The teams are all set for the Presidents Cup. Overnight, Australian time, US captain Jim Furyk and International skipper Mike Weir filled out their 12-man rosters with six wildcard picks each for the biennial competition that will be played at Royal Montreal Golf Club over four days from September 26-29.
Weir, the most revered Canadian golfer ever, had to wrestle with how many countrymen he would choose out of five potential candidates for this “home” match, and he ultimately chose three: Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith. Left off were Nick Taylor, who delivered one of his country’s greatest golf moments by winning the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, and Adam Hadwin, which means the Internationals lose their biggest social-media drawcard in Jessica Hadwin.
Outside the Canadians, Weir picked South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Korean Si Woo Kim and our own Min Woo Lee. They joined automatic qualifiers Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Byeong Hun An.
Furyk, meantime, has caused a bit of a stir by snubbing American stalwart Justin Thomas, who has taken on a playing leadership role in recent team competitions, while tabbing Keegan Bradley, the 2025 Ryder Cup captain whose win at the BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup Playoff event, was the lone bright spot in an otherwise middling year. There are also questions about choosing Max Homa and his current struggles over Billy Horschel.
Furyk’s picks are Bradley, Homa, Tony Finau, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Brian Harman. The qualifiers are Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.
With the teams finalised, Golf Digest writers Joel Beall, Dave Shedloski and Shane Ryan joined Australian Golf Digest editor Steve Keipert to chew on some questions ahead of the competition that’s only three weeks away.
How does the match-up look now on paper?
Joel Beall: The United States doesn’t have the depth it usually has, while the Internationals have more than just frontline firepower. Still, the Americans should remain overwhelmingly favoured, and we could be heading for yet another non-competitive Presidents Cup. If there’s any consolation, perhaps this will be the year that forces the PGA Tour to go back to the drawing board with this event.
Dave Shedloski: I liked the International team before the picks, and I have to say I am still slightly bullish on the home squad after the selections. There’s a real opportunity here for the perennial underdogs.
Shane Ryan: Pretending for a moment that we’re not taking the “home team” into consideration, the Americans of course look stronger on paper, as they always do. You can point to a handful of Ryder Cups where the Europeans had a stronger roster, but I don’t think we’ve been able to say that the Americans were weaker at any Presidents Cup yet. The captain’s picks didn’t change much, and the Americans will be heavily favoured, but it’s worth pointing out that the past two “away” Presidents Cups for the Americans have been extremely close. It’s also worth pointing out that it’s uncertain how much of an “away” match a Montreal venue will be.
Steve Keipert: Interesting fact: Jim Furyk and Mike Weir share a birthday (May 12, 1970) and won their only major championships two months apart in 2003. Coincidences aside, it feels like more of the same is on the menu here: a Stars and Stripes victory. Add that fact that playing in Canada is more of a home game – in terms of travel – for most of the American side than it is for the International team and I’m seeing more pain for the Internationals.
Any surprises among the picks?
DS: Max Homa on the American side. Played well in the Ryder Cup last year, but his form has been less than stellar of late. Teamed well with Brian Harman in Rome, so I’m thinking this was a two-fer choice. Not excited about it.
SR: It doesn’t make any sense to me to leave Justin Thomas off the team. Zach Johnson took him last year for his experience and success at team matchplay events, and his form is actually better this year! How do you take him over Homa, who has struggled lately? JT is just such a weapon that despite the rough optics of the Ryder Cup, and all the embarrassing “Full Swing” segments, I’d still be looking for any excuse to get him on the squad.
JB: Homa. He was the breakout star of the 2022 Presidents Cup and was solid in Rome for last year’s American squad, but he’s been a mess since May, failing to post a top-20 finish in his past nine starts.
SK: Weir clearly opted for logical pairs for the foursomes and fourball sessions, but he also went for good putters (Bezuidenhout is statistically one of the best on the PGA Tour with the flatstick). The team that putts best usually wins these contests. However, it must be said… what more does Ryan Fox have to do? Although I get it – Weir had to lean on his countrymen. You could have made a strong case for including Taylor and Hadwin to really go all-in on the Canucks.
Who is the potential biggest hero for each side?
