Presidents Cup preview, LIV Golf changes

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss the upcoming Presidents Cup, LIV Golf’s Team Championship and future, and more.

It’s Presidents Cup week! So let’s head to Canada, where the Americans take on the Internationals at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec. The U.S. has dominated this event and owns a 12-1-1 all-time record and hasn’t lost in two decades. If Mike Weir and the Internationals were to win this week, what needs to happen?

Jessica Marksbury, senior editor (@jess_marksbury): The U.S. would need to be seriously off their game to post an L this week. On paper, the Americans are just so, so strong. But, that being said, it’s match play! So of course anything can happen (in theory). Playing on home soil can often be a big motivator. With a Canadian captain and three Canadians on the International team, maybe the unexpected will happen. But I wouldn’t bet on it. 

Zephyr Melton, assistant editor (@zephyrmelton): The entire U.S. team needs to oversleep their tee times? I’m kidding (kind of), but I really don’t see a path for the Internationals to win. Without the talent they lost to LIV, the International team just doesn’t have the firepower to keep up with Team USA. I expect another stress-free victory for the Americans. 

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): Weir could have Scottie Scheffler arrested, and when the U.S. team goes to protest, he could lock up the rest of them. As Jess says, it’s match-play. Nothing is preordained. But the oddsmakers have this one lopsided for a reason.

Jack Hirsh, assistant editor (@JR_HIRSHey): The Canadian guys go undefeated. They only way the U.S. team loses this one is if the home crowd gets really fired up for the five Canadians mowing down opponents. As my colleagues alluded to, match play is the great equalizer!

The Americans are without long-time team-event standouts Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and they are already of course without any LIV players (Brooks Koepka was on the last Ryder Cup team). Is this U.S. team more beatable than others we’ve seen over the years?

Marksbury: No. Even without those notables, the U.S. is still so deep! Scottie, Collin, Xander, Sahith, Keegan, to name a few, all in the midst of great seasons.

Melton: They might be a little more vulnerable than we’ve seen them in the past, but it’s still a very strong team. The U.S. has an extremely deep talent pool at the highest levels of pro golf. Although this team might lack some of the stalwarts of previous teams, they still have tons of talent.

Sens: All due respect to Spieth and Thomas, but neither has been lighting it up of late. I don’t see the U.S. missing a step in their absence. And it’s not as if the Internationals haven’t lost talent to LIV, too. No Cameron Smith. No Joaqium Nieman.

Hirsh: Sorry to sound like a broken record, but no. Americans have won the last seven majors, last two Players Championships and each of the last two Olympic Golds. And that doesn’t include guys like Morikawa, Cantlay, Theegala, etc. This team is by no means beatable.

Look into your crystal ball and predict the highest point-earners (for each team) and give us your winner.

Marksbury: Scottie Scheffler will put a bow on an already historic season by going 4-0-0 (four points) to lead the U.S. Tom Kim will scratch out three points to lead the Internationals, but the U.S will ultimately prevail 18-12.

Melton: Team USA: Xander Schauffele (3.5 points); Team International: Adam Scott (2.5 points). Team USA comes out on top 18.5-11.5.

Sens: I think–or at least hope–it will be closer. Team USA 16-14. Xander will nab 4 points to lead the way for the Americans, with  fired-up Canadian Taylor Pendrith winning 3.5 for the Internationals.

Hirsh: Tom Kim was electric two years ago, I see him and Hideki Matsuyama earning 2.5-3 points for the Internationals but could hear an argument for Corey Conners. For the U.S., I see Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa (yes, this is exactly what’s going to get him out of his funk) going 4-0-0. U.S. rolls 17-13, close enough to make it interesting the whole week, but still not really in question.

LIV Golf wrapped up its season with its team championship on Sunday in Dallas, and some of the league’s team captains hinted at potential changes in the future. What did you make of their comments? And how would more “team play” figure into LIV’s future (and mean for the pending PGA Tour vs. LIV merger)?

