While Mike Weir did not lead the International side to victory in the Presidents Cup, the Canadian certainly seemed to do his bit in continuing to steer the team in the right direction as they look for only their second ever win in the competition.
With the dust now settled after Royal Montreal, the general consensus appears to be that the Internationals were a lot better than the scoreline would suggest, with the US retaining the Presidents Cup by seven points.
Weir received some strong criticism for his pairings, particularly on Saturday, with the same eight players playing both sessions as Jim Furyk‘s men ran out 6-2 winners on the day. But Weir’s captaincy is clearly going to be remembered fondly by those involved in his team.
The Internationals definitely appear to have stepped up their push to create a better team environment. They now the shield emblem, and previous captains such as Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman made up part of Weir’s backroom team in Montreal.
Taylor Pendrith shares prediction Mike Weir made months before the Presidents Cup
Weir also got the players hoping to make the team together on a number of occasions throughout the season, including ahead of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Dallas back in May. It was a tournament which was ultimately won by Taylor Pendrith, who did indeed play a crucial role for the black and gold team a few months later.
And speaking on The Smylie Show, Pendrith suggested that his maiden PGA Tour win will not have come as a surprise to Weir given what he had said earlier in the week.
“We had a team dinner actually in Dallas that week, I think it was on Tuesday night, and it just really inspired me. Mike said he believed somebody in this room is going to win this week, and I ended up winning and it was pretty cool,” he said.
“Mike was texting me throughout the week, texting me Sunday morning or Saturday night and just gave me some nice words, and I was able to get it done which was really cool.”
Another step in the right direction for the Internationals ahead of 2026
Weir will obviously have decisions from last month that he will regret. While Furyk never lost his cool after losing Friday’s session 5-0, Weir perhaps got a little caught up in his side’s success. Playing someone like Mackenzie Hughes in both of Saturday’s sessions, while the likes of Byeong Hun An, Jason Day and Min Woo Lee did not hit a single shot, seemed an error.
Some feel that the PGA Tour need to make changes to the Presidents Cup. But the Internationals do not want the odds stacked in their favour, and they will be desperate to prove a point at Medinah in 2026.
Weir will be surely be involved one way or another, as you would imagine that talks surrounding the touches leading up to the next Presidents Cup are already underway.
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