Presidents Cup picks: Team Golfbet vs. Team Pat Mayo Experience, Day 1

MONTREAL – This week at the Presidents Cup, the U.S. and International sides aren’t the only teams going head-to-head.

The Golfbet team is on-site all week at The Royal Montreal Golf Club, and we’re pairing up with our friends at the Pat Mayo Experience for a week-long friendly competition. Each “team” will pick a winner for each of the 30 matches this week in Canada, with bragging rights on the line to see which outlet can make the more accurate predictions.

Here’s a look at each group’s picks for the opening session, with five Four-ball matches kicking off the action in Montreal. Share your thoughts on who you think will be right on social channels via @Golfbet and @ThePME!

Match 1: Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau (-148) vs. Jason Day/Byeong Hun An (+124)

Team Golfbet: Schauffele/Finau (-148). Schauffele and Finau are both inside the top five on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach and SG: Tee-to-Green this season making this duo a potential juggernaut this week. The previous performances from Day, including when he was world No. 1, in the Presidents Cup have been subpar, and while he claims his motivation has changed, words are cheap until he proves it.

Team PME: Schauffele/Finau (-148). Taking the juice on this line to get behind the tee-to-green juggernauts of this slate, the two powerful Americans will have to fend off Jason Day and Ben An, who have been relatively quiet over the last few months. Finau's ball-striking has seen him finish inside the top 20 with extreme regularity, while the world No. 2 has been living inside the top 10 of every leaderboard this year.

Match 2: Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala (-125) vs. Adam Scott/Min Woo Lee (+105)

Team Golfbet: Scott/Lee (+105). C’mon Aussie! The steady hand of Scott is set to unleash Min Woo Lee off the tee and as such apply pressure on the favored U.S. duo. Lee is born for this type of competition, and his infectious energy is set to lift the veteran Scott to new heights. Scott helped Cam Davis play above himself in 2022 and now he will do the same for Lee. Theegala is going to be a bundle of nerves and will be better in his second match, not his first.

Team PME: Morikawa/Theegala (-125). We have been licking our chops over the thought of Sahith Theegala playing match play for the U.S. Team since he and his giant bag of magic beans surfaced at the top of TOUR leaderboards over the last year and a half. Morikawa provides that veteran presence in Theegala's U.S. debut. Scott and Lee tend to get off to slower starts, while Morikawa was one of the better Thursday performers in 2024.

Match 3: Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley (-142) vs. Sungjae Im/Tom Kim (+120)

Team Golfbet: Im/Kim (+120). The best juice on the board is going against the juggernaut of Scottie Scheffler. His season has been so epic that there is obviously reason to believe he can improve his U.S. Team performances but the fact remains he hasn’t yet won a Presidents Cup match. He’s now lost his friend Sam Burns as his companion, leaving him as a somewhat lone ranger… but perhaps he prefers it that way. Im and Kim bring serious energy to the table, with Im being one of the few Internationals that has a winning record in this competition. Kim has a chance to get some payback with Scheffler over their playoff duel at the Travelers Championship.

Team PME: Scheffler/Henley (-142). We are getting -142 odds on a team with the best and fifth-best strokes gained metrics of the 24 golfers playing this week. Russell Henley has been incredible the last little while and is now paired up with the world No. 1 and defending Masters champ. Tom Kim going up against Scheffler reminds me of a little brother swinging his fists at his older brother who has him just out of range with his hand on his head, giving him that belief he can land a punch, but ultimately always coming up tantalizingly short.

Match 4: Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley (-112) vs. Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-108)

Team Golfbet: Pendrith/Bezuidenhout (-108). The first Canadian to hit the tee for the home side has to bring some love, right? Betting on emotion isn’t a wise move on most occasions but the pressure of the penultimate match could be pivotal and the inconsistency of Bradley and Clark could see them face some troubles. This will have plenty of emotion that’s for sure.

Team PME: Pendrith/Bezuidenhout (-108). Before the matchups were revealed there was a slim chance I grabbed a Bezuidenhout/Pendrith pairing without plus-money odds (-108), but here we are, picking on Clark and Bradley who have been far less reliable in the run-up to this event. Both Bezuidenhout and Pendrith have been consistently finding themselves inside the top 25 this year, and with the putting upside they possess, these two Internationals could put their opponents into a pretzel on Day 1.

Match 5: Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns (-110) vs. Hideki Matsuyama/Corey Conners (-110)

Team Golfbet: Cantlay/Burns (-110). It’s a bit jarring not to see Cantlay’s name alongside Schauffele, but Burns should prove a formidable partner. Conners will feel ample pressure, playing in front of the home crowds and looking to avenge an 0-4 record at Quail Hollow. This one will be close, but Cantlay’s steady demeanor will prove the difference in a matchup where the Internationals may struggle to hole putts at key junctures.

Team PME: Matsuyama/Conners (-110). This is the best International Team on paper, with Matsuyama and Conners gaining the fourth- and eighth-most strokes in this field. Cantlay and Buns are the sixth- and seventh-best golfers in the field, making this a very close matchup. I will not be betting this matchup as this line is very fair, but since we are picking a side for all five, we are going to take the home team in the anchor match, who likely needs to win this match to avoid going down 4-1.

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