Presidents Cup: What each captain got right, wrong with their 6 picks
The 2024 Presidents Cup heads to Royal Montreal on Sept. 26 for the 15th edition of the PGA TOUR's international team event.
Historically, it's been a one-sided competition. The dominant Americans hold a 12-1-1 record and have won nine consecutive Presidents Cups. On paper, Team USA is far stronger and the clear favorite to win a 10th straight event.
However, a large part of the event's intrigue is the captains' picks. Some selections are obvious, while others raise eyebrows and leave deserving players at home.
Here's what each captain got right and wrong with their six selections.
USA captain's picks
Captain: Jim Furyk
| Player | USA Points Rank |
|---|---|
| πΊπΈ Sam Burns | 7 |
| πΊπΈ Tony Finau | 8 |
| πΊπΈ Russell Henley | 9 |
| πΊπΈ Keegan Bradley | 10 |
| πΊπΈ Brian Harman | 11 |
| πΊπΈ Max Homa | 12 |
What Furyk got right
Taking Sam Burns and Tony Finau were no-brainer selections. But Furyk still had decisions to make, and he nailed two picks with Russell Henley and Keegan Bradley.
Henley deserved a spot despite not winning this season and not being the flashiest player. He's one of the most consistent players on the PGA TOUR, and DataGolf has him seventh in its model's ranking.
Bradley was named an assistant captain of the Presidents Cup and then won the BMW Championship over a field loaded with talent. Leaving him off the team simply because of his assistant captaincy duties would've been a huge mistake. Bradley will likely have a decreased role as an assistant captain while still trying to learn the ropes ahead of his Ryder Cup captaincy next year.
What Furyk got wrong
Furyk kept his picks extremely simple and picked the next six on the USA points list after the automatic qualifiers. That was a mistake.
Let's start with Brian Harman. He's a fine player and had a strong performance at last year's Ryder Cup, but he could've been left off the team without any pushback. Harman recorded only three top-10 results in 2024, and a large chunk of his qualifying points are from his T2 at The Players and his Open Championship win over a year ago.
It's more about the players Furyk didn't select than the ones he did. The most glaring omission was Justin Thomas, a stalwart for the American side,
Leaving Thomas at home makes little sense, especially when Furyk opted for Max Homa instead. Thomas made it to the Tour Championship, where he shot the seventh-lowest 72-hole score and is playing much better now than when Zach Johnson picked him for last year's Ryder Cup team.
Homa failed to qualify for East Lake and has one top 10 in his last 10 starts. He lost a combined 16.1 strokes off the tee in his two most recent starts, which is a sign that his swing isn't right. Hoping he can fix it before Montreal is a big ask.
Yes, Homa was excellent in his two previous team-event showings, but Thomas also has a lengthy history of success in these competitions. Opting for the player in far worse form was a head-scratcher.
Finally, not taking Akshay Bhatia was a whiff. While the end of his season wasn't his best stretch of golf, Bhatia proved he belongs alongside other top Americans. He was 14th on the points list, earned his second PGA TOUR victory this season, and qualified for the Tour Championship. The Presidents Cup would've been a perfect opportunity to give the 22-year-old valuable experience in team competitions for when he inevitably plays in future Ryder Cups.
International captain's picks
Captain: Mike Weir
| Player | Int. Points Rank |
|---|---|
| π¨π¦ Corey Conners | 7 |
| π¦πΊ Min Woo Lee | 9 |
| πΏπ¦ Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 10 |
| π¨π¦ Taylor Pendrith | 11 |
| π°π· Si Woo Kim | 14 |
| π¨π¦ Mackenzie Hughes | 15 |
What Weir got right
The talent pool Weir picked from was far shallower than Furyk's, but the International captain did a lot right.
There's no chance Weir was leaving Corey Conners, Canada's best player, or Min Woo Lee at home. The same can also be said about Taylor Pendrith, who came on strong in the summer and was the only Canadian to make the Tour Championship. Pendrith would've been on this team regardless of his nationality.
Si Woo Kim was another simple selection. He's one of the best players in the world when his game is on, and that's the type of risk the underdog International team needs to take. This will be Kim's third Presidents Cup team.
Finally, Weir and his assistant captains clearly subscribe to the idea that the best putter usually wins the hole in match play. Christiaan Bezuidenhout was 21st in strokes gained: putting on the PGA TOUR in 2024, and Mackenzie Hughes was fourth. If either of these players gets hot with the flatstick, they could be a nightmare matchup for anyone on the American team.
What Weir got wrong
It's tough to say Weir got anything wrong, but there are two players with a solid case to be on the team: Cam Davis and Nick Taylor.
Davis was eighth on the International points list, but he does nothing exceptional. He ranked inside the top 100 on the PGA TOUR in one strokes-gained category this season, which was around the green and by far the least important.
The Aussie earned a win on the TOUR this season and did collect two points for the Internationals at the 2022 Presidents Cup, but Weir opted for world-class putters in favor of a longer hitter in Davis.
It would've been tough to imagine Taylor not representing the Internationals after his Phoenix Open win in February. He was by far Canada's best player at the time, especially after winning the Canadian Open in June 2023.
However, the remainder of Taylor's 2024 season wasn't good. He missed six cuts, four of those at major championships, and he only has one top-15 showing in his last 15 starts. A T65 in a 70-man field at the FedEx St. Jude Championship ended his season far earlier than he would've liked.
Picking Taylor would've been incredibly risky for Weir. His selection would've made for a nice story, but taking Taylor simply because he's Canadian wouldn't have put the International side in the best position to try and pull off the upset.