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Australia’s Kingston Heath awarded 2028 Presidents Cup

Clarkwin — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 21:50:12 +0000

Quinn Rooney

The PGA Tour announced Monday that the 2028 Presidents Cup has been awarded to Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.

The club is consistently ranked among the best courses in the world and is listed No. 2 behind Royal Melbourne GC for Golf Digest’s Best Courses in Australia. Kingston Heath has been the site for seven Australian Opens, the Australian Masters and the 2016 World Cup of Golf. Tiger Woods, Gary Player and Adam Scott are among those who have won tournaments at the club.

“On behalf of the PGA Tour, we are excited to bring the 2028 Presidents Cup to Kingston Heath Golf Club as we further cement the history and future of this event in the great city of Melbourne,” said Matt Rapp, PGA Tour senior vice president of championship management. “The Sandbelt region is home to some of the game’s most iconic venues, and Kingston Heath has proven to be a world-class host for a number of golf’s biggest tournaments. We are looking forward to contesting an incredible Presidents Cup that Australians can take tremendous pride in, showcasing Kingston Heath to golf fans around the world.”

The tour had previously designated Australia for the 2028 and 2040 matches, but a site had not been announced. This will be the fourth time the Presidents Cup has visited Australia, with Royal Melbourne hosting the first three.

Next year’s Presidents Cup will be contested at Royal Montreal GC in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Other future venues include Medinah CC in 2026 outside of Chicago and Bellerive CC in St Louis in 2030.

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Senior pros are getting their own Ryder Cup-style competition at The Concession Club

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 07:49:41 +0000

Jim Furyk and Darren Clarke, shown during the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales, will captain their respective teams in the new World Champions Cup. Andrew Redington

The idea of a Ryder Cup- or Presidents Cup-style event for senior tour players has been bandied about for years. And, in fact, the inaugural playing of such a tournament was supposed to take place in late 2022. That didn’t happen, but many of the same organisers have kept pushing forward, and the event will become a reality later this year.

PGA Tour Champions and sports event and marketing company Intersport announced on Monday that the first World Champions Cup will be held Dec. 7-10 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. The competition, chaired by Peter Jacobsen, brings together teams from the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, with six-man squads representing the US, Europe and Internationals. Jim Furyk will captain the Americans, Irishman Darren Clarke leads Europe, and South African Ernie Els helms the Internationals.

All three captains will play, with two automatic spots on each team coming from a World Champions Cup ranking system that emphasizes past international team play, another two being chairman’s picks, and the final spot based on the year-end Charles Schwab Cup standings.

“We’re about to launch here in December an event that we think’s going to be a 100-year event. This is going to go on forever,” said Charlie Besser, founder and CEO of Intersport.

“We actually started working on this idea 10 years ago and we have been working on it and working on it and working on it,” Besser said. “It just tells us that persistence is truly omnipotence. If you keep hanging in long enough, something good’s going to happen.

“The idea was really to build upon the excitement of the Ryder Cup and of the Presidents Cup, to try to bring everybody together, the entire world together in one event. And we all know that the guys who play PGA Tour Champions have got some serious old scores to settle with each other and they are excited to get back out there and get after it.”

Intersport and PGA Tour Champions announced in March 2021 that the inaugural WCC would take place in the fall of 2022 at a course yet to be determined, but that ultimately did not happen.

Now, the event is set for a venue that has become well-known and popular to golf fans, with Concession having hosted the 2021 World Golf Championships tournament that was moved from Mexico due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collin Morikawa was the winner.

The organisers have gone to considerable lengths to make the WCC unique. The entire competition, to be televised annually by ESPN and ABC, will be held on Concession’s back nine, and all matches will run through nine holes, with no early close-outs. There will be eight matches per day, and in the first two days (Thursday and Friday) the matches will feature sixsomes, with two players from each team. If two teams tie on a hole, those teams will earn a half-point. If three teams tie, each gets a half point. The total points at the end of the three days will determine the winning team.

Two other wrinkles not seen in other international team competitions: There will be a Saturday pro-am that breaks up the match-play portions on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and the players will be paid: $100,000 to each of the winners, $75,000 for second place and $50,000 for third place.

“It’s just going to be special,” said Clarke, a five-time Ryder Cup player for Europe. “As we’re a little bit older, don’t think for one second that we’re not as intense now and as much into trying to win. It’s going to be so exciting that we’re going to get the opportunity to do it again.”

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Mike Weir named International captain for 2024 Presidents Cup

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 17:58:26 +0000

By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour announced on Wednesday that Mike Weir has been named the International captain for the 2024 Presidents Cup.

The appointment of the Canadian is not a surprise, as the event will visit Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec.

Weir, 52, is best known for his 2003 Masters victory over Len Mattiace in a playoff, becoming the first and to date only male Canadian to win a major championship. Weir captured eight wins during his PGA Tour career, and competed in five Presidents Cups.

Weir provided one of the more indelible moments in Presidents Cup history in beating Tiger Woods 1-up at the 2007 match in front of his fellow countrymen at Royal Montreal. Weir is just one of six International players with 10 or more wins in Presidents Cup competition.

Weir has also served as an assistant captain on the past three Presidents Cup teams.

“Presidents Cup has become such a big part of my career, so to be here in this moment announced as captain of the 2024 International Team is surreal,” Weir said. “When I look back, I have so many incredible memories associated with this event whether it be my debut in 2000; winning my Singles match against Tiger in 2007 at Royal Montreal; witnessing Ernie create the shield in 2019; and then seeing Trevor carry that momentum in 2022. Now as I look with anticipation toward 2024, I couldn’t be more excited to lead the International team into my home country of Canada for what will surely be the experience of a lifetime.”

“As the International Team captain in 2024, Mike Weir will continue the upward trend of the Internationals with his unwavering support for his players and the Presidents Cup,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “With his pedigree as a player combined with his history with the Presidents Cup both as a player and a captain’s assistant, Mike is the right leader at the right time as the Presidents Cup returns to Montreal. As an icon in his homeland, he certainly will have the full support for the Canadian fans in building a distinct homefield advantage for the International Team.”

The 2024 Presidents Cup will be held at Royal Montreal Golf Club, September 24-29. The Americans are the defending champs, and have won the last nine matches.

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Presidents Cup True or False: The 10 most pressing questions from Quail Hollow

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 06:39:36 +0000

By Shane Ryan
The 14th Presidents Cup is in the books, the Americans won again after a few nervous moments on Sunday, and now that the victorying/celebrating/exhaling has wound down from Quail Hollow, we can try to answer a few of the most pressing questions that remain. Let’s jump right in, true or false style.

