MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — The Americans broke into three groups on a light day of practice Monday at Medinah, all of them looking comfortable and trading occasional barbs. The Presidents Cup always seems to feel like a happy occasion, and for good reason: They almost never lose.
There was that one loss in Australia when the matches were so late in the year that the U.S. players spent most of their time online shopping for the holidays until they realized they were in a hole so deep there was no way out except to suffer a big loss.
That was 26 years ago. Three of the 24 players in this Presidents Cup weren’t even born the last time — the only time — the Internationals won.
Should anyone expect Medinah to be different?
“It’s the elephant in the room you have to address,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “Just because these last teams have been successful doesn’t mean we’re going to be successful. We have to reset the bar for our team, tell them we have a standard to play to and we’re 0-0. These 12 guys have accomplished nothing. We’re going to hammer that into them.”