Presidents Cup: Five burning questions for International Team

Is this the year the International Team breaks through and wins a second Presidents Cup? It’s a question that has surrounded the Internationals for the past quarter-century. The International Team won the third Presidents Cup in 1998, but it has not repeated the feat since.

With the Internationals coming together under a central identity – the shield logo introduced by Ernie Els in 2019 – and an influx of younger talent in recent Presidents Cups, the team is trending in the right direction. But have they built up enough to get it done in 2024?

As the Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club approaches, here’s a look at five burning questions that will decide the International Team’s fate next week.

1. Which version of Hideki Matsuyama will show up?

Matsuyama admits his golf game is day-to-day. With lingering back issues, the Japanese superstar is never quite sure what he’s going to get. Some days are good, some are bad.

How will he feel next week at Royal Montreal? That will greatly impact the Internationals’ hope of an upset. At his best, Matsuyama has the talent and pedigree to dismantle anyone on the American side, even Scottie Scheffler. Matsuyama won twice on TOUR this season in incredibly impressive fashion, running away from the field at both The Genesis Invitational and the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He also won the Olympic bronze medal. It looked like Matsuyama was in for another incredible week at the BMW Championship, just days after winning the opening FedExCup Playoffs event in Memphis. He was in contention after a first-round 67. Then, before the second round started, he withdrew because of his back.

It was one of his bad days. That volatile variable is a central storyline. Matsuyama has been inconsistent in past Presidents Cups, with a 7-10-5 overall record, but he enters the week as the Internationals’ undisputed best player. If he’s healthy, he’s a difficult man to beat. If his back flares up, all bets are off.

2. Can the Canadians rebound?

The three Canadians on this year’s squad are a combined 0-8 in the Presidents Cup. Both Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith went 0-4 in their Presidents Cup debuts at Quail Hollow two years ago. Mackenzie Hughes is making his International Team debut.

As the home country’s representatives at Royal Montreal, the trio of Canadians will play an important – and prominent – role at the Presidents Cup. The fans will bring an extra level of emotion to the matches involving their fellow Canadians. If they play well, it could provide an overwhelming optimism that surges through the entire team. If they come out flat, it could drain energy from the home fans.

Pendrith and Conners benefit from a better course fit than two years ago at Quail Hollow. While Royal Montreal has seen little professional golf in the last decade, early reports are that the course emphasizes accuracy over distance. Tim Clark, Scott Verplank and Steve Jones are past winners of the RBC Canadian Open at Royal Montreal, further emphasizing that fact. This should help the Canadians. Conners is one of the best ball strikers on the International Team. Pendrith put together one of the best putting seasons on the PGA TOUR this year, and Hughes is a similarly proficient putter. This will make them key assets for the International Team.

The unknown element is how each of the Canadians handles the home atmosphere. It can either propel you or weigh on you, with increased anticipation and expectations. They all played in numerous RBC Canadian Opens, which conjures a similar feeling.

3. Can Tom Kim repeat his breakthrough performance despite a lack of recent reps?

The Americans won the 2022 Presidents Cup. So did Tom Kim.

His overall record – 2-3 for the week – doesn’t fully illustrate the impact Kim had on the International Team and the impression he left for the larger pro golf ecosystem. Kim impressed with his energy and knack for the big moment, never more than during the Saturday Four-ball session when he and Si Woo Kim knocked off Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – the Americans’ best duo – 1-up. Kim made a 10-foot birdie on the 18th to win the match, celebrating well before the curling putt dropped in the cup.

“He's been such a tremendous gift to our sport," said Trevor Immelman, the International Team captain in 2022, while beaming afterward. "He has an ability to be a global superstar, this kid. We've seen he has the game. But what I've learned about his personality and his heart and what he stands for this week, man, I am a huge fan.”

The young Korean had shown flashes of his potential on the PGA TOUR, winning at the Wyndham Championship earlier that season. But Kim’s full arsenal was on display at Quail Hollow, where he quickly became the International Team’s emotional center at just 20 years old. He’s twice won the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas since that last Presidents Cup, but enters this year’s competition having not played since the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where a heartbreaking finish left him at No. 51 in the FedExCup standings, one spot from qualifying for the BMW Championship and 2025’s Signature Events.

He returns to the Presidents Cup this year as a much more recognizable star, but he’s also played just twice since this year’s Open Championship (T8, Olympics; T50, FedEx St. Jude Championship). Kim has the makeup to suggest these team events may bring out the best in him, but will he arrive in competitive form? The Internationals will need him to, as Kim is now one of the relied-upon stars of the team despite being just 22 years old.

4. Can the Internationals fix their putting woes?

As Immelman looked back at the 2022 Presidents Cup, his team’s putting performance kept coming to mind.

“I was convinced that putting would be the difference between us winning and losing, and when you look at the data that we collected throughout that Presidents Cup, the American team was plus-28 strokes gained on the greens and we were plus-five,” Immelman told PGATOUR.COM later that year. “They demolished us on the greens.”

What will this year’s event yield? Unlike in 2022, when Hughes was passed over for a pick, the Internationals bolstered their putting acumen with their captain’s picks this year. Hughes and Pendrith both ranked in the top 10 of Strokes Gained: Putting last year, while Bezuidenhout was 20th. Adam Scott and Jason Day are both ranked inside the top 30 (Pendrith also was a captain’s pick in 2022, but he’s a much-improved putter since then).

That’s not to say putting was the only focus. Weir’s other three captain’s picks – Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim and Corey Conners – all ranked outside the top 100 in SG: Putting this season. But the Internationals should have the ability to put at least one elite putter in every match.

5. Can Jason Day rebuff history?

Day entered the 2015 Presidents Cup as the hottest golfer on the planet. He had won four of his last seven starts, including his maiden major at the PGA Championship and two FedExCup Playoffs victories. He was by far the Internationals’ best player.

Then he went 0-4-1 for the International Presidents Cup team, which kept it close until the final matches in South Korea, eventually losing by a single point.

“If I actually played well we probably would have had a good shot at winning. I take the blame for that,” Day said years later. “I didn’t play good. I was ranked No. 1 on the team for a reason, and I didn’t show up.”

It’s not the only time the Aussie has left the Presidents Cup disappointed. He has a winning record in just one of his four appearances. He went 3-1-1 in 2013, also the only time Day earned more than 1.5 points in a single Cup.

Day will make his first Presidents Cup appearance since 2017 this year after missing out on the last two. The Australian has recaptured his form in recent years. Can he finally rekindle success in the Presidents Cup, too?