True or False: We must fix the Presidents Cup!
For me, an emphatic false. It always sounds slightly lame when defending the Presidents Cup to say: “Just be patient, it’s going to be great in a decade as the International team gets better,” and I understand the calls to change the format — for one thing, a mixed event would be pretty cool — but if anything, I thought 2022 was a great advertisement for even the current version of this event. Yes, it was a relative blowout at 17.5-12.5 for the Americans, and yes, there’s a talent disparity that is still a few years from disappearing. But the action at Quail Hollow was pretty intense and pretty exciting, especially over the last two days. Even on Friday, in a session that ended 8-2, the last hour of play featured three incredibly tight matches punctuated by a dramatic Max Homa walk-off birdie, and on Saturday and Sunday, we witnessed an International mini-surge that absolutely scared the Americans. That helped keep the result in some doubt until late in the day on Sunday. Throughout, we saw emerging stars coming up huge in big moments (hello there, Tom Kim!), the continued excellence of two American pairs and the kind of passion from both teams you can’t fake.
Point being, this was not the most competitive Presidents Cup ever, and the International side in particular was gutted by the LIV departures, and yet it was still — to my mind — way more entertaining than it had any right to be.
“There wasn’t any talk from either of our teams, Trevor’s or ours, about changing the format,” Davis Love III said afterward. “We’re having a lot of fun, and we love it.”
So the great takeaway from the weekend is that we don’t need any drastic changes. Sure, maybe it makes sense to reduce the opening sessions from five matches to four, and there are other possible tweaks here or there, but in general this is a solid autumn golf product that is only going to get better. To borrow a term from the NBA (and Trevor Immelman), the only move now is to trust the process.

Trevor Immelman and Davis Love III. Jared C. Tilton

True or False: Davis Love III out-captained Trevor Immelman
A qualified true. What makes this particularly difficult to analyse is that the American team was just so much stronger than the Internationals. Also, Immelman deserves a ton of credit for continuing to build a group identity for the International team, which was evident even when they were trailing 8-2 on Friday, and saw its blossoming in a terrific Saturday afternoon session to make the Cup interesting for Sunday … at least for a while.
But when it comes to the nuts-and-bolts strategy, Love and his assistants were miles ahead. Here’s an example of something that happened early in the week, and may sound incredibly unimportant, but indicates the level to which both sides were paying attention. A weird quirk of the Presidents Cup is that the winning team has the option of deferring the first pick for the first pairings. To do so is a bit of a no-brainer, because it lets you react to more match picks both that day and in the fifth session, singles, when reacting to the other captain’s pick is far better than leading. Tiger deferred in 2019, and Jack Ryan of the PGA Tour did some research indicating that almost every American has deferred the first pick going back through the years. But when I asked the International assistants if they thought the Americans would defer, what was their response? From the transcript:
MIKE WEIR: I don’t know.
GEOFF OGILVY: I wouldn’t know. That would be out of character. I don’t know.
MIKE WEIR: No idea.
CAMILO VILLEGAS: I think either way, it’s fine with us, obviously. But just for me to chip in, I don’t know. Probably won’t. But if they do, that’s fine.
It didn’t strike me that they were being coy, they simply hadn’t thought about it. And again, this is a very minor point, but sometimes minor points indicate larger patterns, and you can bet Love and company thought a lot about it … these guys are considering everything, as I learned from interviewing Love and Stricker after the last Ryder Cup, right down to food and transportation. It’s a well-oiled machine, miles different from the helter-skelter approach of the bad old days of US Ryder Cups in the 1990s and 2000s, and even more importantly, there’s now total continuity between Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup (which has all but forced the Europeans to reinvent the off-year Seve Trophy — to be played as the Hero Cup at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from January 13-15, 2023).
A second telling moment: It’s now team match-play scripture that whether you’re leading or trailing heading into Saturday, you “load the boat”, which means putting your best players out first. Love held almost nothing back, beyond saving Max Homa for the No. 10 spot, but Immelman made the (in my mind) unforgivable decision to hold his best and most exciting player, Tom Kim, almost until the end, and made a more minor error in saving Sungjae Im for eighth. Kim was a spark plug, and you simply have to play him early when you’re trailing. By the time Kim teed off, the US already led three matches and were tied in four others, which was all the projected points they needed to eventually win. The Internationals had no chance to feed off his energy, and he was basically wasted. A captain who paid attention to history, and to his own team, could never have made that mistake.

True or False: Trevor Immelman still did a very good job
True! We can quibble all day about strategy errors, but the International Team were never going to win this Presidents Cup even with the LIV golfers, and considering all the departures, Immelman was put in an impossible situation. His job wasn’t actually to win, as crazy as that sounds (and I’m sure he’d object to it, too). The real job this week was to continue the great work Ernie Els started in 2019 in giving the International Team a true identity and a real team spirit. Immelman was fantastic all week in this respect. The moment that sticks out for me in regards to his team’s spirit came in the final match on Friday afternoon, with the Americans leading 7-2. Taylor Pendrith and Max Homa both had birdie putts on the 18th green, and when Pendrith made his, the entire team exploded in joy … when they were losing by a lot! They still cared, and they were still having fun. Homa made his putt to win the match and make the margin 8-2, but I was still impressed by the resilience and joy of the International team.
The mini-comeback on Saturday, punctuated by Tom Kim’s birdie putt on 18, was also enormous for their self-image and self-esteem. Immelman said all the right things about all his players—touchingly, on a few occasions—and literally all of these guys are going to leave with a positive outlook on the Presidents Cup. If they can iron out a few of the strategic kinks, I really think Royal Montreal in 2024 will be a battle, particularly if the Canadian fans can bring the energy.

Presidents Cup Jordan Spieth.

True or False: Justin Thomas is Captain America
Mostly true. I mean, I argued this before the tournament even began, so the fact that he went 4-1 at Quail Hollow, only losing a thriller to Si Woo Kim in singles, isn’t going to diminish his case. He’s now 16-5-3 between the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and … well, just read that number again. 16. 5. 3. It’s beyond ridiculous. When Tiger chose JT for his partner in Melbourne, we should have understood what he saw. Now, a couple years later, you can’t help but notice. He had a terrific partner in Jordan Spieth, Thomas joking that he picked up his marker more than he actually attempted any putts during their four wins. But he was every bit as good, and even in his loss to Kim, he posted a red flag early by taking a lead, and surely took some of the steam out of the early International surge. He’s the definition of reliable, and there’s no longer any debate that he’s the alpha dog of Team USA.
I know it’s not the same thing, exactly, but his 72.9 points percentage is currently better than literally every European Ryder Cup golfer who has played more than five matches. And the Europeans are very good at the Ryder Cup! I’m not quite ready to pronounce JT the team match play GOAT, but he’s already getting close, and that’s remarkable.
So why did I say “mostly” true? Because Jordan Spieth isn’t far behind him, especially now that he got the singles monkey off his back with a huge back nine against Cam Davis. Speaking of …

True or False: Thomas and Jordan Spieth are the greatest team match-play pair ever
False, but barely. When it comes to American duos, Spieth and Thomas now have eight wins together and are 8-2 overall. The only American pair with more points is, interestingly enough, Spieth and Patrick Reed, who were 8-1-3 for 9.5 points — more points, but a (very) slightly lower point percentage. There are some legendary American pairs who never got to play in a Presidents Cup, such as Arnold Palmer and Gardner Dickinson, or Larry Nelson and Lanny Wadkins, and they can still be considered in the discussion for best Ryder Cup pairs. Then, of course, there is the gold standard: Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, who posted an absurd 11-2-2 Ryder Cup record. Their points percentage was 80.0, identical to Spieth and Thomas, but their longevity puts them in a class apart.
Again, though, think how much time these two have left in their careers! Ten years ago, it would have seemed like a safe bet that nobody would ever catch the Spanish Armada. Now, it’s very, very doable, and we could be having the debate as soon as next autumn in Italy.

