By going chalk, United States captain Jim Furyk has created intrigue ahead of this month’s Presidents Cup.
Furyk selected Nos. 7-12 on the team standings for his six captain’s picks, announced on Tuesday. The move means Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley will be playing for Team USA for the first time in a decade, but longtime American stalwart Justin Thomas will be left at home.
The other American picks were Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Tony Finau. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala were the six automatic selections to the team.
The Presidents Cup is at Royal Montreal Golf Club from Sept. 26-29.
“Just trying to put the puzzle pieces together,” Furyk said in explaining his pick, calling it a “tough omission” but otherwise not offering an explanation to Golf Channel for leaving out Thomas. The 31-year-old was No. 19 on the points standings.
Bradley was initially slated to be a captain’s assistant for Furyk, his only chance to get team leadership experience ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. Instead, he’ll be relieved of those duties, Furyk said, and will instead be allowed to focus on playing.
International team captain Mike Weir selected Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee and Taylor Pendrith. Conners, Hughes and Pendrith are all Canadians, giving the team a true maple flavor with a Canadian captain and three players. They’ll join Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Byeong Hun An.
What to think about the United States team
This is simultaneously unsurprising and incredibly disappointing. Furyrk going chalk with the players ranked No. 7-12 saves himself from criticism because he can say “It’s fair,” but it means the U.S. has a team that fails at both current form and ushering in young talent. Max Homa has dropped to No. 86 on DataGolf amid a mess of a season, and Brian Harman has just one top-10 finish since March. Meanwhile, Justin Thomas is a U.S. Cup legend and is having a much better season than both of them. Thomas is 9-3-2 at Presidents Cups and finished T14 at the Tour Championship, and Akshay Bhatia won the Texas Open this year. It could have been invaluable to get the 22-year-old rising star in the team room for the future. It all feels like a missed opportunity that neither brings the best team nor helps the team going forward. — Brody Miller
Furyk might have gone straight down the list and picked the next six players on the U.S. Presidents Cup standings list, but a few of these selections are still baffling. Harman and Homa have been outplayed by several players who would have been excellent fits for the squad — including Thomas, who is widely known as one of the best American match-play players of this generation. Harman was likely picked for his driving accuracy in preparation for a tight and narrow Royal Montreal, and Homa will provide the fire and spirit that comes naturally to him in team environments. But think about Bhatia or even someone like 20-year-old Nick Dunlap. This year’s Cup could have been the perfect opportunity to prepare young blood for future team events, and instead, Furyk went with an older set of picks who aren’t even necessarily playing that well right now. Statistics most likely played a huge role in these decisions, in addition to partner fit. But you can’t ignore recent form, and it appears that Furyk did exactly that. — Gabby Herzig
What to think about the International team
Weir gives his native Canadians love, but maybe not the ones we thought. It would have been impossible for Weir to leave out Lee or Kim — two of his top talents — or Bezuidenhout, who is having a great year, so it essentially left three decisions to make. You could argue Conners is one of the five best international players, so that’s a no-brainer. Same with Pendrith, who has jumped to No. 25 in the world in DataGolf with a career year. It’s the choice of Hughes over potentially better talents in Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor that’s so tough to make. Both Hadwin and Taylor have struggled mightily the last few months, so I get it, but Taylor is a killer with two big boy wins in the 2024 WM Phoenix Open and the 2023 Canadian Open, until an absolute mess of a summer. That stings. (Leaving off Australian Cam Davis is the right move. His nice win in Detroit was more of an outlier.) — Miller
Weir considered a variety of factors in his captain’s picks. Still, the Canadian home game element and an emphasis on recent form seem to have dominated his decision-making process. Of Weir’s captain’s picks, the three Canadians will relish playing on familiar turf in front of a supportive crowd. Hughes — who came in ranked No. 15 in the International Team standings — was notably left off the squad in 2022. He’s also known to welcome leadership roles, and should be an excellent fit for the team room. Pendrith and Conners got the nod, seemingly over Hadwin and Taylor, who are perhaps the more recognizable and fiery Canadians. The choice indicated that Weir prioritized consistency and recent tournament results. Then you have Kim: He brought some memorable heat to the 2022 matches and was undoubtedly a no-brainer pick for the locker room energy. Plus, Weir specifically mentioned Kim’s putting, which has been shaky as of late, but seems to be improving with a putter switch. Bezuidenhout sneaked into the FedEx top 30 and put together an underrated season, and Lee has emerged as one of the best drivers on the PGA Tour and has cemented himself as an easy fan favorite. Overall, not too many surprises here, besides the Hughes curveball and Davis being skipped over at No. 8 in the standings. Weir’s picks are strong and represent a deliberate, versatile strategy. — Herzig
Required reading
(Top photo: Keyur Khamar / PGA Tour via Getty Images)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5742246/2024/09/03/keegan-bradley-justin-thomas-usa-presidents-cup/
