Tom Brady, Aquaman 2 and more

4. You’re going to hear about the shot this week. 

On Monday afternoon, Golf Channel analyst Johnson Wagner was scoping out the area, then tried the swing later in the day, which you can watch here. He’s been fantastic in recreating shots on live air.  

5. Shortly after Wagner looked at the spot, the author did. It’s a steep drop. 

The water was warm, though. 

6. MORE history!

Just five Americans — Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele — were on the 2021 team that steam-rolled the Euro side at the Ryder Cup. 

The next year, LIV Golf notably started. 

7. It will likely be brought up this week how U.S. captain Jim Furyk and International captain Weir feel about the PGA of America’s recent announcement that LIV players can be picked for the U.S. team. 

The Presidents Cup is, of course, staged by the PGA Tour — which has been in a three-season-long fight with LIV.

8. Should the Presidents Cup be a mixed event? U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis thought so. 

“To be honest, I’d love to see the Presidents Cup become mixed,” she said two weeks ago. “It’s the perfect way to blend the two tours. The International team will get better very quickly.

“I think it would be amazing to have the two tours together that way.”

9. Should you be wondering if the pay-for-play storyline from last year’s Ryder Cup will continue, know that players won’t be paid at the Presidents Cup. 

Here is the official word, from the Presidents Cup website, in the “frequently asked questions” section:

“The Presidents Cup is a biennial global team competition between the United States and an International team that represents the rest of the world excluding Europe. The competition alternates between venues in the U.S. and overseas. The Presidents Cup is a unique golf event in that there is no purse or prize money. Players are not paid for their participation, but each competitor allocates an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice. Since the inception of the Presidents Cup in 1994, more than $56.4 million has been generated from event proceeds. Over the past 25 years, the Presidents Cup has impacted more than 475 charities in 18 countries worldwide. Cognizant and Rolex are the exclusive Global Partners of the Presidents Cup.”

10. On that note, below are Cantlay’s thoughts on this year’s clothing.

11. Speaking of articles of clothing, Keegan Bradley’s caddie, Scott Vail, was quizzing Scheffler on his shoes while walking after a tee shot, making a gesture at one point in the manner of Scheffler’s slide follow-through. 

Scheffler re-assured him that the grips on his shoes were good. 

12. If you’re up for some Presidents Cup reading, Furyk sounded fired up in this article here from Golfweek’s Adam Schupak. 

13. And Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan makes the case in this article here that the Presidents Cup will one day be bigger than the Ryder Cup. 

14. Here’s saying Min Woo Lee is the breakout International star. 

15. Here’s saying Sahith Theegala is the breakout American star. 

16. Here’s hoping Max Homa holes out. 

Should he, assistant captain Kevin Kisner promises to take his tarp off, a la the caddies two weeks ago at the Solheim Cup. 

17. So who wins this?

Our Tour Confidential gang has their say here. If you’re into odds, as of Monday afternoon, BetMGM lists the U.S. at -250, and the Internationals at +260 (and a tie at +1,400)   

Me? No guesses here. But if you believe in depth of talent, the world rankings will tell you that favors the Americans (The U.S.: Scottie Scheffler, No., 1; Xander Schuaffele, No., 2; Collin Morikawa, No. 4; Wyndham Clark, No. 6; Patrick Cantlay, No. 9; Sahith Theegala, No. 11; Keegan Bradley, No. 13; Russell Henley, No, 14; Sam Burns, No. 19; Brian Harman, No. 22; Tony Finau, No. 23; Max Homa, No. 25. And the Internationals: Hideki Matsuyama, No. 7; Adam Scott, No. 18; Sungjae Im, No. 21; Tom Kim, No. 24; Jason Day, No. 33; Ben An, No. 34; Corey Conners, No. 37; Min Woo Lee, No. 40; Taylor Pendrith, No. 44; Christiaan Bezuidenhout, No. 45; Si Woo Kim, No. 49; Mackenzie Hughes, No. 61.

If you believe in home-course advantage, that should fall into the International ledger. The Canadian Open annually is a party. This Thursday through Sunday should be bopping. 

18. On that note, the Avis rental car stand on Monday at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport was all outta cars. The reason a cashier told a poor soul ahead of me in line:

“A golf tournament.”

19. Bonus! 

If you’ve made it this far, and you love your Montreal, tell me where I need to eat. Give me your recs at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.