winners in standalone events on TOUR since Nate Lashley, Mathew Wolff and Dylan Frittelli won the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic, 3M Championship and John Deere Classic, respectively. It also validated Scott’s eye for talent, plus a lot of opinions that Scheffler was good enough to win. The caddie’s first indication of how good Scheffler is: Partners Scheffler and Watson tied for eighth in the two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans last April. Scott, then still on the Watson’s bag, saw the game. Still, it was not until the Ryder Cup last fall, when Scheffler beat Rahm in singles and Scott watched it all on TV, did the caddie realize the full breadth of Scheffler’s skillset. “I was like, Wow, he’s really good,’” Scott said. Now everybody knows it – if they didn’t already. Because friends are the shock absorbers of life, and player and caddie were too united to fall apart even after bogeys on 5, 7, 8 and 12. “We had a lot of fun together even through all the bogeys and stuff,” Scheffler said. “We never felt totally out of the golf tournament, and I looked at him on 14 green, we were only I think maybe two back at the time, and I think I was a little bit surprised still to be that close to the lead. “He just did a good job keeping me in it mentally and keeping me focused on the task at hand.”

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