Marksbury: Without world ranking points — and a wider context for each tournament’s meaning in the world of pro golf — the individual stroke-play portion of LIV events lacks the drama of the PGA Tour events they’re up against on the weekend. LIV’s team aspect has always been a differentiator, and making that part of the league more engaging and exciting from a fan perspective would be a big positive. 

Melton: Leaning more into the team aspect would certainly give LIV more of an identity than what they’ve established thus far. Through three seasons, the team aspect has been a bit half-baked, but if they were to make it more team-oriented, it would give them a clearer identity that is different from the rest of pro golf. Perhaps LIV will become the place to play for your team, while the Tour is where you play for yourself? I wouldn’t hate the idea. 

Sens: You get the sense from the players’ comments that they realize things need shaking up. What to do exactly? LIV’s greatest weakness is that there isn’t a feeling that anything’s at stake. Leaning into the team aspect makes sense, but I would add more of a Squid Game element to it. Not with blood and guts but with the potential for real and immediate loss. Make it a lower bar for relegation. If a guy performs poorly a couple of weeks in a row, he gets a warning. If he doesn’t shape up the following, swap him out for someone else.

Hirsh: I really like that idea, Zephyr, just fully embrace the team aspect. I think the whole playing the individual and team tournaments at the same time is problematic in pro golf. It works on the college level because the individual event is secondary to the team event, not so much when there’s $4 million at stake for first place. I think the match-play aspect of the team championship was fun an innovative, but it was kinda confusing and hard to follow. But could be tweaked in the future.

Speaking of LIV, with Year 3 now a wrap, what’s next and what’s important? Creating pathways with the Tour? Signing away more top talent? A bigger, wider TV deal? If you are running the show, what’s on your offseason agenda?

Marksbury: A broader agreement has to be top of mind. It seems like the only way to give LIV the relevance it needs — and a way to add both intrigue and eyeballs.

Melton: They’ve got to get a better TV deal. It’s tough to take the league seriously when it’s drawing fewer eyeballs than the underwater basket-weaving world championship. With a proper TV partner, LIV will never garner broad mainstream appeal.

Sens: TV deal for sure. But I’d also be pushing for more LIV-vs.-Tour events, like the upcoming televised match with Scheffer, Bryson, Brooks and Rory. Grow that into a Ryder Cup-style competition, and you’d get some attention. 

Hirsh: It’s the TV deal as my colleagues said, but also need to figure out to get their guys earning ranking points again and that means getting pathways to the majors again. There’s going to be a lot of big names missing majors next year.

Rory McIlroy’s latest close call came at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, as he lost in a playoff to Billy Horschel. This followed a runner-up finish at the Irish Open last week and, dating further back, his heartbreaking U.S. Open loss. He hasn’t won since May. Any reason to worry about what’s happening during this stretch? 

Marksbury: A little bit! I can’t help but feel there are some definite mental-game problems at play, when a player of Rory’s caliber crumbles down the stretch more than a few times in a season. But we’ve seen him bounce back in the past, and this has been a trying year for him personally and professionally. I’m inclined to give him some grace, and hope he can get some significant rest in the off-season.

Melton: No reason to worry — closing out golf tournaments is hard! The only reason we are talking about this is because he continues to put himself into contention. It’d be more worrisome if Rory were missing cuts each week. He’ll be back in the winner’s circle soon enough. 

Sens: I agree that he’ll be back in the winner’s circle soon enough. But I also think Rory fans have reason to worry about him sealing the deal in the events that matter the most to him, which are obviously the majors. A 10-year drought is a long dry spell, and there have been a number of agonizing near-misses along the way.

Hirsh: Pump the brakes! Are we forgetting 2013, 2017 and 2020 when he didn’t win at all? He’s won twice on the PGA Tour this year (OK technically once) and has been in contention a boatload of other times. I would say he’s winning at a more prolific rate than at any time in his career. He’s just not winning the big ones! It will happen.