Should these guys have been President's Cup Picks?
Someone is always left out.
Ask Keegan Bradley, whose Ryder Cup bid in 2023 played out in front of, well, everyone who watched “Full Swing” on Netflix. Or Russell Henley, the bastion of consistency always overlooked. Every installment of captain’s picks — for any team event — leaves several players on the outside looking in. For every congratulatory phone call, there are more calls of disappointment.
Tuesday was the day that disappointment became official. Jim Furyk and Mike Weir each announced their six captain’s picks ahead of this month’s Presidents Cup, which kicks off in three weeks. It has become formulaic over the years — via Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups, Solheim Cups — for captains to issue six automatic spots and make six wildcard picks. That’s half the team! But the freedom is important. It allows the data analysts dial in perfect pairings. Ultimately, though, both the genius of a pick or the questioning are assigned to the captains, fairly or not.
Without further ado, below are the six picks that were made and the players who were passed up in the process.
International Team picks: Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mackenzie Hughes, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee
Team USA picks: Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Max Homa, Brian Harman, Tony Finau
Biggest snubs
The ones everyone will talk about for the coming weeks.
Nick Taylor
This year’s Cup will be played in Montreal. It will be captained by a Canadian. There are three Canadians on the roster. But the literal logo for the Canadian Open, Nick Taylor, will somehow not be involved. Taylor won earlier this year, too, at the Phoenix Open, but that was back in February. This is September. Taylor hasn’t nabbed a top-25 finish in the last five months, missing the cut at every major. As far as in-form players go, he’s not on the list. But it’s not all about that.
Justin Thomas
Thomas is on the Ryder Cup committee, which was put in place to make captain’s selections, derive how the team would look, and build a solid foundation for Team USA for decades. He deserves that spot, too, having competed in every team competition since 2017. He’s starred on a number of those teams, too. But he is apparently not a fit for Furyk’s roster. The American captain was asked about Thomas specifically when he joined Golf Channel to explain his picks, and the first two words out of his mouth were rather telling: “Tough, tough.”
If the U.S. loses in Montreal, this is the pick that will be cited more than any other.
Harshest snubs
The highest ranked players (in standings) who weren’t picked.
Cam Davis
It’s pretty straightforward: Davis was just a few strokes from making this team. The automatic qualifying for the Internationals is based solely off world ranking, and Davis made a last-ditch effort to make it two weeks ago at the BMW Championship. He finished T5 in Colorado and jumped to 8th in the standings, which had many people penciling him in as a pick. Weir was not one of them. Davis, who won two matches in his Prez Cup debut two years ago, will have to watch from home.
Chris Kirk
This is merely a technicality. Furyk, oddly enough, selected players ranked 7th through 12th. So there isn’t a single player who could argue their involvement on points by being in the top 12 and not being one of the 12 on the team. Kirk, who won early this year in Hawaii, ranked 13th and advanced to the Tour Championship, but dropped into a bit of a lull this summer that kept him on the outside looking in.
Snubs that could mean something
The ones we’ll look back on with curiosity.
International: Thriston Lawrence
Remember how the South African nearly won The Open at Royal Troon? That was six weeks ago. What’s Lawrence been up to since? He won by five in an event back home on the Sunshine Tour, and then finished solo second at the Betfred British Masters last weekend. His omission tells you that Weir had these picks made in advance of last weekend. He could live to regret this one.
U.S.: Akshay Bhatia
Part of the reason the Presidents Cup feels meaningful is it can exist as a breeding ground for future Ryder Cup success. That is not to diminish it. One event is simply a much bigger deal than the other. And it is likely that Bhatia will be involved in Ryder Cups later in his career, perhaps as soon as 2025.
The 22-year-old just completed the best season of his career, winning the Valero Texas Open in April and advancing to the Tour Championship. He ranked 14th in the standings, too, which is so close to 12th it might as well be the same thing. Twelve months from now, Bradley may wish that Bhatia got his beak wet in Montreal before competing at Bethpage Black.
Also receiving votes!
The snubs we feel saddest for.
Adam Hadwin
Mack Hughes and Taylor Pendrith got the Presidents Cup nod. Nick Taylor and Corey Conners had their Olympics in Paris. The only Canadian on the outside looking of all of that is Hadwin. That’s tough.
Billy Horschel
Max Homa’s successful teammate at the 2022 Cup has been through the ringer since. And come out on the other side! But he came just short of a spot in this year’s Cup.
