Who is playing in the 2024 President’s Cup? Let’s meet the teams
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Two captains and 24 players will fight it out at the 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club. Let’s meet them all.
Held every two years, the President’s Cup pits the United States against an international squad made up of players from outside the US and Europe. The competition spans four days and follows a matchplay format.
How does the President’s Cup work? Well, the event features 30 matches, slightly more than the Ryder Cup‘s 28, but it still wraps up on Sunday with 12 head-to-head Singles matches. The first 18 matches are spread over the initial three days: five Foursomes on Thursday, five Fourballs on Friday, and on Saturday, four Foursomes in the morning followed by four Fourballs in the afternoon.
Like the Ryder Cup, each match is worth one point, with ties after 18 holes earning a half-point. The first team to rack up 15.5 points clinches the Presidents Cup. However, if the teams are tied at 15 points each after all 30 matches, the competition ends in a draw, with both sides sharing the trophy.
The International Team
Mike Weir – Captain
Age: 54
World ranking: n/a
Presidents Cup appearances: 5
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 13-9-2
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 14
The Canadian was a slow starter on tour, landing his first win at 29 but before he’d turned 34 he had added a World Golf Championship title, the Tour Championship and, most memorably, an Augusta National green jacket to his trophy cabinet. He also proved himself to be an incredibly resilient performer in the Presidents Cup. On debut in 2000 he was part of an International team that was walloped 6-0 in the opening session yet he responded in style, winning his second and third matches, and also his singles.
The highlight of his Cup career, however, was defeat of Tiger Woods in the 2007 singles after which he said: “When I look back on my career, this may be even more special than winning the Masters.” And it was not only his opponent that meant so much because that match took place at this year’s venue Royal Montreal. In other words, Weir has experience of excelling in this arena and he’ll be desperate to revive memories of that Sunday after which Woods said: “Not a lot of people could have dealt with this week. They way he came out and represented all of Canada was pretty impressive.”
Hideki Matsuyama
Age: 32
World ranking: 7
Presidents Cup appearances: 5
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 7-10-5
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 10
The Japanese star led the team’s qualifying rankings and is a two time winner in 2024. Moreover, both of those victories were impressive. The first came courtesy of a sensational 62 at Riviera Country Club in the Genesis Invitational and the second was in the first of the FedEx Cup Play Offs. The 2021 Masters champion was also sixth in the US Open but it was only a second major championship top 10 since that triumph at Augusta National and he seems increasingly to flip between brilliance and injury-hampered ordinariness.
In theory, he should be a pillar of strength for the International team but in practice it hasn’t quite worked out that way. His fourball record is less than average (3-4-2) and his foursomes performances have been downright poor (2-5-1). Only in singles has he earned the team more points than he has lost (2-1-2) but even then he could contribute more and he’s won more than 50% of his points in only two of his five Cup appearances. Does the pressure get to him? Or is it match play that is the problem? He never made the quarter-finals in eight WGC Match Play starts.
Adam Scott
Age: 44
World ranking: 17
Presidents Cup appearances: 10
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 18-25-6
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 14
It seems like a very obvious conclusion but it does seem that the weight of so much Presidents Cup one way traffic has laid the Aussie’s personal log book low. Consider that There have been 14 Presidents Cups and Scott has played in 10 of them. He went 3-2-0 on debut as the Internationals tied but is 15-23-9 in the nine team defeats since.
His excitement for the task had not dimmed, however. “I was kind of struggling on the points list for most of the year and then all of a sudden I feel like I’m a good player again,” he said after five top 20s in a row to end the qualifying period. “I’m looking forward to winning some points and I think our team is deeper than we’ve seen for a while as far as world ranking goes. Not that that’s the be all and end all, but it’s something. Usually our bottom players drift out a little in the ranking, and it’s a lot tighter this year.” The highlights of his late summer run of form were second places in the Scottish Open and BMW Championship.