Warren Little

True or False: Adam Scott is the lifeblood of the International team
I’m going to give this one a Tralse. Or Frue — pick your favourite combo of both. On one hand, practically the entire International team pointed to him as their veteran leader in pre-tournament press conferences.
“I have a lot of questions that I’m curious about because I’m a big fan of Adam Scott,” Tom Kim said. “Who isn’t? So he’s been very nice to tell me a lot of things and kind of put everyone under his wing, and we can kind of feed off his experiences and he’s amazing.”
Those sentiments were typical. On the actual course, though, Scott was solid without being great. He lost the first match on Thursday by a massive margin, he recovered nicely on Saturday with two wins, but when his team really, really needed him on Sunday, he couldn’t get the win against Patrick Cantlay … just like he couldn’t get the win against Xander Schauffele in Melbourne when they needed him even more. With a 16-22-26 career record coming into Quail Hollow, and a 2-3 record here, it’s time to admit an uncomfortable truth — by results, his CV looks most similar to American Ryder Cup players like Raymond Floyd, or even Phil Mickelson. In other words … a little too below average, a few too many losses.
It’s not Scott’s fault that the Internationals keep losing, and surely some of his record is down to weaker partners, but it always feels like he could have done a bit more. For someone who isn’t naturally very vocal, there’s a feeling of letdown surrounding his Presidents Cup career.

Chris Condon

True or False: The Tom Kim hype is real
Somewhere beyond true. There’s humour, there’s passion and, most of all, there’s just great golf coming from the 20-year-old South Korean. From splitting his pants twice to wowing his team with his eating prowess to his maiden victory on Saturday morning, by the end of the day he had created another indelible memory with his match-winning birdie on the 18th to close out the session, complete with the best celebration of the weekend.
This may seem like hyperbole, but I’ll say it anyway: Tom Kim made this Presidents Cup. He wasn’t the only great thing happening at Quail Hollow, but his presence brought it to a new level, even with the International team losing. When someone with that kind of energy comes along, it’s a gift to the game of golf. If this was your first encounter with Kim, buckle up, he’s here to stay, and I don’t think anyone’s complaining.

True or False: Tom Kim’s putt on Saturday was the baddest moment of the weekend
I’m going false here, only because I watched Si Woo Kim actually shush the American crowd, Patrick Reed-style, after burying a huge putt on the 15th hole, and then have the audacity to go on to beat Justin Thomas in the important first singles spot. As Evin Priest wrote, it was the latest example of the four Koreans playing like stars, and having a hand in 9.5 of the total 12.5 points their team accumulated.

HUGE fist pump and reaction from Si Woo Kim ?

The match is now tied with 3 to play @IntlTeam.

Justin Thomas watches from a distance. pic.twitter.com/zBVBeMEhFa

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 25, 2022

I couldn’t resist asking Thomas about the shush afterward, and he was a good sport in describing his honest reaction.
“Honestly, at the time, I was pretty [annoyed],” he said. “It’s one of those things, I think when you’re in the moment, when you’re on the other side of it, it’s something that gets you motivated, gets you pumped up a little bit. I mean, he hit the shots and made the putts better than I did the last three holes … so I can say whatever I want about it, but he beat me. So he has the upper hand on me.”
This is the kind of stuff that makes the Presidents Cup great, even in a blowout.

True or False: The Canadians need to get their act together before Royal Montreal.
Oof. True. Conners and Pendrith were 0-8 combined, and absolutely killed their team. Conners in particular was painful to watch, and it kept getting worse in an ugly singles match against Xander Schauffele that Schauffele did everything to throw away. Conners out-slopped him, though, losing 1-down to complete an awful weekend. You have to imagine there will be at least two Canadians on the team in 2024, along with a likely Canadian captain in Mike Weir, and yes, they need to do a whole lot better.

Rob Carr

True or False: The Internationals are going to win in Royal Montreal
Let’s end with the toughest one of all. Here’s the deal: the team identity is good, the captains are learning, and the players are getting better. Every part of me wants to predict an International victory, because I know how good it would be for the Presidents Cup in general. And yet, I can’t stop being impressed at how thoroughly the Americans have figured this team golf thing out, and they just keep getting better. I’ve come to believe they’re going to win a Ryder Cup on European soil in Italy next summer for the first time in 30 years, so how can I possibly pick them to lose a Presidents Cup just north of the border?
So, gun to head, this is a reluctant false. But mannnn is it going to be fun.

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Presidents Cup 2022: Trevor Immelman has some spicy words for International team critics shorn of LIV Golf stars

Matt Smith — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 11:37:25 +0000

By Evin Priest
Trevor Immelman has dealt with a few headaches in the two-and-a-half years since being picked to captain the International team in the Presidents Cup.

First there was the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed back the entire event a full year. Then there was the emergence of LIV Golf and the uncertainty around whether potential team members would move to the circuit and make them ineligible to play at Quail Hollow. The team’s talent level was dealt a substantial blow when Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer joined the rival league. Smith, who ranked first among the automatic qualifiers for the International team, was a particularly devastating considering he outstanding debut in the event at Royal Melbourne in 2020, and his victories this year at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Players Championship and Open Championship at St Andrews.

Toss in the general sniping about the International team’s chances this week — in media reports and even more loudly on social media — and it’s understandable, then, that 2008 Masters champion Immelman took aim at critics Sunday night after the Internationals mounted a hearty comeback, pushing the star-studded American team until late in the day before the home side officially claimed the Cup clinching point

“We showed a lot of guts to fight back,” Immelman said in the post-Cup press conference after their 17.5-12.5 defeat. “At some point this afternoon, I thought there was still a chance. And when you consider that we were 8-2 down on Friday evening, this team is no joke, and I’m sick and tired of it being spoken of as a joke. We love this event, and we love our team, and we cannot wait to run this back and have another shot.”

Assistant captain Mike Weir, the only Canadian in history to win the Masters (2003), said the International team would consider small tweaks to the rest-of-the-world side before the Cup heads to his native Canada in 2024. Weir is expected to be the captain at Royal Montreal. But he stopped short of any talk that there would be consideration for LIV golfers and how they could qualify for the Internationals.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do about [LIV],” Weir said. “I think we have a great core here, and we’ll be discussing ways to continue to make our team better and continue to evolve.”

Adam Scott, who made a record 10th appearance for the Internationals at Quail Hollow, said the team had cemented their new identity after 2019 captain Ernie Els rebranded the team with a unified logo and took steps to unify the group. The 2013 Masters winner said the US would be in for a fight at the 2024 Cup.

