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US set sights on Ryder Cup after Presidents Cup 'slaughtering'

Jersey City - America's latest Presidents Cup triumph was barely in the books before the team's brash young stars turned their attention to European shores.

A 19-11 final scoreline at Liberty National on Sunday flattered Nick Price's International team, who came within one point of succumbing even before the final day of competition started.

"Unfortunately, it was a bit of a slaughtering this week," Australian Adam Scott said.

And the Americans want to use it as a springboard to a long-awaited Ryder Cup victory in Europe next year.

"We've got a quite number of guys that are under 30 years old that we can take maybe to Paris next year and go on to their soil and win, which we haven't done in a Ryder Cup in a long time," said Jordan Spieth, one of the 20-something stars who showed their match play mettle this week.

"There's quite a few of us that are thinking about that this week, especially after (Saturday) when it was such a dominating day where we kind of knew the inevitable was going to happen (Sunday)."

The United States haven't notched a Ryder Cup win in Europe since 1993.

A 2014 disaster at Gleneagles led to a revamping of the US team, which paid off with a victory last year at Hazeltine -- but US veteran Matt Kuchar said the triumphant Presidents Cup squad was "the strongest team I've been a part of".

"We've got so many rookies that are so good," Kuchar said. "They have such a desire to make the Ryder Cup Team. It's going to be tough to be part of because it's so deep and so strong."

Spieth, PGA Champion Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler all piled up three wins against the Internationals this week.

Newcomer Kevin Kisner notched two wins, and rookie Daniel Berger's two wins included the singles clincher on Sunday for a team that practically defined "chemistry".

"I've played on some close-knit teams, but this might be the closest of them all," US Presidents Cup captain Steve Stricker said. "These guys are really close, have known each other for a while and have a lot of fun together."

Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk had a front row seat to the proceedings as an assistant to Stricker -- and he certainly liked what he saw.

"It's very useful," he said of the chance to assess the players and pairings. "I don't want to use the word advantage, but it's nice to have some symmetry from year to year."

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