Presidents Cup: Check out five pairings we’d like to see for U.S. Team

The intrigue of international team matches extends beyond the action on the course, where players compete for pride and country. They also offer the rare opportunity for golf fans get to partake in one of their favorite pastimes in other sports: playing armchair GM and second-guessing roster moves.

Between captain’s picks and team selections, there is plenty for fans to analyze from the sidelines. The captains must consider everything from chemistry to course fit and skill sets before deciding who to pair in the Foursomes and Four-ball sessions. Each format has different requirements for the participants, especially the unique Foursomes (also known as alternate shot) that is unlike anything players see the other 51 weeks of the year.

Before play gets underway at The Royal Montreal Golf Club, indulge me as I take a stab at five teams I would like to see U.S. Captain Jim Furyk unveil at Royal Montreal. Paul Hodowanic undertook the same exercise for the International Team, which you can read here.

Sam Burns/Scottie Scheffler

Some may say it’s time to break up this pairing. They have gone 0-3-1 together in the past two years, but there’s good reason to believe this time will be different.

“Marco Simone they were probably both struggling with parts of their game. Scottie wasn't putting his best that week (at last year’s Ryder Cup),” said U.S. Captain Jim Furyk. “When I go back to Charlotte, they were thrown together, and although their record wasn't well, their scoring was well. They just happened to play against groups that scored very well, also. They would have won almost every match on the golf course in some of those sessions, they just happened to not win the one they were in because the team they played against played so well.”

The best stage for this buddy duo may be the Four-ball (I present an option for a new Foursomes partner for Scheffler below). Scheffler and Burns are the top two players on TOUR in birdie average in 2024 and Par-4 Birdie or Better Percentage.

Scheffler went 0-5-3 in the 2022 Presidents Cup and 2023 Ryder Cup. His struggles weren’t isolated to his matches alongside Burns. But Scheffler is now better than ever. He’s won eight times worldwide in 2024, including the FedExCup, the Masters, THE PLAYERS Championship and the Olympic gold medal. Burns is one of the hottest players on the U.S. Team, as well. He finished in the top five in the first two FedExCup Playoffs events to secure his selection to the U.S. Team. Burns’ eight top-10s through the TOUR Championship were the third-most on TOUR, behind only Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

Those are all good reasons to keep this team together.

Collin Morikawa/Scottie Scheffler

This is Morikawa’s fourth time representing the United States as a professional. The strategy in his first two appearances was to play Morikawa primarily in Foursomes and to pair him with a big bomber. It worked. He went a combined 3-1 in Foursomes with Dustin Johnson at the 2021 Ryder Cup and Cameron Young at the 2022 Presidents Cup (Morikawa and Johnson also won a Four-ball match together in 2021).

Morikawa had a different partner in each of the three team matches he played at last year’s Ryder Cup. I would posit that he should be plugged in as Scheffler’s sidekick for Foursomes. While Scheffler doesn’t have the length of Johnson or Morikawa, he would give Morikawa a little boost off of the tee. Scheffler averaged about eight more yards than Morikawa off the tee this year while still ranking in the top 20 in Driving Accuracy, which would allow Morikawa to still have plenty of opportunities from the fairway. Morikawa is second in Driving Accuracy, so he would also allow Scheffler’s unparalleled iron play to shine. Scheffler wouldn’t be hurt by the loss in distance either; he leads the TOUR in proximity from 150-175 yards this season.

Scheffler has an underrated short game and Morikawa’s is vastly improved; both players ranked in the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green this season. Sometimes saving par is enough to get it done in Foursomes. This pairing would do that while also having plenty of birdie looks.

Brian Harman/Russell Henley

There is a school of thought that says it’s advantageous to pair similar players in Foursomes. It’s the easiest way to make them feel comfortable in an uncomfortable format. Well, they don’t get much more identical than Harman and Henley, who also were teammates at the University of Georgia. Off the tee, they’re both below average in Driving Distance while ranking in the top 20 of Driving Accuracy. They’re both above average with their irons and putters, as well. Henley ranks 33rd in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green; Harman is 35th in that metric. In Strokes Gained: Putting, Henley is 37th and Harman is 40th. Harman can also relate to Henley’s lot as a 35-year-old who’s representing the U.S. for the first time as a pro. Harman made his U.S. debut as a pro last year, playing the Ryder Cup as a 36-year-old rookie. Below is a further look at their statistical similarities.

Max Homa/Sahith Theegala

Maybe it’s just California vibes, but there’s also a good reason for this pairing. Homa has been struggling with his ball striking this year, ranking 132nd in Driving Accuracy and 147th in Greens In Regulation. That’s why he should be paired with the player who is perhaps the TOUR’s top escape artist. Not only is Theegala known for an excellent short game, but also has the ability to shape shots. Theegala’s driving is much improved this year – he ranks a career-high 19th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee – but earlier in his career he was known as a wayward driver who relied on creativity to extricate himself from suboptimal positions. That could come in handy as the partner to a player who’s hoping to find the form that’s allowed him to go 7-1-1 in the past two international matches.

Patrick Cantlay/Wyndham Clark

Pairing Cantlay and Schauffele together in Foursomes feels like a given. It can be difficult to find a good fit in that format, but the good friends, and former Zurich Classic of New Orleans champions, have cracked the code.

U.S. captains have started to experiment with new partners for these two in Four-ball, though. Clark and Cantlay were paired in the Saturday afternoon Four-ball last year in Rome and beat the team of Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, 1-up.

Clark ranks in the top 10 of both Par-3 Birdie or Better Percentage (17.4%, 7th) and Par-4 Birdie Percentage (20.7%, fourth) but drops to 86th in Par-5 Birdie Percentage (48.3%), a surprising statistic considering his length off the tee (and the fact that he leads the TOUR in par-5 eagles with 16). That’s where Cantlay comes in. He is 11th in Par-5 Birdie Percentage (54.4%). Meanwhile, Cantlay ranks near the bottom of the TOUR in Par-3 Birdie Percentage (10.7%, 151st) but Clark serves as a complement because he’s one of the best in that metric.