by Sal Johnson
So it’s the Presidents Cup this weekend; frankly, it is a tough sell. Sure, it’s another way to gamble this week, as there will be five matches each day on Thursday and Friday, four-morning foursomes and four afternoon fourball matches on Saturday, and 12 singles matches on Sunday.
You can check out the Presidents Cup history here at Golfstats.com
I am not overwhelmed by the matches because we know what will happen: Team USA will win. In 13 previous matches, Team USA has only lost once, in 1998, and they had a tie in 2003. So the last time that the International team won, Scottie Scheffler was in diapers, while the last time Team USA didn’t win, Tom Kim, was just a year old in 2003.
Financially, the matches have been a boom for the PGA Tour, which has ranked in millions off of it. It’s an enigma how Team USA can easily beat the Internationals but lose the Ryder Cup the following year. If there is a flaw in how the teams are picked, those European Tour players participate in both the PGA and DP World Tours. However, the internationals picked have to play on the PGA Tour, and those on LIV Golf aren’t eligible. So potential International team members like Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra, Branden Grace, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones, Jinichiro Kozuma, Marc Leishman, Sebastian Munoz, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen. Carlos Ortiz, Mito Pereira, Charl Schwartzel, or Cameron Smith weren’t considered. Others not included are Kensei Hirata, who won three times on the Japan Golf Tour in the last two months. Also not considered is Keita Nakajima, who led the Japan Golf Tour money list last year with $1.2 million in earnings. A young kid from Australia is also on the DP World Tour, David Micheluzzi, who is close enough to play on the international team. The point is the international team could be so much better, but they aren’t.
The Presidents Cup also has the problem of not being played in all countries, mainly because it’s a financial risk. Yes, Royal Melbourne in Australia has hosted three Presidents Cup matches, but there has never been one played in South America or Japan, while other popular places like South Africa and Korea have hosted one match each. In 2028, the matches are returning to Melbourne, Australia, but this time to Kingston Heath Golf Club.
So the big question is whether the International team will contend this year. September is a difficult time to have a golf tournament, and if it’s not close eyeball, I could wander to college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday. For the last decade, the catcalls have been suggesting a change in how the matches are contested to give the Presidents Cup a bit of a lift. But the truth is that there aren’t enough outstanding International players to participate. The thought of these matches ending due to lack of competition won’t happen because the matches are a big cash cow for the PGA Tour. Something may have to be done if the matches aren’t completive this year. Several people have suggested adding female players since there are a lot of great Korean and Japanese players who could help lift the matches to a more competitive outcome. Talking with Hall of Famer and Golf Channel announcer Judy Rankin, she has some great thoughts about adding 12 women players, six for the International team and six for Team USA. With the roosters expanded you can add three matches to the team series and expand the singles from 12 matches to 18. The addition of women could add another level and make the matches more competitive.
So, it will be an interesting year, and I could see the movement to a new format changing from silent to more vocal this year.
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