It hasn’t been pretty for the International Team at the Presidents Cup. After all, they’ve not won the event in more than a quarter century. The U.S. Team’s dominance has led to questions about the relevancy of the event, which returns to Canada for the first time since 2007 when Jack Nicklaus’ squad led the American players to a victory over Gary Player’s crew. The one truly memorable match that year was Mike Weir taking down Tiger Woods on his home soil.
Weir returns to Royal Montreal as the captain of the International Team, with three Canadians—Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners, and Taylor Pendrith—offering something for the hometown fans to rally around.
But will it be enough to make the Presidents Cup an actual down-to-the-wire competition?
Key Players
International Team
There’s lots of experience on the International team thanks to the likes of Adam Scott and Jason Day. But there are also a lot of losing records. With some new faces, including Hughes and Min Woo Lee, in the mix, there’s a chance of a reset here, which provides a glimmer of hope after 25 years of losing.
Who to watch
The Canadians. Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith played in the last Presidents Cup and were absolutely crushed. Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., joins them in the mix. What should we expect? In Conners, you have one of the games best ballstrikers. Pendrith can overwhelm a course with power, and has played well at Royal Montreal, and Hughes has emerged as one of the game’s best putters. Hopefully these elements, with the crowd behind them, yields more than a few points.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Sungjae Im: Bezuidenhout, the big-hitting South African, has an even record in one Presidents Cup, and his year on the PGA Tour was mixed. But Weir has faith that his experience will help elevate the team.
On the other hand, Im is one of the few Asian players with a positive Presidents Cup record. He had eight Top 10 finishes in 2023-24 and finished the year in strong form, something Weir hopes will continue through to the tournament in Montreal.
American Team
The U.S team is once again, at least on paper, the stronger of the two, led by the best players in the world currently.
Who To Watch
Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. The pair are coming off dominant seasons that saw Schauffele win the British Open and the PGA Championship and still not be named player of the year. That’s because Scheffler did, well, Scottie-type things, including seven wins, 16 Top 10 finishes, including victories at the Players, the Masters, the Tour Championship and the Olympics. That said, Scheffler actually hasn’t played well in the Presidents Cup (maybe the only thing in recent years he’s lost), while Schauffele has exceled.
Dark horse: Look to Max Homa, who loves team events and is undefeated in the Presidents Cup, or Patrick Cantlay, who may not be popular, but excels in team competitions, yielding his nickname: “Patty Ice.”
The Course
Royal Montreal’s Blue Course was initially designed by American Dick Wilson as a challenging test of all the elements of the game—from power to putting. On a rolling property that includes 27 other holes, the Blue has long been a standout in Canada. Rees Jones, known as the “Open Doctor,” renovated the course for the Presidents Cup, introducing more challenging bunkering, and greens with defined ridges that segment the putting surfaces. In the 2014 RBC Canadian Open, the last major tournament played at the club, short hitters, including American team captain Jim Furyk and winner Tim Clark, exceled. These days Royal Montreal doesn’t need to be overwhelmed by power, and in fact, many holes demand more precision than distance. Could that benefit the International team?