Across the Atlantic, Quebec is much livelier and definitely more predictable. Jim Furyk's U.S. team defeated the international team led by former Masters champion Mike Weir 18.5-11.5.
The Presidents Cup has its critics. It is considered a “Ryder Cup Lite” with a less intense four-day format.
The U.S. opposition often feels like a good fit with players from different parts of the globe — Koreans and Japanese joining forces with South Africans, Australians and Canadians.
But last week, even in defeat, Weir's team did show a clear and commendable collective spirit, especially when they came back from a 5-0 defeat in Thursday's four-ball match and went on to win Friday's When sweeping the opponent in a foursome match.
There are some minor issues, especially with Tom King's portrayal. The emotional 22-year-old South Korean player made clear his displeasure at being asked to hole the short putt he felt he should have been given.
Kim also complained that he and partner Kim Si-woo were sworn in during Saturday's match against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. The crowds in Montreal were raucous, not quite a “bear pit,” but not far off.
However, the young Korean eventually went back on his word. After last Sunday's game, he went to Schauffele to apologize for his comments the day before. “I just told him I didn't mean to do it in such a negative way,” King admitted.
“It was a little over the line and I felt like it was a little misunderstanding on my part that I should have explained better,” he admitted.
But for the Presidents Cup to be the event the PGA Tour hopes it will be, it needs to shine.
Now, things are too one-sided, and the divisive chasm becomes even more acute with the arrival of the LIV Tour, which has stripped 2022 Australian Open champion Cameron Smith and highly-rated Chilean Joaquin Niemann's home team.
Yes, the U.S. team is without players like Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, but USA Golf still has great depth. Their entire team of more than a dozen people is ranked among the top 25 in the world.
How can these games be improved?
U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacey Lewis' view that the Presidents Cup should be a mixed event has received support.
The international competition will be even stronger given the depth of Asian and Australian talent on the LPGA. “It's the perfect way to blend the two types of travel,” Lewis said earlier this month in Solheim, Virginia.
“The international team is going to get better quickly. I think it's going to be great to do two tours this way.”
But even with another historically lopsided tournament – the International has won just one of 15 Presidents Cups to date – it's hard to see the PGA Tour changing course.
This radical change does not fit with their traditionally conservative approach. The next tournament in Medina in 2026 will likely continue in the same vein.
The Chicago venue hosted the last truly close Ryder Cup, 12 years ago when Europe came back from 10-4 down to claim a sensational victory by one point.
And, let's not forget, the Ryder Cup could be a close affair again after mostly one-sided home wins over the past decade.