Tom Kim
Age: 22
World ranking: 23
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 2-3-0
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 3
At the start of 2022 Claude Harmon III texted the then-International team captain Trevor Immelman and told him that he’d just watched Tom Kim play and that he needed to consider him for that year’s team. It seemed outlandish then but by the end of that year he had contended in majors, won twice on the PGA Tour and proved Harmon right.
“He has a presence,” Immelman later said. “He has self belief while still being humble. And he has this mentality where he doesn’t shy away from the limelight. He wants the ball when it matters most.” In pure numbers, his debut was average. He won one and lost in both the fourballs and the foursomes before losing his singles match. But he was undoubtedly one of the stars of the show. His personality shone throughout the entire week and he proved as popular with his team mates as with the crowds. Moreover, American fans and even his American opponents became fans of his exuberance as well. He hasn’t won this year but he reminded everyone of his star quality by going toe-to-toe with his pal Scottie Scheffler in both regular play and extra holes when second in the Travelers Championship.
Sungjae Im
Age: 26
World ranking: 20
Presidents Cup appearances: 2
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 5-3-2
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 2
Much will be expected of the Korean after a fine start to his Presidents Cup career because International team players who have won more than 50% of their points are rarities. Captain Weir will be keen to find him a foursomes partner, however, because his record so far reads 0-3-1 which is a striking contrast with 3-0-1 in fourballs and 2-0-0 in the singles. His 2024 got off to a slow start but he enters this week with no less than 11 top 15 finishes in his last 15 starts worldwide including a win on his home tour in April.
Jason Day
Age: 36
World ranking: 33
Presidents Cup appearances: 4
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 5-11-4
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 13
As facetious as it sounds, it might not be the worst idea to partner the Aussie veteran with Sungjae Im in the foursomes because, like the Korean, he has a terrible record (0-5-3). The theory? They’ll either go down in flames together without dragging others with them or their combined problems will hasten some sort of regression to mean. The Aussie is also in debt in the fourballs (3-4-1) but has won two and lost two singles. The Canadian Open champion in 2015, he’s been consistent this year but has landed only tour top 10s.
Byeong-Hun An
Age: 33
World ranking: 35
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 1-2-2
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 0
A nine-time top three finisher on the PGA Tour, the Korean is yet to land a win to add to his 2015 BMW PGA Championship triumph. He’s also struggled in the major championships, playing in 31 of then since his debut in 2010 (following his victory in the US Amateur Championship aged just 17) and recorded a best of just T13th in this year’s Open. He impressed on his Presidents Cup debut in better ball, winning one match and halving the other, but he gained only half a point in two foursomes and lost his singles.
Corey Conners
Age: 32
World ranking: 37
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 0-4-0
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 2
Ultra consistent, the Canadian hasn’t missed a cut since last year’s US Open but he’s struggled to win as often as he should on the PGA Tour (both his wins came at TPC San Antonio in the Texas Open. He’ll need solid home soil good vibes, however, because his four matches on debut in 2022 failed to reap even half a point. On announcing that he was a wildcard, captain Weir said: “Second time around, I truly believe Corey’s going to play well with the home crowd. I think he’s going to be a big part of our team.”
Min Woo Lee
Age: 26
World ranking: 40
Presidents Cup appearances: Rookie
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 0
“It was a very cool call,” the Aussie said of answering the phone to be told he had a wildcard for this week. A three-time winner on the DP World Tour, the captain likes his moxie. “He brings a lot of excitement on and off the golf course,” Weir said. “He’s great in the team room. Everybody loves being around Min. He also brings a lot of power, a lot of flair on the course. We’re super excited. He pairs up well with a lot of guys, so that was the reason for the pick for him.”
