Presidents Cup is a one-sided affair the International team hopes to change

MONTREAL (AP) — Golf has never seen a rivalry as lopsided as the Presidents Cup, so heavily weighted toward the Americans it can barely be considered a rivalry.

Adam Scott needs no reminder.

He was a 23-year-old making his Presidents Cup debut in 2003, right in the middle of the action in South Africa, urging for a Tiger Woods-Ernie Els playoff to continue in the dark if it meant the International team not getting a share of the trophy. It ended in a tie. They shared the gold trophy.

But for Scott and the Internationals, it’s been all downhill — more like plunging off a cliff — ever since then.

The Americans have won nine in a row since that tie, and the only International victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.

What makes Scott think this will be any different?

“I think our team is deeper than we’ve seen for a while, as far as the world ranking goes — not that it’s the be all and end all, but it’s something,” Scott said. “I feel like we’re putting together a formidable side, and 18-hole match play and some momentum, we can get right in it.”

He has said that before. He just hasn’t done that before.

The Presidents Cup starts Thursday at Royal Montreal, the oldest golf club in North America and site of another U.S. romp in the Presidents Cup in 2007. The only consolation for Canada that year was Mike Weir taking down Woods, even though the outcome had been decided.

Weir is now the International captain and hopeful Canada has more to cheer.

That starts with being in front of a home crowd.

“We know what they can do,” Xander Schauffele said Monday as both teams played nine holes at Royal Montreal in cool weather and occasional rain. “And they're on home soil.”

That certainly doesn't hurt the cause, as the last two times illustrated. The International team, led by Els at Royal Melbourne in 2019, had the Americans on the ropes and was leading 10-8 going into the last day, only for the Americans to rally in singles and win.

Before that was South Korea in 2015. The Internationals thought they had it won until Chris Kirk made a 15-foot putt and Anirban Lahiri missed from 4 feet. With a chance for at least a tie, Sangmoon Bae in the final match duffed a chip on the final hole.

Close, but no trophy. That's been the case since 1998.

In America, it's been no contest. The U.S. built an 8-2 lead after two sessions the last time, at Quail Hollow in North Carolina in 2022, against an International team that lost two key players, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, who joined the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.

And then there was Liberty National in 2017, such a shellacking that the Americans had a chance to win the cup before even getting to the 12 singles matches on the final day.

Schauffele, playing in his third Presidents Cup, believes the home crowd matters, especially if U.S. players fall behind early.

“If you start out shaky, the fans can make a big difference. You can be made to feel like you're playing worse than you really are,” Schauffele said.

Most of the Americans haven't played since the Tour Championship three weeks ago — Max Homa missed the cut at the Procore Championship in Napa, California, while Presidents Cup rookie Sahith Theegala tied for seventh.

But they arrived on the weekend, a few days earlier than normal, to get acquainted with Royal Montreal. The International team spend two days in Montreal after the Tour Championship.

“I know they’re putting a lot into it to kind of make it feel like as much of a home game as possible for us, and we’re counting on the Canadian fans for that,” Scott said. “But we’re all going to have to do our job and win some points to get them on our side.”

As for the little things, Weir points to a big starting point in 2019 when Els had a logo — it's more like a shield — as a symbol of an International side that is starting to feel more like a team. This team has players from six countries. Three of them are Canadian, all of whom Weir chose with his captain's picks.

“You can just see it. You feel it. The guys are more comfortable with one another,” Weir said. “And I think that's a big factor for our team.”

Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day are the only players who have competed in at least three Presidents Cups. For the rest of the players, the losing streak is only what they hear.

“We do know the past, and we want to change that,” Weir said. “And we’re doing all the little things behind the scenes to help to change that.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

International team captain Mike Weir waves as he leaves the practice range at the Presidents Cup golf tournament, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Wyndham Clark, right, looks on as his caddy adjusts an umbrella during practice at the Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Tony Finau practices on the putting green at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

A man walks past a sign for the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Sungjae Im, of South Korea, smiles as he finishes his practice session at the Presidents Cup golf tournament, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team captain Mike Weir wipes rain from his golf cart as he attends practice at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Presidents Cup golf tournament, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A mentally ill man who killed 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 was convicted Monday of murder and faces life in prison.

Defense attorneys did not dispute that Ahmad Alissa, who has schizophrenia, fatally shot 10 people including a police officer in the college town of Boulder. But he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, with the defense arguing he couldn’t tell right from wrong at the time of the attack.

In addition to 10 counts of first-degree murder, the jury found Alissa guilty on 38 charges of attempted murder, one count of assault, and six counts of possessing illegal, large-capacity magazines.

First degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Colorado. Sentencing in the case was due to occur later Monday, during which victims and family were expected to address the court.

