U.S. captain Jim Furyk stirred up some excitement ahead of this month’s President’s Cup with a chalk drawing.
Furyk selected the No. 7-12 team rankings for his six captain picks announced Tuesday. The move will see Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley return to Team USA for the first time in a decade, but longtime U.S. mainstay Justin Thomas stay home.
Other American picks were Sam Burns, Russell Henry, Max Homa, Brian Harmon and Tony Finau. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clarke, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Tigala were the team’s six automatic picks.
The President’s Cup will be held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club from September 26 to 29.
Furyk described his choice as “just trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together” and called it a “difficult omission,” but did not offer Golf Channel an explanation for leaving Thomas out. The 31-year-old is 19th in the points standings.
Bradley was originally slated to be Furyk’s assistant captain, his only chance to gain leadership experience ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. Furyk said he will instead be relieved of that responsibility so he can focus on the game.
International team captain Mike Weir has selected Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee and Taylor Pendrith. Conners, Hughes and Pendrith are all Canadians, adding a real Maple flavor to the team with the Canadian captain and three players. They will be joined by Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Byeong Hun An.
What to think about Team USA
This is simultaneously unsurprising and incredibly disappointing. Furyrk can avoid the blame by saying it’s “fair” to chalk up the players ranked 7-12 to this, but it does mean the US have a team that is currently in a state of failure. and They are attracting young talent. Max Homa has fallen to 86th on DataGolf after a dismal season, and Brian Harmon has only had one top-10 since March. Meanwhile, Justin Thomas, a U.S. Cup legend, is having a much better season than either of those two. Thomas went 9-3-2 at the Presidents Cup and T14 at the Tour Championship, while Akshay Bhatia won the Texas Open this year. Bringing a 22-year-old rising star into the team room could have been invaluable. It all feels like a missed opportunity that doesn’t bring in the best team and doesn’t help the team going forward. — Brody Miller
Furyk could have gone straight down the list and picked the next six players on the U.S. President’s Cup standings, but some of those picks still leave something to be desired. Harman and Homa were pushed out by several players who would have been great fits for the team, including Thomas, who is widely regarded as one of the best American match-play players of this generation. Harman was likely chosen for his driving accuracy in preparation for the tight, narrow Royal Montreal, while Homa would provide the passion and grit that comes naturally in a team environment. But think of someone like Bhatia or 20-year-old Nick Dunlap. This year’s Cup could have been the perfect opportunity to prime young blood for future team events, but instead Furyk picked older players who aren’t even playing well right now. Stats likely played a big part in those decisions, as well as partner fit. But you can’t ignore recent form, and Furyk appears to have done just that. — Gabby Herzig
Things to think about for international teams
Weir loves his native Canadians, but maybe not the ones we thought he would. It would have been impossible for Weir to rule out Lee or Kim (two of his top talents) or Bezuidenhout (who has been in great form this year). So there were essentially three decisions to make. Conners could argue he is one of the top five international players, so that makes sense. So does Pendrith, who has jumped to No. 25 in the world by DataGolf. It’s very hard to pick Hughes over potentially better talents like Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor. Hadwin and Taylor have struggled tremendously over the past few months, so that’s understandable, but Taylor has been a killer with two big wins at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open and the 2023 Canadian Open, but that’s until the summer when he completely messed up. That hurts. (Rushing out Australian Cam Davis is the right call. His stunning win in Detroit was rather unusual.) — Miller
Weir considered a number of factors in his captain selection. Still, the Canadian home-field element and emphasis on recent form seem to have dominated his decision-making process. Three of Weir’s captain choices, all Canadians, would enjoy playing on familiar grass in front of a supportive crowd. Hughes, ranked 15th in the international team rankings, was left out of the 2022 squad. He is also known to welcome a leadership role and would fit in well in the team room. Pendrith and Conners got the nod over Hadwin and Taylor, arguably the better-known and more passionate Canadians. The selections indicate Weir prioritized consistency and recent tournament results. And then there’s Kim. He brought a memorable spark to the 2022 tournament and was undoubtedly the obvious choice for locker room energy. Additionally, Weir specifically mentioned Kim’s putting, which has been shaky of late but is improving with a change of putter. Bezuidenhout sneaked into the FedEx Top 30 and had an underrated season, while Lee emerged as one of the best drivers on the PGA Tour and established himself as a fan favorite. Overall, there aren’t many surprises, aside from Hughes’ curveball and Davis’s fall from 8th place. Weir’s picks represent a strong, deliberate and versatile strategy. — Sincerely
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(Above photo: Keyur Khamar / PGA Tour via Getty Images)