“This team’s got plenty of heart, and that’s thanks to everything Trevor’s put in the last couple years,” Scott said. “He’s bled for this [International team] shield that we now talk about, and it’s just the beginning for this team. I think you’re seeing a lot of guys here who will be returning on the next one. I think the US team’s really going to be in for a helluva fight.”

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Presidents Cup 2022: Our grades for all 24 players, from an A++ for Spieth to an F for Scheffler

Matt Smith — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 07:47:42 +0000

By Joel Beall
What was predicted came to fruition, the Americans defeating the Internationals by five points at the 2022 Presidents Cup. How it played out … well, that didn’t necessarily follow the script. On the verge of being blown out heading into the third session, the Internationals responded to an 8-2 deficit with vigour by winning Saturday 5-3 to make Sunday worth watching. But an early International push was squashed by the United States and the issue was never truly in doubt, giving the Americans their ninth straight victory in this event.

Here are the grades for all 24 players that competed this week at Quail Hollow:

United States

Sam Burns (0-3-2): B
Burns’ record is not indicative of his play and more a reflection of Scottie Scheffler’s struggles (which is a darned odd thing to write about the reigning Masters champ and PGA Tour Player of the Year). Still, even with a new pairing in Billy Horschel on Saturday afternoon, Burns failed to register a W in the first four sessions. Unfortunately for Burns, Sunday was more of the same, playing strong and tough golf against Hideki Matsuyama, flipping a 2-down deficit at the turn to a 1-up advantage with four to go. But Burns doubled the 15th and his 23-footer at the 18th to win the match came a foot short. The case can be made that Burns was the second-best player for the Americans this week, yet he posted one point over five matches. Golf, man.

Patrick Cantlay (3-1-0): A
One of the headscratchers of the week was Davis Love III sitting the super duo of Cantlay and Xander Schauffele — who had wiped the floor with Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama (6&5) on Thursday and defeated Tom Kim and Matsuyama on Friday — for the third session in favour Scheffler and Burns, the latter group which continued their drought. When Cantlay and Schauffele returned on Saturday afternoon they were gobbled up by the Tom Kim tornado of electricity. Now, Cantlay already attacks a golf course like he caught it flirting with his mum, and on Sunday that edge seemed to be sharpened after Saturday’s loss. The result was an old-school whuppin’, taking a 3-up lead after four and never giving Scott a chance to respond. Cantlay wasn’t a part of the Americans’ losing effort at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris. He’ll undoubtedly be in Italy next autumn, which should scare the hell out of the Europeans.

Tony Finau smiles at the win. Presidents Cup

Tony Finau (3-1-0): A-
Big Tone and Max Homa were a formidable pair, winning both of their foursomes matches. Finau took a loss Saturday afternoon against Sungjae Im and Sebastian Munoz, although that wasn’t his fault (more on this in a second), yet he bounced back in a big way with a 3&2 win over Taylor Pendrith in the singles. After back-to-back “eh” showings at the 2019 Presidents Cup (0-1-3) and 2021 Ryder Cup (1-2-0), Finau delivered a much-needed reminder of his match-play mettle. In a related note, a goateed Tony Finau might be a top-three player in the world.

Max Homa (4-0-0): A+
Homa had huge expectations thanks to his popularity and play over the past year-and-a-half. He managed to exceed them, going 3-0 through the first three days — punctuated by a winning putt on Friday evening and an ensuing flurry of fist pumps that would make Tiger proud — and taking down breakout star Tom Kim on Sunday for a flawless record. Homa continues to add to his feel-good legend, and while that is all nice and true, he’s also become a top-12 player in the world in the process. Better yet, his game is arguably more suited for the notoriously tough layouts Team Europe has employed at the Ryder Cup … and he put together a hard-to-dismiss audition in front of captain Zach Johnson.

Billy Horschel (1-2-0): C
Look, Horschel was likely going to be the final pick on this team; when Will Zalatoris had to drop out with injury there was little rebuttal to his selection. He was also 11th in the point standings above Young, so calling this a lifetime achievement award regarding his numerous near-miss selections for Team USA would be unfair. Conversely, Horschel had been cold since his win at the Memorial, failing to post a top-20 finish over the past four months. To Horschel’s credit he carried Homa over the first nine holes against Corey Conners and Pendrith on their way to a 1-up win on Friday. However, he wasn’t great on Saturday afternoon — if it wasn’t for Burns the match would have ended sooner — and Lee took him to the woodshed on Sunday; he was 3-down after 11 and never really threatened over the final holes. Still, good on Horschel in earning his way to a red, white and blue uniform.

Kevin Kisner (0-2-1): D
This is not a matter of hindsight. We know he’s a fan favourite down South … but, sorry, this was an uninspired, poor pick. Whereas Steve Stricker picked Scottie Scheffler for last year’s Ryder Cup because his game was a fit for Whistling Straits, Love went with Kisner because, on paper, it was the easiest to defend: Kisner has the reputation as a match-play savant and he finished T-7 at the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Only Kisner has missed the cut in four of six Wells Fargo Championship appearances at Quail, and while he annually does well at the WGC-Dell Match Play, there’s a chance that performance isn’t indicative of his match-play skills and instead is a reflection of his comfortability with Austin Country Club (site of the tournament since 2016). He played OK with Cam Young on Friday to salvage a tie against Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Mito Pereira, but Kisner was mostly a bystander with Finau in a losing effort to Im and Munoz, and ended the week with a loss to Bezuidenhout in singles. This is especially a bummer since this spot could have gone to Sahith Theegala, whose power and charisma would have pluses to the event while gaining some reps as a prospective Team USA member for next year’s Ryder Cup.

Collin Morikawa (2-1-0): B
Nothing quite speaks to the Americans’ depth than Morikawa’s usage this week. The World No. 9 and two-time major winner would have been the Internationals’ best player and thus likely competed in all five sessions. Instead, Morikawa only played twice through the first three days, going 1-1 with Young. Whatever frustrations were felt by this lack of playing time did not manifest in a corrosive way on Sunday, as Morikawa mounted a 4-up lead through 10 against Pereira en route to a 3&2 victory. Overall, it was an admirable follow-up to last autumn’s 3-0-1 record at the Ryder Cup and his lights-out approach game makes him a dream teammate and nightmare of an opponent. Any aspirations of an American win in Rome will require more of the same from Morikawa.

Xander Schauffele (3-1-0): B+
Mentioned above, the drama could have been done by Saturday afternoon if Schauffele and Cantlay were in session three. Only thing keeping Schauffele from an ‘A’ grade was Sunday. Yes, he got the win, the clinching point at that, and theoretically that should be the only thing that matters. He also didn’t play well, saved by the continued putrid display from Conners. Overall, another fine week from Schauffele, who has established himself as part of the American core for the foreseeable future.

