While the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm can surely book their tickets to Bethpage for Ryder Cup in September now, it is a different story for LIV Golf’s top stars when it comes to the Presidents Cup.
One of the more disappointing aspects from the raft of defections from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf which came in 2022 centred around the impact it had on the International team for that year’s Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.
Unlike the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup is run by the PGA Tour. So those who joined LIV Golf were immediately ineligible.
Trevor Immelman lost the players ranked first and fourth in the qualification standings in Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann. Meanwhile, Anirban Lahiri and Marc Leishman also made the move. With that, it was remarkable that the Internationals put up such an impressive fight in North Carolina.
The LIV Golf star who would offer more to the US Presidents Cup team than Bryson DeChambeau or Brooks Koepka
Of course, the US side also lost potential options too. But there is surely no question that it was the International side which has suffered more since LIV started up.
And with that, Ryan Lavner has told the Golf Channel Podcast that he thinks just one American on LIV would improve the Presidents Cup team – and it is not Bryson DeChambeau or Brooks Koepka.
“Those two players have never been good in team competitions, ever. You could make a case for Patrick Reed who has played well, I think he could be a contributor based on his matchplay record, based on his current form. I think Patrick Reed would be a good addition,” he said.
“A Bryson, or a Brooks who hasn’t done anything over the past year and a half, or a Dustin Johnson or whoever else you want to name, there’s very scant evidence that that would be beneficial to the American side.”
The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup record of Patrick Reed
Certainly, it is Reed who has produced the most outstanding displays while representing his country across his career. Although it is important to note – as his name was mentioned – that Johnson won five points from five at the 2021 Ryder Cup.
Reed was electric during his first two Ryder Cups in particular. And it is interesting that he has collected more points in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup across his career than DeChambeau and Koepka have combined.
| Player | Matches played | Points won | Point percentage |
| Patrick Reed | 25 | 14 | 56% |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 8 | 3 | 38% |
| Brooks Koepka | 19 | 10 | 53% |
Admittedly, DeChambeau has played considerably less team golf than the other two. And Koepka’s points percentage is not too dissimilar to Reed’s.
But when Reed had the right partner, he seemed impossible to stop. Neither DeChambeau or Koepka were able to gain that same air of invincibility in the competitions.
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