SR: It’s mostly vibes on this question, but it feels like this is going to be a Xander Schauffele year. Not only are he and Patrick Cantlay absolute killers in pairs formats, but this will be his first team matchplay event as a major winner, and all the swagger that entails. On the International side, any of the Canadians could be primed to have a big weekend… but they’ll have to overcome their combined 0-8-0 record first!
JB: Brian Harman (acquitted himself well at the Ryder Cup and Royal Montreal fits his game well) and Min Woo Lee (how do you say “Let him cook” in French?).
DS: For the Americans, it has to be Sam Burns, who has been Scottie Scheffler’s running mate for the past two team events – without much success. Time to step up. For the International team, the potential heroes are obvious: the Canadian trio of Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes or Taylor Pendrith.
SK: I think Min Woo will be ‘rocks or diamonds’ for Weir. He’s a natural for revelling in the team dynamic and should enjoy the different atmosphere the Presidents Cup brings, much like Tom Kim did last time. Whether that works for or against Lee, though, is the unknown.
Who is the potential biggest goat (and we don’t mean GOAT) for each team?
DS: Whichever captain loses. And both Jim Furyk and Mike Weir have a lot to lose here.
SR: The answer to this question is always, “Who was the most controversial pick?” So on the American side, that’s either Bradley or Homa, with maybe Scheffler thrown in for good measure since he hasn’t yet duplicated his outrageous strokeplay (and even individual matchplay) success in the team matchplay format. For the Internationals, there was nothing too controversial, so I’ll revert to saying that Conners and Pendrith would do well not to repeat their 0-4 performance from last time in front of a home crowd.
JB: My Canadian sources tell me the only bridge into Royal Montreal is under construction and could lead to major traffic jams. Sounds like a goat to me.
SK: Conners and Pendrith barely holed a putt between them last time. Are they better putters now versus then?
Is Keegan Bradley earning a captain’s pick a boost in his prep as Ryder Cup captain?
JB: No. He was going to be there either way as a player or assistant captain. Instead, I view it as a boon for whoever gets paired with Bradley, as getting a chance to make a personal connection and impression has to count for something when it comes time to picking next year’s American roster for Bethpage Black.
DS: Not exactly sure how. Being an assistant captain helps him in preparation for the Ryder Cup next year, but playing in the Presidents Cup doesn’t add a lot to his depth of knowledge for how to be a captain, except maybe to remind him what it’s like to be a player. He hasn’t competed in one of these team events in 11 years.
SR: I’d say no. He had exactly one chance to prepare on the administrative side for his Ryder Cup captaincy, and this was it. Now he’s going to play, Furyk said he won’t be anywhere near the captain’s room, so there goes his opportunity for on-the-job training. It also makes it that much more likely that he’ll play in the Ryder Cup next year, which would require a new captain, and just heightens the chaos that started the moment they announced him for this job!
SK: It can’t hurt. If anything he now gets to amp up his Ryder Cup captaincy preparation by experiencing the team dynamic from both perspectives – as a player and with an eye on the inner workings of the team room.
Mike Weir took only three Canadians, leaving Nick Taylor [above] and Adam Hadwin off the team. Should he have loaded even more to work up the crowds?
DS: Abso-effing-lutely. I made the argument directly to Weir during the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, that he should take five of his countrymen. A home-course advantage is rare for the International side; why not go all in on nationalism here and put things over the top? Could it backfire? Of course. But you could say that about any pick. There was nothing to lose loading up on fellow Canadians (see results: 1994-present).
JB: If the Ryder Cup has taught us anything it’s that home-field advantage matters. By leaving Taylor and Hadwin at home, the Internationals dropped the lone X factor they had.
SR: I think Weir probably took all the Canadians he could without facing a bit of “you’re a homer!” criticism, so I don’t think he should have taken more, necessarily… but I wonder if he’ll regret leaving off Taylor. Granted, his form is bad right now, but he can putt the lights out, and that’s a great quality at these events. Conners in particular can go real cold with the putter, and I’m not saying he should have been snubbed, but keep Taylor’s exclusion top of mind if things go south on the greens at Royal Montreal.
SK: As noted above, grabbing every Canadian this side of Newfoundland and Labrador to fill out his side would have been a savvy, shrewd, almost Peter Thomson-esque move.