Scottie Scheffler (0-3-1): F
Following an auspicious debut at the Ryder Cup (2.5 points in three matches and a Sunday win over Jon Rahm) and a Player of the Year campaign (including winning the WGC-Dell Match Play), Scheffler was expected to be a bad man against the Internationals. But by Sunday night Scheffler was in desperate need of a blanket and hot chocolate. Through the first three sessions the Internationals had just four points … 2.5 of which came against Scheffler and Burns. He sat on Saturday afternoon and was seen practising into the night at Quail Hollow. Whatever Scheffler was searching for he did not find, the World No. 1 losing to Sebastian Munoz in singles. Listen, even the best have weeks with poor breaks and out-of-sync swings and putts that say the cup has posted a ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ sign. Scheffler may have come out on the business end of this Presidents Cup. Don’t expect him to be down for long.

Jordan Spieth (5-0-0): A++
A tour-de-force from start to finish. Spieth teamed up with Thomas (Did you know they are friends?) to run the table in all four sessions, never seeing the 18th hole. Better yet, after one of his most frustrating seasons on the green (155th in SG/putting), Spieth seemed to be putting at manholes in Charlotte. Still, there was the matter of Sunday, and Sundays have been the bane of Spieth’s existence at the Ryder and Presidents Cup, failing to log a win in singles. Through the first nine holes Sunday those woes continued, turning in an uneven front against Davis yet remaining tied. Except Spieth birdied the 11th, 12th and 13th (highlighted by a 46-foot bomb at the 13th) to take a 3-up lead and adding to it with a par at the 14th, closing Davis out on the 15th. Spieth became the first American to go 5-0-0 at the Presidents Cup for the Americans since 2011. The only shame is the Masters is seven months away.

Justin Thomas reacts after making his putt on the 15th green during Sunday singles matches. Jared C Tilton

Justin Thomas (4-1-0): A
At the 2019 Presidents Cup and last year’s Ryder Cup, Thomas emerged as the heart and soul of Team USA, and this week in Charlotte solidified that standing. He embraces the pressure, engages the crowd and, occasionally, enrages his opponents. Thomas lost to Si Woo Kim on Sunday but it was the match of the afternoon, both men playing well and refusing to surrender an inch. He has now scored a whopping 17.5 points for the Americans across two Ryder Cups and three Presidents Cup. The Americans have a match-play monster in their midst who is on the trajectory to be the best team member in United States history.

Cam Young (1-2-1): C-
Things looked so bright at the start, working with Morikawa to grab a point in the opening session and earning a tie with Kisner on Friday. But the putter … well, it appeared Young’s putter decided to take the weekend off. Short-game problems led to a Saturday loss against Matsuyama and Scott, then opened Sunday with three straight bogeys to give Im a 3-up lead through three. Young made a comeback, bringing the match to even, but he didn’t have a birdie over his final 11 holes in a losing effort. At least he earned some experience this week, which should make his introduction to next year’s Ryder Cup a bit more palatable.

The Internationals

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1-0-1): B
As a preface, there weren’t many moves Captain Trevor Immelman could have made that would have led to an International win. That said, why Bezuidenhout — one of the best putters in the world — played just two matches is borderline indefensible (especially when Taylor Pendrith played four). In limited playing time Bezuidenhout answered the call, tying a Friday four-ball match and winning his singles battle against Kisner.

Corey Conners (0-0-4): F
Legitimately feel bad for Conners. At No. 26 in the OWGR he was the fourth-highest ranked player for the Internationals. He’s also one of the 10 best second-shot players on the PGA Tour, ranking no worse than 16th over the past three seasons in SG/approach, which should have made him a formidable opponent. But Conners is also a mess on the greens, an Achilles’ heel that was exposed at Quail Hollow. And for what it’s worth his irons weren’t much better. The path to victory was already narrow for the Internationals. Conners putting up a goose egg sealed their fate.

Cam Davis (2-3-0): B-
Not much was expected from Davis, who was 25th in the Internationals point standings and only here thanks to a number of LIV Golf defections. Yet it proved to be a laudable Presidents Cup debut. Davis and Si Woo Kim were the only guys preventing a 5-0 American sweep on Day 1 with their victory over Burns and Scheffler. Davis then teamed up with his idol Adam Scott for a 1-up victory against Burns and Horschel on Saturday afternoon to keep this thing interesting heading into singles. That two of his losses came against Spieth is nothing to be ashamed of. Envision Davis to be part of the team in 2024.

Sungjae Im (2-2-1): B
After leading the Internationals in points in 2019, Im put forth a darn good follow-up in Charlotte. Had he been paired with anyone but Conners during foursomes he could have managed more than his more-than-respectable 2.5 points, and why he was put on the back end of the Sunday line-up was a curious decision by the team’s braintrust. With a game that travels, he’s going to be a problem in this event for quite some time.

Si Woo Kim (3-1-0): A
Let’s be real. Si Woo, 2017 Players champion, has not aged particularly well. Since his triumph at TPC Sawgrass he has been slightly better than a rank-and-file player, reaching the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons but making it to East Lake just once, never posting a top-10 at a major and his only other win coming at the American Express in 2021. Only Davis was lower than him on the team’s point standings. Yet it was Kim who finished as the International points winner in Charlotte, teaming with Davis to knock off Burns and Scheffler on Day 1, then shocking Cantlay and Schauffle out on Saturday afternoon with Tom Kim at his side. He then went mano-a-mano with Thomas on Sunday — and at one point shushed the crowd — ultimately winning the match with a birdie at the 18th hole. If Tom leaves as the face of the International team, Si Woo was its engine, quietly working under the bonnet.

Tom Kim celebrates. Warren Little

Tom Kim (2-3-0): A+
For the first time in 30 years the cauldron of the Presidents Cup provided a moment. Or maybe it was the player that gave the Presidents Cup a moment. Whatever your interpretation, this week belonged to Tom Kim, whose recklessly entertaining play was only matched by an energy that can be best described as a beautiful golden retriever on caffeine. The list of Hall-of-Fame international players is long. The list of those who have resonated with an American audience is short, if even a list at all. Tom has the capacity and the game to assume that mantle, and the sport is richer because of it.

KH Lee (2-1-0): B
Was viewed as one of the weaker players coming into the week. Leaves as one of the team’s bright spots. Lee racked up two wins, his only loss coming in a battle against Morikawa and Young. Won the first hole against Horschel on Sunday and never surrendered the lead. If he can improve on his approach play by the next time this event rolls around Lee could be a sneaky captain’s pick.

Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott opened the Presidents Cup with a lopsided loss. Warren Little

Hideki Matsuyama (1-3-1): D
As the team’s best player, Matsuyama needed to get, at minimum, three points for the Internationals. He managed only half of that ambition and lost three of his first four matches. Even his singles tie with Burns was a defeat, as the Internationals needed an early W to give them a shot at a Sunday surge. Thing is, this course suited Matsuyama well, as he nearly won the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, making his performance all the more disappointing.

Sebastian Munoz (2-0-1): B+
Yes, fans and media are guilty of hindsight at team events, and sometimes it’s unwarranted. We say that to say this: it sure seems like Munoz — one of two players on the International roster without a loss on the week — should have played at least one more match. His game is compatible with most teammates and he seemed undaunted playing in front of the large and loud galleries that were pulling for the other team. Definitely a guy the team want to return in 2024.

