Perhaps the most meaningless Sunday singles session in the history of these team match-play competitions will begin just after noon at the Presidents Cup. Why is it so devoid of purpose? Because Team USA has put it on the International side from the very start on Thursday, damn near sweeping the first four sessions of what’s become the biggest blowout we’ve seen in these international team competitions — Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
Presidents Cup 2017 schedule: Tee times, pairings, and TV coverage for Sunday
Sunday’s singles session is merely a formality in what should be another American blowout.
The U.S. leads by a 14.5 to 3.5 margin and needs only one point of the available 12 on Sunday to win their 10th Presidents Cup. The International team has been overmatched from the very start and there’s no chance of some Sunday miracle. It’s not possible and that’s not how theses match-play competitions work. They would need to sweep the entire session outright — so far, they have won just two of the 18 matches outright.
The Sunday could have been rendered totally meaningless had the U.S. pulled off the unthinkable Saturday clinch. That’s never happened before in these match play events, but they were just one victory away from holding the requisite points on Saturday night. Fortunately for Nick Price’s International group, a late win by Anirban Lahiri and Si Woo Kim obstructed that ignominy.
With just one point needed, this could be over as early as 3 p.m. ET. Presidents Cup rookie Kevin Chappell will be out first in the lineup, going up against Marc Leishman, one of the International’s strongest and highest-rated players. If Chappell gets up big, however, the match could only go 14 or 15 holes and leave the last three hours or so of the broadcast as just a formality.
So this won’t be the most dramatic of Sunday singles sessions. The U.S. has won. But they will play out the full string — they don’t just walk off the course when the final point is clinched. If you’re into watching excellence and dominance, then this could be the Sunday ass-whooping for you.
Here’s your lineup for Sunday at Liberty National:
- Kevin Chappell (USA) vs. Marc Leishman (INTL), 12:04 p.m.
- Charley Hoffman (USA) vs. Jason Day (INTL), 12:15 p.m.
- Justin Thomas (USA) vs. Hideki Matsuyama (INTL), 12:26 p.m.
- Daniel Berger (USA) vs. Si Woo Kim (INTL), 12:37 p.m.
- Matt Kuchar (USA) vs. Charl Schwartzel (INTL), 12:48 p.m.
- Patrick Reed (USA) vs. Louis Oosthuizen (INTL), 12:59 p.m.
- Dustin Johnson (USA) vs. Branden Grace (INTL), 1:10 p.m.
- Brooks Koepka (USA) vs. Adam Scott (INTL), 1:21 p.m.
- Jordan Spieth (USA) vs. Jhonattan Vegas (INTL), 1:32 p.m.
- Kevin Kisner (USA) vs. Anirban Lahiri (INTL), 1:43 p.m.
- Phil Mickelson (USA) vs. Adam Hadwin (INTL), 1:54 p.m.
- Rickie Fowler (USA) vs. Emiliano Grillo (INTL), 2:05 p.m.
NBC will have the coverage for the singles session, coming on the air at noon ET. As Johnny Miller joked on Saturday about his own broadcast, the ratings aren’t exactly going to skyrocket with so little to be decided. Here are your coverage options:
Sunday’s Day 4 coverage
Television:
Noon. to 6 p.m. — NBC
Online streams:
Noon to 6 p.m. — NBC Sports/ Golf Channel simulcast stream
Radio:
Noon to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208 and streamed here)
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