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Age: 30
World ranking: 45
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 1-0-1
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 0
What were the key factors in the South African’s receipt of a wildcard? “Very steady year,” said Weir. “And he made his first Tour Championship by birdieing three of the last four holes which was incredible. He’s also very fun in the locker room.” An excellent chipper and world class putter, on his debut two years ago he was only trusted to play one fourball match and he did share the point before defeating Kevin Kisner in the singles so you’d think he’d be asked to tee it up a little more often this time around.
Taylor Pendrith
Age: 33
World ranking: 44
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 0-4-0
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 1
Like his compatriot Conners, Pendrith is both Canadian and had a difficult debut two years ago (he, too, played four and lost four). What did he learn? “I learned that the American team was much better at putting than us that week,” he said. His captain explained his pick by saying: “He’s had an incredible summer. It started off with a team dinner in Dallas after which he went ahead and won that week. He’s another who qualified for his first Tour Championship which was very exciting. Very glad to have him back for a second one.”
Si Woo Kim
Age: 29
World ranking: 50
Presidents Cup appearances: 2
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 4-3-0
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 4
It will, of course, have helped his wild card selection cause that the Korean has won more points than he has lost in his two Cup starts, albeit with a small sample size through two matches. He’s been good in fourballs (2-0-0), solid in singles (1-1-0) but struggled in foursomes (1-2-0). “He’s very versatile,” said Weir. “He’s gone back to a longer putter, which seems to suit him a little bit better. He’s a real gamer, so that was the reason we picked him.” He was also winner of the “fifth major” (the Players Championship) in 2017 aged 21.
Mackenzie Hughes
Age: 33
World ranking: 60
Presidents Cup appearances: Rookie
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 2
Somewhat controversially selected ahead of the Aussie Cam Davis, captain Weir said he had no hesitation and he responded with fourth place in the Procore Championship two weeks ago. “He has an elite short game and I love Mac’s grit,” Weir argued. “When Mac has gotten in contention, he’s done very well and that’s why I have picked him. His match play record is very strong. He’s very passionate about this. So are the other guys, but I just have a gut feeling with Mac that he has what it takes in these big moments.”
The United States Team
Jim Furyk – Captain
Age: 54
World ranking: n/a
Presidents Cup appearances: 7
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 20-10-3
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 29
The International team might have a home hero leading their quest to win the match, but the Americans are led by a man who also knows exactly what it is to experience success north of the border. Furyk was a back-to-back winner of the Canadian Open in 2006-2007 and was also second at Royal Montreal in 2014 so he knows all about what the course requires, too. As a player he was as gritty as they come. He didn’t hit it far, but he rarely missed fairways. He didn’t look great doing it, with a wonky swing that was almost impossible to replicate, but it was resilient under pressure. He won 17 times on the PGA Tour and was the 2003 US Open champion.
As captain of the US team at the 2018 Ryder Cup he suffered the pain of defeat when few of his compatriots believed the team could be beat but they were proved wrong. Notably, however, the team didn’t throw their captain under the bus. On the contrary, they were relentlessly positive about his leadership skills and since then he has been vice-captain in the US win at Whistling Straits and the defeat in Rome.
Scottie Scheffler
Age: 28
World ranking: 1
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 0-3-1
Major wins: 2
PGA Tour wins: 13
There’s not a lot that Scheffler hasn’t done well since turning pro and this year he’s even taken being arrested and having a baby in his stride. But this week will be a genuine test because, although he was a winner and runner-up in the WGC Match Play and when 2-0-1 on his Ryder Cup debut, he has had more recent team match play difficulties. Indeed, his Presidents Cup bow was remarkably poor including two defeats in the foursomes, a half in the fourballs and another loss in the singles. Then, in last year’s Ryder Cup, he lost two foursomes and scraped two halves in a fourball and the singles. Remember, too, that he was so overcome by his experience in Rome last year that, at one stage, he was in tears.
Put another way, however, he is very simply the World No. 1 for a very good reason: this year he has 16 top 10 finishes from 20 starts. A round dozen of those efforts were top fours and seven of them were wins. One of those earned him a green jacket, another a gold medal. He’s good. He’s very, very good.
