USA Favorites to Retain Presidents Cup
Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, will host the 14th edition of the Presidents Cup in September. The hosts are bidding to retain their trophy against the international team, and they are the strong favorites with the bookmakers to do so.
USA will be captained by Davis Love III, while the visitors are led by the South African Trevor Immelman, a man who won the Masters in 2008. Here is a look at the prospects of both teams.
USA Set to Field a Strong Team
Scottie Scheffler is set to be the highest-ranked player representing the hosts. The 2022 Masters winner has had a great year, and it could get even better, as he is as short as +1400 in the Open Championship winner odds to lift the Claret Jug at St Andrew’s.
The world number one is a long way clear of any other player in the Fed Ex Cup standings which help US players qualify for the Presidents Cup. This is thanks to four PGA Tour wins in 2022, with success coming in the Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Championship, WGC Match Play, as well as at Augusta.
Sam Burns, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay are all well placed to qualify with 8,000 points each. The latter two both players featured in Australia in 2019 when USA prevailed, while Burns has yet to represent his country in a golf competition.
Love III, who will be assisted by Fred Couples and Zach Johnson this year, will have the opportunity to make six picks himself. He is likely to use those on players who have not generated enough points, and those could include Collin Morikawa, Billy Horschel and Tony Finau.
International Team Set to Include Smith and Matsuyama
Australian golfer Cameron Smith tops the international team Fed Ex Cup standings by a large margin. He is set to appear in his second Presidents Cup competition in 2022. It has been an excellent season so far for the 28-year-old, as he has been victorious twice on the PGA Tour.
The biggest win of Smith’s career so far came in the Players Championship, the unofficial fifth major in golf. He also lifted the trophy in the Sentry Tournament of Champions back in January in what was a strong field.
2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama is likely to join Smith at Quail Hollow. The Japanese player has consistently been one of the leading players on the PGA Tour over the last few years. The highlight in that period was his victory at Augusta last year.
Matsuyama has one tournament win in 2022. He landed the Sony Open in Hawaii after a play-off with Russell Henley. The eight-time PGA Tour winner also played well at the US Open as he finished fifth in the event which was won by Matt Fitzpatrick.
The Japanese star has a lot of Presidents Cup experience, as he featured in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, so that is going to prove invaluable for his team.
Thirty points are set to be on offer in the 2022 Presidents Cup, which will consist of five fourballs on day one, five foursomes on day two, four fourballs and four foursomes on day three, while day four will see all 24 players in action in 12 singles ties.