Taylor Pendrith (0-0-4): D-
On paper, this was a nice, outside-the-box, horses-for-course pick by Immelman. But Pendrith, who ranked 134th in SG/putting last season on tour, couldn’t get anything to drop all week.

Mito Pereira (0-1-2): D
Pereira needs to expel whatever demons are plaguing him on 18th tees. After losing the PGA Championship with a wild drive at the 72nd hole at Southern Hills, a similarly poor tee shot on the final hole in his foursomes battle against Homa and Finau led to a bogey and an American win. Pereira got a tie on Friday afternoon with Bezuidenhout but sat out all of Saturday. Judging by his performance on Sunday, he probably wished he would have skipped that session as well, losing 3&2 to Morikawa. Pereira was viewed as a potential X-factor for the Internationals. Instead he was mostly a cypher.

Adam Scott (2-3-0): C
We can’t be too harsh. After all, the cat is 42 years old. But Scott was teamed with Matsuyama as the first pairing on Thursday, hoping to set a tone for the Internationals. In a sense they did, getting run off the property, 6&5, by Cantlay and Schauffele. The former Masters champ did win two matches on Saturday, but any hopes of an International comeback lay with early points on the board Sunday, and in the fourth match of the day Scott fell to Cantlay once again. If that was Scott’s final Presidents Cup appearance, he deserved better.

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Presidents Cup 2022: The Americans didn’t just win at Quail Hollow. They learned a valuable lesson ahead of Ryder Cup

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 06:42:57 +0000

By Dave Shedloski
The United States celebrated their ninth straight win in the Presidents Cup on Sunday at Quail Hollow Club with drinks, cigars and laughter, and rightfully so for dispatching a young and inexperienced — and yes, short-handed — International team that did more than just serve as an accommodating foil.

They did the Americans a favour.

Despite fielding a record eight rookies, the visitors did not go gentle into that good nightmare scenario. They were billed in some corners as no more than patsies. And captain Trevor Immelman obviously was paying attention, angrily saying afterward that his team was “no joke”. There was talk even before the Americans broke to an 8-2 lead through the first two days that their powerful dozen could wrap up 14th Presidents Cup by Saturday. The Internationals had no hope of preventing the US from improving to 12-1-1.

MORE: Should the Presidents Cup bring in the LPGA players?
Five ways to improve the Presidents Cup

As it turned out, yes, the Americans were clearly the better team, backing up their record victory over Europe last autumn in the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits by closing out a 17.5-12.5 triumph on an overcast afternoon in North Carolina. Seven of America’s 12 players who contributed to that 19-9 thrashing of Europe in Wisconsin competed this week, another indicator of the anticipated dominance expected of them under captain Davis Love III.

Still, what unfolded was no Wisconsin walkover but a genuine tussle that proved two things at once: that American golfers are exceedingly good, and even with superior talent, they will get tested and will have to find a way to respond. It’s a lesson that will serve them well when they travel to Rome next fall for the 44th Ryder Cup.

This victory, closed out officially when Xander Schauffele beat Corey Conners, 1-up, should keep the US squad grounded — or one figures that it should. An intelligent reading of the events of the past four days is that American players, having to work harder than they expected to put away the International team on home soil, must prepare for trying times in Italy. That’s not to suggest they can’t or won’t win next year. It’s just they haven’t won abroad since 1993. And just being the favoured doesn’t guarantee victory.

Xander Schauffele secured the winning point for Team USA on Sunday at Quail Hollow. Jared C Tilton

But, thankfully, they won’t travel overseas with overconfidence. “No, not at all. There’s no chance of that,” Love said on Sunday night. “I mean, at one point today it was looking like it could go either way. And so that’s what Europe’s gonna think next year. Hey, look, look what, what the internationals did to them.”

Steve Stricker, Ryder Cup captain last year and an assistant under Love this week, agreed: “Today, at one point I got on the radio and I said, this is a lot closer than what we wanted, you know? It was in the balance there for a little while. But we continue to learn. I mean, when we were 4 points up, you know, and we think about Medinah [where the U.S. blew a four-point lead to Europe in 2012], what we learned from that. And it’s just like trying to win a tournament when you’re leading, going into the last day, you know, the pressure’s on you to win.”

Indeed, Schauffele saw Conners claw back from being 3-down to square their match through 15 holes. And Tony Finau and Max Homa had to rally to pull out their points. Sam Burns pulled out a valuable half point in his match with Hideki Matsuyama. Without all this, an upset was imminent.

The Americans played with that pressure all week, and they came through, though not without hiccups. Think of how many favoured US Ryder Cup teams, stacked with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Love and other accomplished players, didn’t meet the expectations of being better on paper. The US were clearly better on paper at Quail Hollow, and then they went and proved they were the superior force on the golf course.

“We didn’t come here to help out the American team; we came here to win,” said Mike Weir, one of Immelman’s assistant captains. “But I guess you could say that they will get some lessons out of this week, just as we will. They are incredibly talented, but they had to play it out. They had to learn to play being the heavy favourites, and even last year you wouldn’t say they were favoured by a lot.”

“We realise that every point mattered,” said Collin Morikawa, one of the seven who contributed to the Ryder Cup victory last year. “I mean, you really don’t know. This international team, obviously, we’ve seen it, but these guys are great golfers. These are some of the best golfers in the world. You can’t let up. I know we have a very strong team, but it’s golf. We all know anything can happen.”

Nevertheless, the Americans reaffirmed that their current personnel has an air about them. The Internationals pushed them with a Saturday rally, but the American squad, annoyed but still focused, just didn’t appear in the mood to let an upset unfold, winning 6.5 of the 12 points available in singles play on Sunday.

“These guys here, this core group the last two years, is so good,” Stricker said. “And they’re so good with each other that every time that they are in a different position, they’re winning, and they keep putting that same feeling together and they keep winning. And they’re close. They played junior golf together. They’re good people. Their wives are close. Put it all together and it just builds more and more confidence.”

The US have lost just once in team competitions since the 2014 Ryder Cup — that coming in 2018 in Paris. They are riding high. Jordan Spieth believes they can maintain their level of play. He likes America’s chances in Italy.

“It’s a tall task to ask, going over there. I mean, I’ve played in a couple of away games now, and they’re very different,” the Texan said after going 5-0, the fourth American to run the tables. “But I mean, I’d take this team over there against anybody in the world. And the kind of team rooms that I’ve mentioned that we’ve had the last few years, it’s going to stay that way, and I’m very confident in our ability to go over there and win. You could tell me the last time it happened over there, but nobody here has any scar tissue.”

Love said the identity of the 2022 American team comes from how serious each member is about being prepared. “It’s just incredible what they go through to be the best in the world. There’s a reason why they can hit incredible shots and play incredible day after day after day.”

