In the build up to the 2022 Presidents Cup, there really appeared to be a feeling that Trevor Immelman and the International team had been betrayed by those who jumped to LIV Golf.
The 2022 Presidents Cup proved to be a remarkable occasion, with the International team putting up such an impressive fight in the circumstances. There was definitely a moment on Sunday when it appeared that they had a real chance of producing one of the greatest upsets in golfing history.
However, the US’s quality told. And it was a similar story two years later at Royal Montreal, with Jim Furyk‘s side having those extra gears over the weekend.
Obviously, competing with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele would be nearly impossible. But not having the likes of Cam Smith, Joaquin Niemann and Louis Oosthuizen damaged the International team’s hopes at both of the last two stagings.
PGA Tour urged to reach a deal with LIV Golf which improves the Presidents Cup
With no deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf forthcoming, it appears that Geoff Ogilvy is unlikely to have the option to pick any of those players at Medinah next year.
Unlike the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup is run by the PGA Tour. And thus, those players are not eligible to be involved as things stand.
But while a bigger deal is on hold, the PGA Tour have been encouraged to make a change which would benefit the International team.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman claimed that the International side would be so much stronger if Ogilvy had the option to pick players who ply their trade on LIV.
“There’s a lot of guys actually who could easily make that team. So until there’s an agreement, if there is an agreement, that ever happens, that’s where this whole Presidents Cup gets really interesting again,” he said.
“Honestly, I’m so in for the PGA Tour just to say, listen, we’ll throw you a bone here, we’re going to allow six picks and they may be three of the guys being from the tour and three from the LIV Golf tour. That would be a win. I could see why the tour wouldn’t want to do that, but I think for fans, to bring some juice to it, we’re just renting these guys for just this Presidents Cup.”
The players in LIV Golf’s current top 10 who would qualify for the International team at the Presidents Cup
The 2024 Presidents Cup was such an anticlimax. And Mike Weir picked no-one lower than 15th in the qualification standings when putting his team together.
Weir definitely made mistakes. None of Jason Day, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Min Woo Lee or Byeong Hun An played a single match on Saturday – with Lee also not playing on Friday either – while Weir put the same four pairings out for both sessions on the penultimate day.
But he picked about as strong a team as he possibly could. Meanwhile, Furyk was able to snub Billy Horschel, who impressed at The Open and won the BMW PGA Championship.
The current top 10 on LIV includes Niemann, Lucas Herbert, Sebastián Muñoz, Dean Burmester, Carlos Ortiz and Marc Leishman.
Whatever you think of LIV, it cannot be denied that no event on the PGA Tour needs their players back involved more than the Presidents Cup.
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