The 2024 Presidents Cup has arrived in Montreal, Canada, at the oldest course in North America, Royal Montreal. Over the next 4 days, the International Team will try to accomplish something they haven’t done since 1998, that is win this event!
This event was previously played in 2007 with the USA winning 19.5 to 14.5 and all the bookmakers, and golf analysts alike, believe this year will be no different!
Team USA is Loaded with Talent
This event is held over 4 days and 30 matches, and the first team to capture 15.5 points will hoist the trophy. This year's field has a good mix of Presidents Cup experience with some fresh new faces teeing it up.
The problem for the International Team, Team USA has 7 players ranked higher in the official golf world rankings than their 2nd highest-ranked player.
To add to the discrepancy from OGWR, 8 of the top 11 earners on the PGA tour in the 2024 season are on Team USA. One thing we know is that when LIV was created, it made the International Team a little less competitive. This year they are losing out on two studs, Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith, who quite frankly, this team needs.
Thursday - Foursomes
Foursomes occur with 2 players from each team, using 1 ball between them, alternating shots. If one tees off, the partner takes the next shot, and so on.
Five matches will take place on Thursday, with 20 players on, and 4 players off. The team with the lowest score after 18 holes gains the point; if they happen to have a tie, a half point is awarded to each team.
Friday - Fourballs
Fourballs means just as it sounds, using four balls, or each player plays their own shot. At the end of each hole, whichever partner has the lowest score, they use that score for the hole. Again here 20 players on and 4 players off, over five matches.
This format we are likely to see the lower level players, as the Foursomes format on Thursday requires players to be pretty good tee-to-green, to avoid putting players out there that may struggle hitting fairways or greens-in-regulation.
Saturday - Morning Foursomes & Afternoon Fourballs
On Saturday they rerun Thursday and Friday back again, but instead of five matches, each session only holds four matches.
This is where some strategy kicks in for the captains, and they can deploy different pairings, if earlier ones did not work out well, or stick the hotter guys out there.
Sunday - Singles
Typically, this is my favorite day of these events, but the downside is usually we have an idea of who is going to win this event if one team has a sizable lead on the other.
When the teams are closer in points coming into Sunday, there’s nothing better than watching golfers go 1 on 1 shot making back and forth all day!
Sticking to Experience
My pick analysis on this event is going to be brief, as it really is a toss-up who could come out with the most points. Team USA is a -250 favorite and there are not a lot of options and angles to play here. There are a lot of uncontrollable factors we don’t know yet, most specifically the lineups, pairings, and how many times a player is going to play.
If a player only gets 2-3 trips out there, he is likely not to finish at the top unless he goes 3-0 and everyone else finishes with mediocre records. I am sticking with two guys who have played the last two Presidents Cups, and on this current roster, have the most success in this event.
If you remove Jordan Spieth (5-0), Justin Thomas(4-1), and Max Homa(4-0) from the 2022 team who played out of their minds (Spieth and Homa went undefeated), Xander Shauffele and Patrick Cantlay were both next on the team with 3 points each, both going 3-1-0.
Going back to 2019, remove Justin Thomas(3-1-1), again Xander and Patrick were 2nd and 3rd with 3 points each at 3-2 each. This current team has no Justin Thomas or Jordan Spieth, and Max Homa has not been playing very well in the last half of the season. Sure, Scottie probably wants to redeem his rookie performance from 2022 (0-3-2, last on the team in points), but I'm leaning on the steady horses here.
We are certainly going to see Xander and Patrick paired together in both foursomes and fourballs. Both have been paired together in the last two Presidents Cups and I don’t see that changing.
They complement each other well, they have a great record together, and I do believe they will push each other to grab some early points while adding another during the singles play on Sunday!
Best Bets: Top USA Player Score
Xander Schauffele +550 (Bet365)
Patrick Cantlay +700 (Bet365)