The Presidents Cup needs a makeover, even if the Internationals win

Each week, we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

The Presidents Cup goes this week at Royal Montreal and the American team is touted to win easily over their International opponents, extending a winning streak that dates back more than 20 years. Who do you think will win and who might be the top point getter for each side?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): Pretty hard not to predict the Americans will win, so I won’t not pick them.  Top players:  Collin Morikawa and Min Woo Lee.  No reason for those choices, just trying to be original.  I do hope the results are close, though.

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): I’ll take Team America for the win. Schauffele is playing some great golf, I think he’ll be the point leader for USA. Team International, I don’t see why Matsuyama won’t bring some points home and lead the team.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: Maybe I’m the eternal optimist but I’d love to see “David” slay “Goliath”. Nothing would please me more than a tie going into the “Singles” and the International Team coming away with a win. Max Homa hasn’t had a great year, so I’d like to see him do well. Regarding our team, I’m so disappointed not to have five Canadians that I can only hope our guys perform well.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours (@GolfAwayTJ): I really hope it’s a close competition this week, I think everyone does. Although it doesn’t look like it will be.  I think the US win by a few points, with some drama on Sunday, with the top players being Tom Kim and Xander Schauffele.  Here’s hoping I’m wrong and the three Canucks lead their team to victory!

Hal Quinn, Freelance Writer, Vancouver: That’s a tough one. It has been so hard fought, so close, so exciting … oh, wait, was thinking of something else. But, if I was a gambling man, might put a Trump bitcoin on the visitors who just might be led by a guy named Scheffler. The non-Americans might be led by a guy whose name just rolls off the tongue — Bezuidenhout.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine (@FairwaysMag): I think (hope) Mike Weir’s team can pull off an upset here. It’s time. Super hungry international team vs overconfident U.S. team? Maybe. Schauffele leads the Americans cuz he’s that good at this; Pendrith leads the Internationals cuz he has something to prove after the last debacle.

The Presidents Cup is in danger of becoming irrelevant because it’s not competitive. Do they need to make changes to restore some balance?

Deeks: Yes, they do.  In view of the internationalism of golf today, I’ve been saying for years they should combine the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup and make it one event:  Team NORTH AMERICA (USA, Canada, Mexico) versus Team INTERNATIONAL (i.e., REST OF THE WORLD).  Don’t tell me that wouldn’t be competitive every time.  But of course, this will never happen.  The U.S. is far too xenophobic to ever consider it.  Otherwise, the Presidents Cup may die from lack of interest.

Loughry: I think they do need to make a change to the President’s Cup. The Ryder Cup was the same (lopsided) at one point until it expanded to include Europe. What should they expand to? More players? More/different teams? It should all be on the table.

Schurman: I’ll keep saying it until someone listens. Add some LPGA players. Make a blind draw so men could play against women etc. Someday, someone will listen. This format will be popular around the world.

Rule: In an ideal world, this competition becomes closer – there’s no reason why it shouldn’t – and it can run alongside the Ryder Cup as two great competitions that we regularly look forward to watching.  If they made one change, and I said this after the last Presidents Cup, they should just include the women.  It’s a shame the women don’t have their equivalent event, and with the strength of the Korean ladies, it would be a great competition.

Quinn: That golf cart has left the barn. It has been irrelevant since the contrivance was first pimped by a couple of old politicians. A bit of balance could be injected if the Yanks were repped by non-Ryder Cuppers; interest twigged if it became a co-ed event, as Mr. Shurman has long proposed. Even if the non-Yanks win this one, the current format won’t generate any interest in the next one.

Mumford: After the success of the Grant Thornton mixed event last December, it would appear there’s an appetite for a larger stage. However, we shouldn’t just assume the addition of a strong women’s contingent from Asia will even things up. The American women are pretty strong too, as evidenced by the latest Solheim Cup. Regardless, I’m in favour of turning the Presidents Cup into a mixed competition. It would give the event a unique flavour.

LIV Golf completed its season last weekend with the Rippers taking top spot in the team final. Much talk about changes coming for LIV including amping up the team component. This in part a reaction to U.S. Justice Department push back on PGA Tour – LIV Golf merger talks. Apparently, making LIV disappear as some would like, won’t pass the smell test with Justice. So, if keeping LIV alive in some format is a must to make a merger work and get all the best players together again, what’s the best solution for LIV?

Deeks: The only solution I would favour is the disappearance of LIV, and an offer to all those players who defected from the PGA Tour to requalify for the Tour by playing in the annual Q-School tournament, like all other Tour aspirants.  Nobody ever asked for LIV to get started, and to disrupt the world of professional golf, so why should they be accommodated now?  But as per my suggestion above, this one won’t happen either.

Loughry: The long-term solution is that LIV should take team golf and focus on that and leave individual stroke play to the PGA Tour. That may be best for both Tours.

Schurman: Buy the PGA TOUR and all of its assets. Enhance the team aspect and play in countries around the world. Add a ladies’ component. Retire Jay Monahan.

Rule: Really?  They played last weekend?  Didn’t know!  There is hardly any coverage anywhere of that tour, and that goes to show the interest in LIV globally.  I don’t like the team component to the tour, but maybe that’s something that we all have to warm to eventually.  I have no clue what the best solution for them would be.  I guess if they’re gong to be around for a while, they need to find some better tracks to play on that grab my attention, maybe then I’ll watch the occasional event, but I still don’t like the current format, just can’t get excited about it.

Quinn: The Sherman Anti -Trust Act was eventually going to bite the Tour, the lobbyists and tax fiction writers couldn’t keep the ruse going forever. Too bad it took LIV to focus attention inside the Beltway. There’s only a handful of the best players LIVing it up, and nobody’s watching. Best to just let it die a natural death.

Mumford: The PGA Tour wants to control the end product; American players really don’t want to travel; sponsors want to be aligned with large American audiences; and TV networks want the biggest stars. The new Tour will be the same as the old Tour with some new investors. The DP World Tour will become a feeder tour, and LIV team golf will be some silly-season afterthought. Jay Monahan will run everything. It could have been so much more.