Mike Weir would have been aware that he was likely to attract criticism whoever he ended up picking for his International team for the Presidents Cup later this month.
It comes with the territory of being captain for an event like the Presidents Cup. Jim Furyk has been told that he made a mistake picking Keegan Bradley for the US side, while some would have been surprised to see Justin Thomas miss out.
Of course, with this year’s event taking place at Royal Montreal and the International team being led by Mike Weir, there was always likely to be a number of Canadian players involved. Unfortunately for Weir, none of them automatically qualified for the team.
The likes of Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes were all in the mix for captain’s picks. Ultimately, it was Conners, Pendrith and Hughes who got the call from Weir, while Taylor and Hadwin missed out.
Mike Weir criticised after ‘weird’ Presidents Cup decision
Smylie Kaufman spoke ahead of the announcement that he would be shocked if Taylor was not picked, having heard a rumour that he was set to be overlooked. And it seems that he is not the only one who has been left surprised by Weir’s decision.
Speaking on The Hank Haney Podcast, Hank Haney – who was, admittedly, very dismissive of the International team’s chances – suggested that he would have definitely had the 2023 Canadian Open winner on his team.
“They skipped over a Canadian, Nick Taylor, which makes no sense at all. He’s a Canadian hero, won the Canadian Open, this was weird. Canadian Mike Weir skips over a Canadian while they’re playing in Canada, I mean, what is the logic on that? Put every Canadian out there,” he said.
An impossible call
Once the quintet were all relying on a captain’s pick, it seemed highly unlikely that Weir was going to get them all involved, particularly with players such as Min Woo Lee and Si-woo Kim also outside the top six.
Conners and Pendrith had done enough to stake their claim, but it was arguably much more contentious to opt for Hughes, who was down in 15th in the standings. Both Taylor and Hadwin were ahead in the standings, while Cameron Davis can feel very hard done by after finishing eighth – and winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this year.
Having said all that, Weir will have been aware for some time that there is only one way that his team selection will be completely vindicated.
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