“What was so cool, which has been very consistent in the previous few Cups that I’ve been involved in, is everyone’s really, really good at what they do,” Spieth added. “Stay to your routine, do what you normally do to prepare for the biggest tournaments, and they did that. Nobody took anything lightly. They went through their same routine that I’ve seen guys go through for the final round of the Masters when they’re in the final group. And to do that for your team and country was super cool to watch.”

Indeed, no one took anything lightly. They couldn’t afford to, no matter how good they are individually or as a group. And they are plenty good. “And I think they think they have more to prove,” Love said.

They are a scary bunch, these Americans. Scary good. Talented. Driven. Special. And after this week, even a bit wiser.

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Presidents Cup 2022. Breaking down Sunday’s singles pairings at Quail Hollow

Matt Smith — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 10:46:04 +0000

By Shane Ryan
Writers, delete your leads. On an afternoon when the Americans seemed certain to close out the Presidents Cup, the International team staged an unlikely late rally, highlighted by heroics from Tom Kim and Cam Davis, to turn a rout into something more intriguing. The 11-7 score falls into that mythical four-point deficit zone that produced such unforgettable Ryder Cup comebacks at Brookline in 1999 and Medinah in 2012, when the winning team trailed 10-6 heading into Sunday. It’s not likely that we’ll see an American collapse, or an International “Quail Mary,” but now, at the very least, it’s possible.

That makes Sunday all the more exciting, and the stakes were obvious as the captains made their selections by how long each pick took — Trevor Immelman and Davis Love III used as much time as they could to deliberate with their assistants, receiving a one-minute warning on several occasions. Here are the 12 matches on the slate for the finale of the 14th Presidents Cup, starting just after 12 noon eastern at Quail Hollow.

12.02pm — Si Woo Kim (INT) v Justin Thomas (USA)
Tom Kim and Justin Thomas were both asked in their respective press conferences if they would like to face each other — Kim was diplomatic, while Thomas gave a “bring it on” answer. In the end, Thomas drew another Korean, and it was his captain’s decision. When Immelman led with Si Woo, Love came back with Thomas and was probably going to send him out regardless. Thomas’ 4-0 heroics with Spieth are well documented, but Si Woo has been quietly impressive in his own right, going 2-1 and playing clutch golf down the stretch in his win against Schauffele and Cantlay Saturday afternoon. This may not be the opening match of dreams, but it’s good enough.

12.14pm — Cam Davis (INT) v Jordan Spieth (USA)
Here Immelman was deciding who to match against Spieth, and after an incredibly long deliberation, he gave Davis an immense vote of confidence by calling his number. Davis has played all four sessions, going 2-2, and made his biggest impact in Saturday’s final match, when he made birdie on the final three holes to stun Billy Horschel and Sam Burns. He faced Spieth already, losing in Friday fourball, and he’ll have to contend with one of the hottest putters on either team — Justin Thomas joked that playing with Spieth on Saturday, he picked up his marker more than he actually attempted a putt.

12.26pm — Hideki Matsuyama (INT) v Sam Burns (USA)
It’s been a disappointing Presidents Cup for both players, Burns at 0-3-1 (he’s played well, but been victim of some tricky matches) and Matsuyama at 1-3, and both will be dealing with some fatigue, having played in every session. This is the definition of opportunity — the drama will still be high when their match goes out, and one player will have the opportunity to leave the weekend with a happy parting memory.

12.38pm — Adam Scott (INT) v Patrick Cantlay (USA)
Scott’s Presidents Cup singles record is 6-5-4 — better than his rough pairs records — but he lost a crucial match to Xander Schauffele in 2019 when the International team tried to hold onto their lead in Melbourne. Now he’ll play Schauffele’s best bud and frequent partner, Cantlay, who finished 2-1 in pairs and is 2-0 in team event singles competitions, with wins against Joaquin Niemann in the 2019 Presidents Cup and Shane Lowry last autumn at the Ryder Cup. You could say this about many of the matches here at the start, but this feels like a must-win for Scott.

12.50pm — Sebastian Munoz (INT) v Scottie Scheffler (USA)
The No. 1 player in the world has had a rough Presidents Cup, to the point that Love held him out on Saturday afternoon four-balls. Though he’s struggled, Scheffler is still the same man that made the finals of the 2021 WGC-Match Play, won it in 2022 and beat Jon Rahm head-to-head in the last year’s Ryder Cup. In other words, when it’s time to play singles, there aren’t many better. Munoz has acquitted himself beautifully in just two sessions, with a tie and a win, but this will be the rookie’s biggest challenge yet.

1.02pm — Taylor Pendrith (INT) v Tony Finau (USA)
It’ll be bomb central for these two, who also met in Thursday foursomes. That match went to Finau and was the first of three losses for Pendrith. At 0-3, it’s an incredibly tall task for him to go against Finau in the sixth spot, but it’s worth remembering that he made an enormous putt on the 18th green that would have tied an earlier match if Max Homa hadn’t followed with the match-winner moments later. Pendrith has guts, and while Finau has many big wins in his match-play career, Ian Poulter proved at Whistling Straits that he can be vulnerable in singles. Pendrith isn’t exactly Poulter, but he’ll have to channel something similar on Sunday.

1.14pm — Corey Conners (INT) v Xander Schauffele (USA)
On paper, this is the most lopsided match of the session. Conners has been woeful (particularly with the putter), Schauffele has been strong and no one in their right minds would expect this to go to the Internationals. But Conners can take solace in the fact that match play is a strange animal, and bizarre things can occasionally happen.

1.26pm — Sungjae Im (INT) v Cameron Young (USA)
Young’s massive putt on the 17th hole to win his Thursday foursomes match was followed by a tie and a loss in two more sessions for the Presidents Cup rookie. Im has played all four sessions and finally earned a win Saturday afternoon. This is a tremendous match-up of young players (literally and figuratively) who will contend at the game’s biggest events for years to come. Young, in particular, could have a chance to score the winning point for Team USA.

1.38pm — KH Lee (INT) v Billy Horschel (USA)
Lee and Horschel are both 1-1 through the first two days in their Presidents Cup debuts, and they were slotted by their captains in the ninth spot, which could become critically important. Horschel will need to use the energy he felt on Friday to take the fight to Lee, who will be trying to make a good Ryder Cup for the Korean contingent even better.

1.50pm — Tom Kim (INT) v Max Homa (USA)
It seems very strange that Immelman held Tom back for the end of the line-up, particularly given how extravagantly complimentary he was towards him in his press conference Saturday night. All he would say in that regard was “we’re running our system”. Then again, you could almost say the same about Homa, who finished his pairs sessions 3-0 and has been a star for the US. Whether these were good decisions or bad, it did give us the marquee match of Sunday singles. It would be a massive shame if it didn’t matter.

2.02pm — Mito Pereira (INT) v Collin Morikawa (USA)
Morikawa has been strangely quiet at this Presidents Cup; if you had predicted that the Whistling Straits star would only play two of the first four sessions, you would have been laughed at. But after one win and one loss in the morning, he was benched for both afternoon sessions. Pereira, for his part, sat out all day Saturday. This isn’t the most exciting match-up on paper, but if the Cup is not decided by the time this gets to the back nine, the drama will be there regardless.