Alissa did not visibly react as the judge began reciting the guilty verdicts against him. He sat at a table with his attorneys and appeared to trade notes with members of the defense team, speaking quietly at times with one of his attorneys.

Judge Ingrid Bakke had warned against any outbursts. There were some tears and restrained crying on the victims’ side of the courtroom as the murder convictions were read.

The courtroom was packed largely with victims’ families and police officers, including those who were shot at by Alissa. Several members of Alissa’s family sat just behind him.

Nikolena Stanisic, whose only sibling, Neven, was killed, recalled going out to ice cream with her brother the night before he was shot and how he would sometimes help her with her bills. She told the court that their household -- once filled with talk and laughter -- is now mostly silent.

“To the person that’s done this, we hope that you suffer for the rest of your life. You are a coward,” Stanisic said. “I hope this haunts the defendant until the end of time. The defendant deserves the absolute worse.”

Alissa started shooting immediately after getting out of his car in a King Soopers store parking lot in March 2021. He killed most of the victims in just over a minute and surrendered after an officer shot him in the leg.

Erika Mahoney was in California, six months pregnant, when she found out about the attack in which her father was killed. She was so upset she thought she was going to lose the baby, Mahoney told the court.

Mahoney said she wanted an apology or remorse from the gunman or his family but has not yet gotten any.

“The door is still open,” she said. “Until then, I will start: I'm sorry for your suffering, past, present and future...I wish you would have gotten more love.”

Until the trial, Mahoney said, she prayed that her father’s final moments were painless and that he didn’t know he was going to die. However, video from the attack showed there was a chase and Kevin Mahoney tried to get away but found nowhere to take cover, Erika Mahoney said.

Alissa at times looked toward the victims’ relatives as they spoke. For much of the time he sat hunched over, talking to his attorney or writing.

Prosecutors had to prove Alissa was sane. They argued he didn’t fire randomly and showed an ability to make decisions by pursuing people who were running and trying to hide from him. He twice passed by a 91-year-old man who continued to shop, unaware of the shooting.

He came armed with steel-piercing bullets and illegal magazines that can hold 30 rounds of ammunition, which prosecutors said showed he took deliberate steps to make the attack as deadly as possible.

Several members of Alissa’s family, who immigrated to the United States from Syria, testified that he had become withdrawn and spoke less a few years before the shooting. He later began acting paranoid and showed signs of hearing voices, they said, and his condition worsened after he got COVID-19 in late 2020.

Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the attack and experts said the behaviors described by relatives are consistent with the onset of the disease.

State forensic psychologists who evaluated Alissa concluded he was sane during the shooting. The defense did not have to provide any evidence in the case and did not present any experts to say that Alissa was insane.

Despite the fact that he heard voices, the state psychologists said, Alissa did not experience delusions. They said his fear that he could be jailed or killed by police revealed Alissa knew his actions were wrong.

Alissa repeatedly told the psychologists that he heard voices, including “killing voices” right before the shooting. But Alissa failed during about six hours of interviews to provide more details about the voices or whether they were saying anything specific, forensic psychologist B. Thomas Gray testified.

The defense pointed out that Gray and and his partner, Loandra Torres, did not have full confidence in their sanity finding, largely because Alissa did not provide more information about his experiences even though that could have helped his case. Gray and Torres also said the voices played a role in the attack and they didn’t believe it would have happened if Alissa were not mentally ill.

Mental illness is not the same thing as insanity. Colorado law defines insanity as having a mental disease so severe that it’s impossible for a person to tell right from wrong.

Family members of the victims attended the two-week trial and watched graphic surveillance and police body camera video. Survivors testified about how they fled and in some cases helped others to safety.

Prosecutors did not offer any motive for the shooting. Alissa initially searched online for public places to attack in Boulder, including bars and restaurants, then a day before the shooting focused his research on large stores.

On the day of the attack, he drove from his home in the Denver suburb of Arvada and pulled into the first supermarket in Boulder that he encountered. He shot three victims in the parking lot before entering the store.

An emergency room doctor said she crawled onto a shelf and hid among bags of potato chips. A pharmacist who took cover testified that she heard Alissa say “This is fun” at least three times as he went through the store firing his semi-automatic pistol that resembled an AR-15 rifle.

Alissa’s mother told the court that she thought her son was “sick.” His father testified that he thought Alissa was possessed by a djin, or evil spirit, but did not seek any treatment for his son because it would have been shameful for the family.

In this image taken from video provided by the Colorado Judicial Branch, Ahmad Alissa, third from left, stands for the verdict in his trial for the 2021 Colorado supermarket shootings, Monday, Sept 23, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (Colorado Judicial Branch via AP)

FILE - Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in March 2021, is led into a courtroom for a hearing, Sept. 7, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool, File)

Gunman who killed 10 at a Colorado supermarket found guilty of murder

Gunman who killed 10 at a Colorado supermarket found guilty of murder