The First Look: Presidents Cup
6 Min Read
Presidents Cup team lineups
The Presidents Cup returns for the first time since 2019 with an impressive group of American stars looking to defend the Cup against an inspired International Team. This is the first Presidents Cup since a thrilling competition at Royal Melbourne, where the U.S. had to make a Sunday Singles comeback to win. The event was delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to even-numbered years for the first time since 2000.
FIELD NOTES: The U.S. Team is led by PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler, who is making his Presidents Cup debut. Scheffler was a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup just a year ago, but his impressive performance at Whistling Straits, where he beat then-world No. 1 Jon Rahm in Singles, served as a catalyst for a four-win season. … Hideki Matsuyama, who is making his fifth Presidents Cup appearance, is coming off a two-win season; he finished fifth in the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, as well. … Justin Thomas (2017 PGA Championship) and Max Homa (2019 Wells Fargo Championship) both have wins at Quail Hollow Club. … A record 14 players are making their Presidents Cup debut, with eight rookies on the International Team and six on the U.S. Team. The eight International rookies also sets a record for a single team (the Internationals had seven in 2013 and 2019). … Both the International (28.8) and U.S. (29.6) teams are the youngest in Presidents Cup history for their respective sides. … The four South Koreans on the International Team – Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim and K.H. Lee – are also a record. The 2011 team had three players from South Korea. Tom Kim (20 years, 3 months, 1 day) is the third-youngest player in Presidents Cup history, behind only Ryo Ishikawa and Jordan Spieth. … Adam Scott is making his 10th Presidents Cup appearance, eclipsing his own record for most International Team appearances and second-most in the event’s history. … Spieth and Thomas are the only members of this U.S. Team who’ve made multiple Presidents Cup appearances before this week. Spieth is making his team-high fourth appearance after receiving a captain’s pick. He is the eighth U.S. player to be selected as a captain’s pick multiple times. He also was a pick in 2013, when he was 20 years old.
U.S. TEAM: Scottie Scheffler (1st Presidents Cup), Patrick Cantlay (2nd), Xander Schauffele (2nd), Sam Burns (1st), Justin Thomas (3rd), Tony Finau (2nd), Max Homa (1st), Billy Horschel (1st), Kevin Kisner (2nd), Collin Morikawa (1st), Jordan Spieth (4th), Cameron Young (1st).
Captain: Davis Love III
INTERNATIONAL TEAM: Hideki Matsuyama (5th Presidents Cup), Sungjae Im (2nd), Tom Kim (1st), Corey Conners (1st), Adam Scott (10th), Mito Pereira (1st), Taylor Pendrith (1st), KH Lee (1st), Sebastian Munoz (1st), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1st), Si Woo Kim (2nd), Cam Davis (1st)
Captain: Trevor Immelman
COURSE: Quail Hollow Club, par 71, 7,571 yards (Yardage subject to change). An upgrade to the long-time PGA TOUR stop came from Tom Fazio as the course prepared to host the PGA Championship in 2017. Originally laid out by George Cobb in the early 1960s, Quail Hollow’s ‘Green Mile’ closing stretch makes for as difficult an ending as an on TOUR. Those holes will play as Nos. 13-15 this week to ensure they play an integral part in the matches.
The club did not host this year’s Wells Fargo Championship as it prepared for the Presidents Cup, but it will be back on the TOUR’s schedule in 2024. It will also host the PGA Championship again in 2025.
Rory McIlroy holds the course record at Quail Hollow. He fired a 61 in the third round of the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship, besting the 62 that he shot in the final round of the 2010 Wells Fargo, which was his first PGA TOUR victory. McIlroy is the only three-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship; Homa is the tournament’s only other multiple champion, though his win earlier this year came at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm.
STORYLINES: The Presidents Cup is a four-day competition beginning Thursday. Five Foursomes matches will be played Thursday, followed by five Four-balls competitions on Friday. Saturday is the only day with two rounds, featuring four Foursomes matches on Saturday morning and four Four-ball matches in the afternoon. The competition concludes with 12 singles matches on Sunday. With 30 matches, it will take 15.5 points to win the Cup (each match is worth one point; there are no playoffs, with each team receiving a half-point for matches tied after 18). The teams will share the Cup if the matches end in a 15-15 tie. … Team USA is looking to win the Presidents Cup for the ninth time in a row… Joe Biden, the 46th Presidents of the United States of America, has accepted an invitation to be the Honorary Chairman… Over the past 25 years the Presidents Cup has impacted more than 460 charities in 18 countries worldwide, with more than $54.4 million being generated by the event… Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada is set to host the 2024 Presidents Cup while Medinah Country Club will host in 2026.
LAST TIME: Hosted at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in mid-December in 2019, the American squad – led by playing captain Tiger Woods (the first since Hale Irwin in 1994) – relied on a final-day comeback in the Singles matches to triumph over a determined International squad, 16-14. Team USA was down 10-8 heading into the Sunday singles but earned eight points to the International’s four in order to capture the Presidents Cup. Woods went 3-0-0 in an impressive effort as playing captain, while Justin Thomas earned the most points for the American side with 3.5. Abraham Ancer and Sungjae Im earned the most points for the Internationals (also 3.5), with Im being one of two golfers on the International side to win their Sunday singles match. The International team got off to one of its best starts ever, going 4-1 in the opening Four-ball session – its three-point lead was the largest it had ever had after the first session of matches. The International side kept the pressure on over the next two days, but the American firepower was just too much to overcome on Sunday, and Team USA won the Presidents Cup for the eighth straight time.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Television: Thursday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock). Friday, 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock). Saturday, 7 a.m.-8 a.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock), 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock). Sunday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Radio: Thursday: 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET. Friday: 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday: 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio)