Coming into Round 1 of the 2022 Presidents Cup, the odds were stacked against the International team, so captain Trevor Immelman decided to send in his two...
Presidents Cup 2022 Leaderboard: Team USA Extends Lead to 6 Points on Friday
Sep 23, 2022
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 23: Jordan Spieth of the United States Team catches a golf ball on the third green during Friday four-ball matches on day two of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 23, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Team USA remains in control through two days of the 2022 Presidents Cup from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After winning four of five matches in Thursday's foursomes, the Americans picked up four more pointson Friday in four-ball matches. They will take an 8-2 lead over the international squad into the weekend and need just 7.5 points to win outright and retain the Cup for the ninth consecutive Presidents Cup.
2022 Presidents Cup Results - Four-Ball
Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas (USA) def. Adam Scott/Cam Davis (International), 2 & 1
Mito Pereira/Christiaan Bezuidenhout (International) tied Kevin Kisner/Cameron Young (USA)
Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (USA) def. Hideki Matsuyama/Tom Kim (International), 3 & 2
Billy Horschel/Max Homa (USA) def. Corey Conners/Taylor Pendrith (International), 1 up
The team of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele continued their domination of the Presidents Cup. After a 6 and 5 win over Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama on Day 1, they made quick work of Matsuyama and Tom Kim in four-ball.
Cantlay and Schauffele won four consecutive holes on the front nine to open up a five-hole lead. They finished three under par overall on the front nine, with all three birdies courtesy of Schauffele.
Kim and Matsuyama made a late run to claw their way back into the match. Kim made back-to-back birdies on No. 14 and 15 to cut the deficit to three with three holes to play.
The opening match of the day saw Jordan Spieth and four-ball expert Justin Thomas score a full point for the U.S. team with a 2 and 1 victory over Adam Scott and Cam Davis.
Justin Thomas improves to 5-0-0 in #PresidentsCup four-ball in his career.
2 players have a perfect record (no losses, no ties) in a specific format in Presidents Cup history with at least 5 matches played
Thomas, 5-0-0 in four-ball Spieth, 6-0-0 in foursomes
Thomas' birdie putt on No. 4 gave his team an early lead that would last for the rest of the match. They extended their advantage to three up at two different points, including a birdie from Thomas on No. 14 that was inches away from being an ace.
Burns and Scheffler were two up after 12 holes before Sungjae Im and Sebastián Muñoz made a run to even things up. Muñoz's birdie on No. 17 squared the match and both teams made par on the final hole to split the point.
Scheffler's first two days at the Presidents Cup did earn him a spot in the record books, though it's probably not something he will want to remember.
Scottie Scheffler: first time reigning world number 1 did not win either of his first 2 matches in a #PresidentsCup since Greg Norman in 1996
Scheffler and Burns were the only American team to lose their match on Thursday.
Kevin Kisner and Cameron Young were able to salvage a tie from their match with Mito Pereira and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. The international duo held a one-hole advantage for four holes to start the back nine thanks to Pereira's birdie on No. 10.
Young squared the match on No. 14 with a birdie. The two teams traded pars for the final four holes.
Wrapping up the day was a thrilling contest between Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith taking on Max Homa and Billy Horschel. The Americans were two up through 10 holes, with Conners really struggling to find his way on the course.
Corey Conners is +4 on his own ball with no birdies.
The Internationals are not even remotely equipped to be able to withstand one of their biggest studs laying an egg.
Things turned around for Conners quickly, as he made birdies on Nos. 11 and 13 to tie the match. The two teams made par for the next three holes going onto No. 17.
Homa was the only one of the four players whose tee shot on the 17th hole didn't land in the bunker on the left fairway. He took advantage of the opening with a birdie that put the Americans up by one.
The 18th hole saw Homa put the exclamation point on the win. He hit a perfect tee shot that landed on the left side of the fairway and his second shot stopped on the green, 13 feet from the hole.
Pendrith made par, giving Homa two putts for the win. The 31-year-old only needed one, making his third birdie of the day to give the U.S. an 8-2 advantage in the overall standings.
The Americans have a chance to wrap up the Presidents Cup on Saturday. The action will begin at 7 a.m. ET with a morning foursome session and continue in the afternoon with four-ball.
There's a chance the U.S. could post the largest margin of victory in the history of this event. The current record was set in 2000 when Team USA beat the international squad by a score of 21.5 to 10.5.
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Presidents Cup 2022 Leaderboard: Team USA Takes Commanding Lead on Thursday
Sep 22, 2022
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 22: (L-R) Xander Schauffele of the United States Team and Patrick Cantlay of the United States Team fist bump on the fifth green during the Thursday foursome matches on day one of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 22, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
Team USA is out to an early lead over the international squad after the first day of the 2022 Presidents Cup.
The Americans won four of the five matches to carry a lead of 4-1 into Friday's action.
2022 Presidents Cup Foursome Results
Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (USA) def. Adam Scott/Hideki Matsuyama (International), 6 & 5
Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas (USA) def. Sungjae Im/Corey Conners (International), 2 & 1
Cameron Young/Collin Morikawa (USA) def. Tom Kim/K.H. Lee (International), 2 & 1
Si Woo Kim/Cam Davis (International) def. Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns (USA), 2 up
Tony Finau/Max Homa (USA) def. Taylor Pendrith/Mito Pereira (International), 1 up
The duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele got things off to a fantastic start for the Americans with a 6 and 5 win over Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama.
Both teams tied the first two holes before things unraveled for the Scott-Matsuyama pairing. Cantlay set things up with a putt 40 feet away from the hole on the third green that stopped three feet from the cup.
Schauffele converted the par putt. Matsuyama left his putt for par just short of the hole, giving the U.S. duo an advantage. Cantlay and Schauffele extended their lead to three before making the turn.
Things were much closer in the remaining four matches. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas looked like they were on the path to a blowout by going 3-up on Sungjae Im and Corey Conners through six holes.
Im and Conners cut the lead to one before making the turn. The Americans remained 1-up until the 15th hole when Thomas converted a 26-foot putt to save par.
Conners was unable to match that, leaving Im to finish the hole with a bogey putt. The victory added another notch to Thomas' impressive record in specialty matches between the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
Justin Thomas is now 11-2-3 in four ball and alternate shot matches at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
In the third match of the day, Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa held off a comeback attempt by Tom Kim and K.H. Lee to give the Americans their third consecutive match point.
The Kim-Lee tandem won back-to-back holes on No. 11 and 12 to even the match. Young and Morikawa got the lead back for good on No. 13 with a brilliant two-shot sequence. Young crushed a 358-foot tee shot to the left fairway. Morikawa followed it up with an iron shot that stopped three feet from the hole, setting up Young for an easy birdie putt.
Young's 26-foot birdie putt on No. 17 gave the U.S. team a victory and a third point.
While there wasn't a lot of celebrating for the international team on Thursday, Si Woo Kim and Cam Davis gave them something to be happy about. They overcame a three-hole deficit to get the squad's lone point of the day with a 2-up victory over Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.
Scheffler and Burns went 3-up after seven holes. Kim's second shot landed in the water, forcing him to take a drop. Burns converted a par putt to extend the lead for his team.
Trailing by two holes going onto No. 15, Kim and Davis found their groove while Scheffler and Burns fell apart. The U.S. pair double-bogeyed No. 15 and bogeyed No. 18. Kim and Davis played the final four holes at two under par to get the win.
It's actually kind of astounding that the International team is only down 4-1. They led after just three of 83 holes played today and somehow got a full point out of it.
The international team missed an opportunity to get a half point in the final match of the day. Taylor Pendrith and Mito Pereira squared things with Tony Finau and Max Homa with a birdie on the 13th hole.
Things stayed even going onto No. 18. Pereira's tee shot landed in the left rough. Pereira tried to get on the green with the next shot, but he found the bunker in front of the green.
Finau's second shot stopped on the green. Homa came within inches of getting a birdie, but Finau was able to finish it off with an easy par. Pendrith was unable to convert a 12-foot putt to save par.
This is a much better start for Team USA compared to 2019. They trailed 4-1 after the first day at Royal Melbourne Golf Club and were down multiple points going into the final day. They won eight points in Sunday's singles matches to earn a 16-14 victory.
Friday's event will feature fourball matches starting at 11:30 a.m. ET from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth Highlight 2022 Presidents Cup Day 1 Foursomes
Sep 22, 2022
Justin Thomas hits from the third tee during practice for the Presidents Cup golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The foursomes matchups for the Presidents Cup have been released, and it features a showdown consisting of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth taking on Sungjae Im and Corey Conners.
Of note, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will team up with Sam Burns to face off against Si Woo Kim and Cameron Davis.
The Presidents Cup is between a team of United States golfers and a team of international golfers (minus Europe). Davis Love III captains this year's United States team, and Trevor Immelman will oversee the International team.
Foursomes on Thursday will kick off the competition. Fourball will take place Friday, and then foursomes and fourball will both occur Saturday. Singles action will close the tournament Sunday.
The Presidents Cup was was supposed to take place in 2021, but it was delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, will host the Presidents Cup this year.
Presidents Cup 2022: Tee Times, Uniforms, Betting Odds and Predictions
Sep 21, 2022
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 21: (Back L-R) United State team members Assistant Captain Fred Couples, Kevin Kisner, Tony Finau, Assistant Captain Webb Simpson, Captain Davis Love III, Billy Horschel, Scottie Scheffler, Assistant Captain Steve Stricker, Assistant Captain Zach Johnson, (Front L-R) Cameron Young, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Max Homa pose for a team photo prior to the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 21, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The United States relinquished the Presidents Cup once since the event began in 1994.
The United States enters the 2022 edition of the event with an 11-1-1 record against the International team.
The American dominance combined with the better overall roster going into Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte makes the United States a massive favorite to retain the cup.
Three years ago, the United States pulled out a two-point win over the International team, but the competition may not be that close in 2022.
Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele are back from the 2019 squad. Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa combined with that trio to help the United States obliterate Team Europe at the 2021 Ryder Cup.
Trevor Immelman's International squad is not as strong as it could have been. The losses of Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and others to LIV Golf dropped the quality more on the International side than it did for the United States.
The event kicks off on Thursday with foursomes matches. Friday features fourball matches. Both team formats will be used on Saturday. Singles play will take place on Sunday.
Prediction
United States Retains Presidents Cup
The United States team has too much talent and experience to fail on home soil in North Carolina.
The biggest key for the Americans may be the familiarity that some of their top players have with each other in match play formats.
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele won two matches at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia and put up two victories in the 2021 Ryder Cup. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas played together against Team Europe last year too.
PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler is in the squad, as well as Max Homa, who won on the PGA Tour at the Fortinet Championship last week.
The majority of the American team has some type of team event. Homa, Cameron Young, Billy Horschel and Sam Burns are the only members of the American squad to not appear in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.
The International team has eight rookies on its roster. Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott and Si-Woo Kim are the only golfers with Presidents Cup experience.
That could be a major detriment to the performance of the International squad on Thursday and Friday as some of the rookies get a feel for the competition.
The International squad should use a heavy dose of its four veterans either as pairs or as partners for the rookies to try to remain close with the Americans on the first two days.
The Americans got out to commanding leads before Sunday in each of their last two home triumphs in the Presidents Cup.
In 2013, the United States took a six-point lead into the singles matches. The 2022 hosts had an 8-2 advantage by the time play ended on Friday in 2017.
The International team did a similar thing in 2019, as it got out to a four-point lead after the Saturday morning matches. The Americans reversed that deficit and won by two points.
The absences of Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel and others due to their participation in LIV Golf severely hurt the International team's chances. Smith and Niemann were locks to make the team through points, and others could have been captain's picks.
Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed were not eligible for the United States team because of their LIV Golf participation, but the depth of the American talent pool makes it easier for the home side to recover from their absences.
The United States is expected to keep the Presidents Cup at home, and by a significant margin. An International victory would go down as one of the biggest upsets in team match-play events in golf history.
LIV Golfers Send Letter to OWGR Governing Board Asking for World Ranking Points
Sep 20, 2022
SUGAR GROVE, IL - SEPTEMBER 18: LIV golfer Cameron Smith hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the LIV Golf Invitational Series Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LIV Golf players have written a letter to the governing board of the official world golf rankings calling for the organization's tournaments to be included in the ranking system.
LIV players have sent this signed letter to Peter Dawson, chairman of the governing board of the OWGR, pleading for world ranking points. pic.twitter.com/iM8TXu3SEO
"To maintain trust, we urge you—as one of the true statesmen of sports—to act appropriately to include, on a retroactive basis, the results of LIV Golf events in OWGR's ranking calculations," the players wrote to chairman Peter Dawson.
In addition to recognizing the top players in the sport, the world rankings are used to determine invites for tournaments, including majors. Players can accumulate points at events from recognized competitions, including the PGA Tour, DP World Tour (European Tour) and Asian Tour, but LIV Golf has not yet received approval.
"An OWGR without LIV would be incomplete and inaccurate, the equivalent of leaving the Big 10 or SEC out of the U.S. college football rankings, or leaving Belgium, Argentina, and England out of the FIFA rankings," the LIV Golf players added.
LIV Golf has lured some of the biggest names in the sport in recent months, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka. Most received large guaranteed contracts along with the promise of shorter schedules.
The lack of world ranking points is still an issue, especially if it prevents players without exemptions from competing in future events.
"I suppose there's a lot on the line with the ranking points, getting into majors, stuff like that," Smith said Sunday after his LIV Golf win. "There needs to be (a resolution) quite soon, I think. The field here is strong enough and deep enough to where it warrants that, and hopefully it's soon."
Though the fields are filled with top talent, the rule differences could be enough to keep LIV Golf out of the ranking system. Each tournament features just three rounds with only 48 players and no cuts.
Another holdup could be the OWGR governing board, which includes PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. The recent letter says four of eight members of the board have "connections" to the PGA Tour, which "views LIV Golf as an antagonist."
It could create an uphill battle for those in the new organization looking for recognition.
Presidents Cup 2022: Rules, Format and Points System Primer for Golf Tournament
Sep 20, 2022
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 19: Signage is displayed prior to the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club on September 19, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
The United States will attempt to keep up its dominance in the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
The U.S. comes into North Carolina with an eight-cup winning streak over the International team that features players from outside Europe.
The Presidents Cup is typically held on the off year of the Ryder Cup. It gives the international players from outside Europe to compete in a match-play event.
The United States have the best roster on paper to produce the team's ninth straight win in the event, with Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas among the selections.
The International team will come in as a huge underdog because some of its best golfers ended up as ineligible for the competition. Cameron Smith was going to be the top name on the team, but he became inelligible when he joined the LIV Golf Series.
Joaquin Niemann and Anirban Lahiri are the other significant misses because of their LIV Golf participation. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are among the Americans not eligible for the same reason, but the United States team has more depth to overcome those absences.
Presidents Cup Format
Thirty match-play contests will determine the Presidents Cup winner.
The United States and International teams will play a mixture of foursomes and four ball matches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Singles matches dominate the Sunday slate.
United States captain Davis Love III chose foursomes, or alternate shot, to open the event on Thursday, which will see the two members of each team taking turns on their shots.
The four balls format has every golfer take their own shot. The lowest score from the United States and International pairings will be used on the scorecard.
Sunday's individual matches are straight match play between the two golfers.
All of the matches carry one point. If a match is tied after 18 holes, a half-point will go to each team.
Preview
The United States either lost or tied the Presidents Cup twice since the event debuted in 1994 but has won the last eight Presidents Cups dating back to 2005. The Americans captured the last title by a 16-14 score in Melbourne, Australia, two years ago.
Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele had the most success against the International team in 2019. Thomas earned 3.5 points, while Cantlay and Schauffele had three points each. Tiger Woods, who was the 2019 team captain, also came through with three points for the Americans.
The Cantlay-Schauffele pairing went 2-2 in 2019, and it was close to earning points in the two matches that were lost. The duo also won two matches at the 2021 Ryder Cup.
United States captain Davis Love III could opt to use that as his top pairing and figure out the rest of the lineup from there. Thomas and Scottie Scheffler should feature heavily in his plans. Scheffler was 2-0-1 in the last Ryder Cup.
Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im will be the anchors of the International team. They had the two top point totals in the standings to get on to the squad.
Im tied with Abraham Ancer for the most points earned by an International team member in 2019 with 3.5. Matsuyama went 2-1-1 to earn 2.5 points.
Some of the best golfers on the 2019 International team are ineligible for the Presidents Cup because of their LIV Golf Series membership. Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and Ancer could not be called upon for the 2022 event.
That left International captain Trevor Immelman to choose from an inexperienced group of golfers, and there are eight Presidents Cup rookies on the International squad. The United States has six rookies, but two of them are major winners in Scheffler and Collin Morikawa.
The United States should win the event based on the quality of golfers within each squad. The Americans scored 18.5 points or more in five of their last eight wins. They could get to that total again against a weaker International squad.
