For some, the surprise in the announcement of the Presidents Cup captain’s picks to be played at Royal Montreal in three weeks isn’t who they chose—but who they left off.
International team captain Mike Weir, who is also a Golf Town Ambassador, made the decision to pick three Canadians—Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, and Mackenzie Hughes. The picks of Pendrith and Conners were widely expected, but Hughes, who was ranked 15th in the standings, was a surprise.
American team captain Jim Furyk picked Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman and Max Homa. Bradley will be the captain of the next U.S. Ryder Cup team and was expected to be an assistant captain for this Presidents Cup. Furyk made his picks based on the rankings of players, while Weir varied, picking Si Woo Kim (ranked 14th), alongside Australian Min Woo Lee (ranked 9th) and long-hitting South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (ranked 10th). Kim and Bezuidenhout were two of the standouts on the International Team that was soundly trounced by the U.S. team.
On the American side, Furyk picked Bradley to be part of the team after the golfer was left off the last Ryder Cup squad. In picking by the numbers, Furyk passed on Justin Thomas, who played in the last three Presidents Cup and has been a stalwart throughout his career on the Ryder Cup.
Weir’s big decision
Weir was a standout the last time the Presidents Cup was played at Royal Montreal in 1997, bettering Tiger Woods on the final hole of singles competition. At the time, only Weir and Stephen Ames, who was born in Trinidad, but lived in Calgary, had a shot at the Presidents Cup team. This year was a different story, with numerous Canadians spending time in the Top 50 in the world, but no one landing in the Top 6 that would have given them an automatic berth onto the team. That left Weir with some tough decisions, and in recent months he’d been employing analytics experts to help determine the best combination of players.
Weir bypassed past Presidents Cup team member Adam Hadwin, and perhaps more surprisingly, past RBC Canadian Open winner Nick Taylor, who represented Canada at the recent Paris Olympics, when making his selections.
When Taylor won the WM Phoenix Open in February, it seemed like he’d locked up a spot on the team. But his play has been uneven throughout the remainder of the year, with five missed cuts since his last Top 10 finish in April. “It was really difficult,” Weir said of Taylor. “He was looking really good to make the team, but as it happens you go through a spell where you’re not playing the greatest.”
International Team Captain’s Canadian picks
Corey Conners
Weir’s pick of Conners, from Listowel, Ont., was perhaps the most obvious. Conners has two tour wins and $22-million in earnings, and has been a regular in the Top 50 for some time. One of the game’s best ball strikers, Conners seems like a great fit, though he struggled in his first appearance at the Presidents Cup. Weir said the struggles of Conners and Pendrith at the 2022 Presidents Cup were not a factor in picking them for this team. Instead, he focused on recent performances by the pair, which included the fact Conners did not miss a cut in the past season. “He’s consistently one of the best ball strikers in the game and second time around I truly believe he’s going to play well with the home crowd,” Weir said. “He’s going to be a big part of our team.”
Mackenzie Hughes
The Dundas, Ont. native made it clear he wanted to be part of the team. But he was ranked behind Hadwin and Taylor heading into the selection. Weir defended the pick by saying Hughes was one of golf’s best putters, currently ranked 4th this season in strokes-gained-putting. “He’s one of the best short game guys on the PGA Tour,” Weir said. “I love Mack’s grit, which is the reason I picked him. Canadian golf fans have followed Mackenzie’s career for nearly two decades and it’s incredible to know he’s going to make his Presidents Cup debut in his home country. He is steady and calm under pressure and is without doubt one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, which is a great combination for our team.”
Taylor Pendrith
A surprise pick in 2022, Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., earned a spot onto the team by winning his first PGA Tour event this year and playing his way into the Tour Championship, where he finished in a tie for 14th. In fact, the big-hitting Pendrith, who has struggled with injuries for much of his career, had the best season of any Canadian on tour, winning $4.5 million, and finishing in the Top 20 in four of his last five starts.