2024 Presidents Cup Preview: Team United States Seeking Continued Dominance

(Back L-R) Assistant Captain Steve Stricker, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Assistant Captain Fred Couples, Cameron Young, Captain Davis Love III, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, (Front L-R) Xander Schauffele, Assistant Captain Zach Johnson, Assistant Captain Kevin Kisner, Sam Burns and Assistant Captain Webb Simpson of the United States Team pose with the Presidents Cup at the closing ceremony after defeating the International Team during Sunday singles matches on day four of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club in in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 25, 2022. Warren Little/Getty Images

Win, Win, Win. Win, Win, Win. Win, Win, Win. That’s nine wins if you’re counting, and that’s the United States’ results in the last nine editions of the Presidents Cup.

The prestigious team tournament pits a team of American golfers against a team of international golfers, minus Europeans. The 2024 Presidents Cup will begin on Thursday at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. Five rounds will be played over the four days, including two Saturday rounds. On Sunday, Round Five will have 12 singles matches, as Team USA and Team International each have 12 players.

The United States, captained by 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, is the heavy favorite, as all 12 members are in the top 25 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Meanwhile, the International Team—which features players from Japan, South Korea, and Canada, among others—has just four top-25 golfers. Hideki Matsuyama highlights the latter team, which 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir captains, while the Americans feature Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

The Americans’ domination in previous editions and the discrepancy in talent are reasons why the U.S. is favored. Of the 14 previous events of the Presidents Cup, the United States has won 12 times, while the International Team has one victory (1998), and the teams tied in 2003.

As the No. 1 player in the world, the Olympic gold medalist, and the 2024 FedEx Cup champion, the spotlight will be on Scheffler. He can complete what’s been one of the greatest calendar years in golf history with a strong performance in leading the United States to another victory. However, Scheffler hasn’t had the best of success in team events representing his country, dating back to the 2022 Presidents Cup.

At that tournament, Scheffler didn’t win any of his four matches, finishing 0-3-1 overall. That included losing a singles match to Colombian Sebastian Munoz, who was ranked 63rd in the world. Then, the next year, at the 2023 Ryder Cup, Scheffler again went winless over his four matches, finishing 0-2-2. He was the top-ranked player at both tournaments, so redemption will be on his mind in what’s his first start since claiming the Tour Championship.

Fortunately, the United States hopes won’t solely fall on Scheffler’s shoulders as he’s teaming with several players who have excelled in this team format. Both Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are 6-3-0 over previous Presidents Cup matches, while Max Homa went 4-0-0 at the 2022 edition, making him one of 12 golfers in the event’s history to win every match he participated in during a single tournament.

On the international side, Japan’s Matsuyama sports just a 7-10-5 record over his previous five Presidents Cup appearances, but he’s just over halfway to matching teammate Adam Scott of Australia. This will be Scott’s 11th appearance, as he ranks second all-time in that regard and is also second with 49 matches, with both feats trailing only Phil Mickelson.

It’s important to note that no LIV Golf players were invited to the 2024 Presidents Cup as they are not eligible for the event, unlike the Ryder Cup, which recently stated that LIV golfers would be eligible for its next occurrence in 2025. That’s because the PGA Tour organizes the Presidents Cup and has banned LIV players from its event since the league began play in 2022. Meanwhile, the Ryder Cup is co-organized by the PGA of America—which is different than the PGA Tour—as well as Ryder Cup Europe.

Despite the absences of LIV members, the 2024 Presidents Cup should still elicit lots of interest from both diehard and casual golf fans. It comes during a lull in the golf calendar, but golfers playing for national pride always inspire more appeal than a normal tournament outside of majors. The fact that no purse or prize money is awarded further displays how much simply playing for one’s country or region means to the players.

Even with the domination of the United States in the tournament’s history, most of the last few editions of the Presidents Cup have been relatively close, as four of the last six playings have been decided by four or fewer points. Also, there are several new faces at this event as six golfers will make their President Cup debuts, such as Americans Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman, as well as international golfers Mackenzie Hughes (Canada) and Min Woo Lee (Australia).

The 2024 Presidents Cup champion will be crowned Sunday evening, but it’s never too early to look ahead to the 2026 version. The United States and international locales alternate hosting the tournament, and the 2026 Presidents Cup will return to America and take place from Medinah Country Club, marking the first time the Chicago-area course will host.