Xander Schauffele
Age: 30
World ranking: 2
Presidents Cup appearances: 2
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 6-3-0
Major wins: 2
PGA Tour wins: 9
Ahead of this year the Californian had racked up 19 top 20 finishes in the majors in 26 starts and 11 of those were top 10s. He’d also won seven times in seven years on the PGA Tour. And yet he knew, and everyone else knew, that his record wasn’t quite as good as it should be. He should have been winning more often – and it was time he won a major. Whereupon he led the Players Championship (and fluffed the win), added another top 10 at the Masters and the week before the PGA Championship he fluffed another win in the Wells Fargo Championship. Same old Schauffele, said conventional wisdom. It turned we were wrong. He won the PGA Championship in style and then added the Open with a final round he considered to be the best he has ever played.
He should be a fearsome prospect this week and has a fine foursomes record (3-0-0) and also singles (2-0-0), but he is only 1-3-0 in fourballs. Ahead of last year’s Ryder Cup, he and his good friend Patrick Cantlay were an imposing 6-3-0 together in combination but that is now nearer average 6-5-0.
Max Homa
Age: 33
World ranking: 25
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 4-0-0
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 6
In the glossy Los Angeles native we have the age old Ryder/Presidents/Solheim Cup dilemma. How out of form does a player with a superb record in those Cups have to be to be ignored by a captain? Jim Furyk answered that Homa’s form is good enough. True, he has no top five finish since the Masters but the captain said: “There are parts of his game that have been very strong statistically, even through a rough patch, and we can utilize those to find a way to make him very productive.”
He was brilliant on debut and top scored last year in Rome so the pick makes a lot of sense and Furyk went further than the points he gains to argue his case: “I looked at Max’s attributes, how he’s played the last two years, and then the intangibles. He’s an emotional leader, a kind of glue, a guy that pulls the team room together. That doesn’t mean he’s the most popular. It just means it comes very natural to Max, whether it’s his social media presence, the way he interacts with fans, his take on things, or golf related. He has a way of drawing folks into him.”
Collin Morikawa
Age: 27
World ranking: 4
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 2-1-0
Major wins: 2
PGA Tour wins: 6
The nearly man of 2024. He played in the final group at the Masters and watched his playing partner win. Then he played in the final group at the PGA Championship and watched his playing partner win. Then he shot the best score at Tour Championship, but there were starting strokes so he didn’t win. He had a fine Ryder Cup debut (3-0-1) but more or less reversed it in Rome last year (1-3-0). His Presidents Cup debut saw him ignored for the fourballs, he won one and lost one foursomes match and he defeated Mito Pereira in the singles.
Wyndham Clark
Age: 30
World ranking: 6
Presidents Cup appearances: Rookie
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 3
There are some who consider that the 2023 US Open champion is something of a busted flush – that he had one great spell of form and he’s hanging on to the coat tails of it. Folk with this view point to three missed cuts in the 2024 majors and no top 50 finish. But the fact that six of his last seven starts in the 2024 season were top 15 finishes argues otherwise. The International team will hope he struggles but he had a decent enough Ryder Cup debut in defeat (1-1-1).
Patrick Cantlay
Age: 32
World ranking: 9
Presidents Cup appearances: 2
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 6-3-0
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 8
Getting caught up in PGA Tour board business and the wrangling over LIV seems to have distracted few as much as Cantlay. He continues to churn out decent golf but he hasn’t won in 25 months and he doesn’t get in contention as often as he used to. His record is exactly the same as his friend Schauffele’s owing to the fact they’ve always played together as a pair in the Cup and both have a 100% record in the singles. They were undefeated in five foursomes ahead of last year’s Ryder Cup whereupon they lost twice. He’s won all four of his singles matches in professional team events.