2.14pm — Christiaan Bezuidenhout (INT) v Kevin Kisner (USA)
If the Internationals hope to win, it’s a safe bet that they’ll need the very last match, and the bad news is that Bezuidenhout, like Pereira, sat out the entire day on Saturday. The good news is that when he got a chance on Friday, he got a half point, which is better than losing before being consigned to the bench. Kisner is one of the most decorated match-play golfers America has and has done most of his damage in the one-on-one format; Bezuidenhout will be longer, but Kisner relishes the job of frustrating bigger hitters.

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Presidents Cup 2022: Everything you need to know about a wild Day 3 at Quail Hollow

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 08:42:43 +0000

By Jay Coffin
Well, there is International life. After watching the Americans steamroll to a commanding 8-2 lead after the first two days, the International squad won Saturday 5-3 to at least make the red, white and blue work a little harder in the 12 Sunday singles matches.

The US lead overall 11-7 and need only 4.5 points to keep hold of the Presidents Cup. The International team needs 8.5 points.

“I challenged the guys to win the day,” International captain Trevor Immelman said afterward, nearly in tears while beaming with pride.

The morning foursomes session was tied at 2 but the Internationals came storming back in the afternoon to take 3 out of 4 available points in the four-ball session. Tom Kim and Cam Davis came up huge in the final moments on Saturday and willed their respective matches to victories. More about them below.

Of note for the Americans: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele lost for the first time this week. And World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler still hasn’t recorded a full point.

Here’s everything else you missed in Charlotte on Friday at the Presidents Cup:

Match Scores

Morning Foursomes
Jordan Spieth / Justin Thomas (USA) bt Sungjae Im / Corey Conners, 4&3
Adam Scott / Hideki Matsuyama (INT) bt Cameron Young / Collin Morikawa, 3&2
KH Lee / Tom Kim (INT) bt Scottie Scheffler / Sam Burns, 2&1
Tony Finau / Max Homa (USA) bt Si Woo Kim / Cam Davis, 4&3
Afternoon Four-balls
Si Woo Kim / Tom Kim (INT) bt Patrick Cantlay / Xander Schauffele, 1-up
Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth (USA) bt Hideki Matsuyama / Taylor Pendrith, 4&3
Sungjae Im / Sebastian Munoz (INT) bt Tony Finau / Kevin Kisner, 3&2
Adam Scott / Cam Davis (INT) bt Billy Horschel / Sam Burns, 1-up

Biggest Disappointment

There are several candidates for this dubious distinction, but only one on the American side. World No. 1 and PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler has not yet earned a full point. It’s even more difficult to imagine because the US has been on cruise control for most of the week. Scheffler lost his opening match on Thursday, the only American match to lose during the session. His lone half point came Friday and he lost again Saturday morning in a foursomes match with Sam Burns, who Scheffler has paired with each time.
On the International side, Hideki Matsuyama has not played well. There was no shame in joining forces with Adam Scott to lose to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in the opening session, but still, as one of the key leaders of the squad, he hasn’t let his golf do much talking.

Scottie Scheffler. Rob Carr

Turning Point

It took until the waning moments of a long day to happen, but the turning point came on the shoulders of 20-year-old Tom Kim on the 18th hole. In the first afternoon four-ball match out with Si Woo Kim against previously undefeated Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, Tom smoothly carved a 2-iron from 239 yards to 10 feet and drained the birdie putt to win the hole and the match.
The Kims were 2-down after 10 holes and still were able to hand the American duo its first loss together this week. On that final hole, Si Woo was right off the tee and mostly out of the hole. That left Tom to fight solo against Schauffele and Cantlay and from 40 yards farther back in the fairway. Tom hit his approach to 10 feet, Schauffele hit his approach over the back of the green and Cantlay could only get to within 30 feet. Neither made birdie, clearing the stage for Kim to deliver the biggest moment in his young golf career with most of his International team standing just off the green. The ball found the bottom of the cup, he went nuts and celebration erupted. It was a great moment that can be seen below.
“I had my team behind me,” Tom said. “I wanted that putt more than anything in the world.”

TOM KIM FOR THE WIN!

Huge moment for @JoohyungKim0621 to capture another win for @IntlTeam ? pic.twitter.com/Lu9qYJQsMu

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 24, 2022

Best Matches

This one is easy. It’s the aforementioned match pitting the Kims against Schauffele and Cantlay. Each member of the foursome hit key shots or made key putts along the way and it was some of the best golf of the entire week. Schauffele drained a 40-foot putt from off the front of the green at 15 to make birdie and go 1-up, but Cantlay missed a short birdie putt on the next hole that would’ve tied the hole. Then Kim put on his cape and provided late heroics.
Honourable mention goes to the final match of the day pitting Aussies Adam Scott and Cam Davis against Billy Horschel and Sam Burns. This match was tight the entire way and the Americans were 1 up after 15 but couldn’t hold on for the win. Davis finished off the match going eagle, birdie, birdie to slam the door shut and give the Internationals a 3-1 session victory. Davis got up and in from 273 yards for eagle on 16, making an 11-footer. He drained birdies from 15 and nine feet on the last two holes.

Cam Davis. Rob Carr

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Presidents Cup International captain Trevor Immelman ‘LOLs’ at good luck message from LIV Golf’s Greg Norman

Matt Smith — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 12:49:07 +0000

Matt Smith
With the depleted International team facing another Presidents Cup thrashing at the hands of the US at Quail Hollow this weekend, visiting captain Trevor Immelman allowed himself a chuckle after receiving well-wishes from LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman.

The rest-of-the-world side are 8-2 down after the opening two days, and are struggling as LIV Golf players are ineligible to compete in the PGA Tour-ran Presidents Cup due to a ban.

Players absent include Australian Open Champion Cameron Smith and Norman tweeted a good-luck message to the Internationals, with Immelman replying with a simple: “LOL.”

Outside of all this angst – golf is golf, competition is competition; something every golfer thrives on. As a former player & Captain of the International Team, I wish @TrevorImmelman & his entire team the very best in repeating our only 1998 @PresidentsCup success in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/iwdELJpHfE

— Greg Norman (@SharkGregNorman) September 22, 2022

The International team has only beaten the US once in 13 previous Presidents Cups, with Norman leading them to their only victory in 1998.

“Outside of all this angst, golf is golf, competition is competition; something every golfer thrives on,” he wrote on Twitter.

“As a former player and captain of the International Team, I wish Trevor Immelman and his entire team the very best in repeating our only 1998 Presidents Cup success in Melbourne.”

Immelman added in response: “I’m an extremely open and honest person. I pretty much say it exactly as I’m thinking it. What I said was exactly what I was doing when I read that tweet. I was laughing out loud.”

Other international stars missing from the biennial invent include Chilean Joaquin Niemann, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, South African Louis Oosthuizen and Smith’s fellow Australian Marc Leishman, and Immelman has handed eight players debuts as a result.

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