CHARLOTTE, NC — The day began with memories of 2017 at Liberty National, where the Americans dominated so much they nearly won the Presidents Cup on Saturday.
When 20-year-old Tom Kim slammed his cap in a wild cheer and Cameron Davis celebrated another comeback win with three straight birdies, all anyone could think about was the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah.
The Americans are still leading by 4. It just felt a lot closer.
A young talent with a massive personality, Kim provided the first big moment for the international team. He sparked his team with a 55-foot eagle putt after driving the 11th green. And on the final hole, he made a 10-foot birdie putt in a 1-up win over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
He took a few steps back as the ball neared the hole, dropped his putter and slammed his cap in a loud cheer.
“I wanted that putt more than anything in the world,” Kim said.
In two games on Saturday, Kim and K.H. Lee defeated World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, and he and Si Woo Kim defeated the impressive Cantlay-Schauffele tandem.
The international team split the morning’s four-way games and won the four-ball session 3-1. It was enough to run a big deficit, enough to give hope to the underdogs.
The Americans certainly didn’t sound like they had an 11-7 lead in 12 singles games – typical of their strength – and are aiming for a ninth straight win.
“If anything we need to refocus and we have a lot of [checked] guys who want to come out really strong tomorrow,” said Jordan Spieth.
No one from the American team was at the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah, except Davis Love III, who captained both.
The Americans led all week this year until Ian Poulter shagged the last five holes and gave Europe plenty of momentum that carried it into Sunday. Trailing 10-6, the Europeans made the biggest comeback by a visiting team in Ryder Cup history.
“They got some momentum today,” Love said. “They started making a couple of putts and we have to turn around tomorrow and come out hot and try to get the momentum back.”
Nobody was more reliable than Spieth and Justin Thomas, a juggernaut in this powerful US team. They won two games on Saturday without ever seeing the 16th hole, apart from riding in a car to cheer on teammates.
They became the first American tandem to go 4-0 in team games since Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in 2009 at Harding Park.
Thomas estimates he only had to make 10 putts over 30 holes in two games because Spieth was causing so much damage on and around the green. Even on her last hole on Saturday afternoon, when Thomas was close by with a 5-foot putt that would have won it, Spieth chipped in from the front of the green.
“I think rightly that I picked up my coin more when I was hitting putts,” Thomas said. “Well yeah, my partner is pretty good.”
At this point the Americans were leading 11:4.
On the course, Sungjae Im and Sebastian Munoz were strong in the match they would win in 16 holes against Tony Finau and Kevin Kisner, the only time in 18 games this week that an international team has never been behind.
The Americans were ahead in the other two. The router was on and then off again.
Schauffele put his team 1 ahead with a 40-foot putt from just before the 15th green, only Si Woo Kim made the match with a 4-foot birdie on the par-5 16th. Si Woo Kim also made a 5-foot par putt to stay tied on the 17th, a putt that made Tom Kim so nervous he covered his eyes and peered through his fingers.
And then Tom Kim stole the show.
International captain Trevor Immelman spotted Kim about 35 yards behind everyone else in the group, 235 yards from the green with a 2-iron in hand. Behind the 20-year-old Korean was a group of American stars – Thomas, Spieth, Collin Morikawa, all great champions – also watching. What a stage.
“And this kid puts a 2-iron in at 10 feet and makes the putt,” Immelman said. “To me, that’s impressive stuff.”
Not to be overlooked was Davis, a bright spot on the international team and one of eight rookies for Immelman after about four players relinquished the Presidents Cup for Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf.
The match was close, but Burns and Billy Horschel never led by more than a hole. Davis potted a 12-foot eagle putt on the 16th to level the match. On the next hole, Davis drilled a 15-foot birdie putt for the game’s first lead.
Davis and Scott each had about 10 feet for a birdie on the final hole, and Burns hit his approach to 4 feet for what appeared to be a definite birdie. Davis made a third straight birdie, another point for the international team, more momentum for Sunday.
“To be honest, I kind of went numb,” Davis said. “I was in a situation where I wanted it. But I just got into a groove that made golf exceptionally easy.”
And that made it a little harder for the Americans.