Sahith Theegala
Age: 26
World ranking: 11
Presidents Cup appearances: Rookie
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 1
The rookie is not without any team experience because he played in the 2018 Palmer Cup which pits the best America collegiate golfers against the world’s best. But he won only one match and lost three so he might put those memories to bed (although Collin Morikawa was a team mate). More importantly you would suspect Theegala would make a fine partner. He’s personable, has a thrilling game, and he has the capacity to pull off remarkable recoveries.
Sam Burns
Age: 28
World ranking: 18
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 0-3-2
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 5
Paired with his good friend Scottie Scheffler in their 2022 Presidents Cup debut it didn’t quite go to plan. They suffered USA’s only defeat in a 4-1 opening foursomes session, tied a fourball, and then lost another foursomes duel. At the 2023 Ryder Cup they went out first in the opening foursomes and it got worse: they were thrashed 4&3 by Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Burns has played almost all of his best golf in the south-east of the United States. But he does have two top 10s in Canada.
Tony Finau
Age: 35
World ranking: 21
Presidents Cup appearances: 2
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 3-2-3
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 6
At this event, the big man is unbeaten in singles (1-0-1) and foursomes (2-0-1) but has oddly struggled in fourballs (0-2-1). It’s odd because you’d figure that he would make an ideal partner, in much the same way Theegala might. They’re both big and friendly with great golf games and explosive power. He’s had a consistent year – 15 top 25 finishes no less – but the wins haven’t come. He does have decent memories of Canada: he played the Canadian Tour for a while and was the Canadian Open runner-up in 2022.
Russell Henley
Age: 35
World ranking: 14
Presidents Cup appearances: Rookie
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 4
He’s not big in size and his game is not big in nature, but he knows that. Asked what he might offer the team (should he be selected) during the Tour Championship he said: “Just the fight. I’m a grinder and a fighter.” He closed that event with a 62 and was asked: “Do you think Jim Furyk will pay attention to that round?” “I hope so,” he said. “Why I work so hard is to make one of these teams.” He was fourth in last year’s Masters, and seventh and fifth in this year’s US Open and Open.
Keegan Bradley
Age: 38
World ranking: 13
Presidents Cup appearances: 1
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): 2-2-1
Major wins: 1
PGA Tour wins: 7
The Netflix series Full Swing revealed just how crushed Bradley was when not picked for the 2023 Ryder Cup and no-one could have predicted how that story would go. In theory, he’s been given an early hint that he ain’t playing in 2025 either – because he’s been made captain! All of which adds to the curious nature of his presence this week. Will that highly unusual dynamic make life easier or more difficult for him?! Jim Furyk felt the pick was simple. “He almost didn’t make it to the BMW Championship,” he said of the second week of the FedEx Cup Play Offs. “He was 50th going in there, the last guy in the field, and then goes for a wire-to-wire victory. That definitely caught a lot of eyes. It was pretty key.”
Brian Harman
Age: 37
World ranking: 19
Presidents Cup appearances: Rookie
Presidents Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
PGA Tour wins: 3
“I like match play,” he said after winning the Open last summer, when asked if he was excited about a Ryder Cup debut. “I had a good junior and amateur record. I enjoy head-to-head competition.” You could sense that. He’s the type who likes having the crowd against him and he was duly a decent 2-2-0 in Rome, winning two of those points alongside Max Homa. He was also very good in the Walker Cup as an amateur with a 4-1-2 record across two matches. He does have only one top 10 since March however.
About the author
Matt Cooper
Contributing Writer
Matt Cooper has been a golf journalist for 15 years. He’s worked for, among others, Golf365, SkySports, ESPN, NBC, Sporting Life, Open.com and the Guardian. He specializes in feature writing, reporting and tournament analysis.
He’s traveled widely in that time, covering golf from Kazakhstan to South Korea via Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
More straightforwardly, he’s also covered numerous Majors, Ryder Cups and Solheim Cups.
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President's Cup teams 2024
