The President’s Cup takes place this week at Quail Hollow Club, a course that’s been a PGA Tour staple for the past few years. Historically, the United States has dominated this event with a record of 11-1-1.
There are a bunch of major storylines this week but the main one, besides the ongoing saga between the PGA Tour and LIV Tour, is the number of players making their President’s Cup debuts. Between both teams, 14 players will be playing in their first President’s Cup which sets a record. The International team has eight players with the United States side having six.
Given all of the newcomers, these teams, both the International team and the United States, have the youngest teams in history. The International team has an average age of 28.8 with the United States having an average age of 29.6. Tom Kim, at 20 years old, is the third youngest player to make his President’s Cup debut.
Both teams’ rosters look slightly different than the predicted lineups a month or two ago. Will Zalatoris is unable to participate for the United States due to a back injury that forced him to withdraw from the BMW Championship. Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann are also unable after joining the LIV Tour.
Several players have also had some success at Quail Hollow before. Max Homa won the Wells Fargo Championship in 2019 and Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship here in 2017.
- Dates: September 22nd, 2022 – September 25th, 2022
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
- Course: Quail Hollow Club
- Course Type: Classical
- Par: 71 (4x 3’s / 11x 4’s / 3x 5’s)
- Length: 7,576 Yards
- Greens: Champion Bermudagrass .125”
- Fairways: Bermudagrass .438”
- Rough: Bermudagrass 1.75”
- Bunkers: 61
- Water Hazards: 4 (In-Play 7 Holes)
- Average Green Size: 6,578 sq. ft.
- Stimpmeter: 12.5 ft.
Course Architect/ Comparable Courses:
- Course Architect: George Cobb (1961)
- Renovations: Tom Fazio (2016)
- Round 1: Thursday, September 22nd, 2022
- Golf Channel – 1 PM – 6 PM
- Round 2: Friday, September 23th, 2022
- Golf Channel – 11:30 AM – 6 PM
- Round 3: Saturday, September 24th, 2022
- Golf Channel – 7 AM – 8 AM
- NBC – 8 AM – 6 PM
- Round 4, Sunday, September 25th, 2022
- NBC – 12 PM – 6 PM
- Thursday: Partly Cloudy 65 F, 13 mp/h NW, 60% Humidity, 20% Chance of Rain
- Friday: Sunny 59 F, 14 mp/h NW, 48% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
- Saturday: Partly Cloudy 64 F, 7 mp/h W, 50% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
- Sunday: Mostly Sunny 70 F, 8 mp/h SW, 53% Humidity, 20% Chance of Rain
Tournament History:
The President’s Cup is a series of matches between the United States and an International Team minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar contest called the Ryder Cup.
Since its inauguration in 1994, this event has been held biannually rotating with the Ryder Cup. Because of the global pandemic, the 2020 Ryder Cup was postponed until 2021. That pushed the Presidents Cup back to even years.
Course Guide/ Scorecard:
Quail Hollow has played host to the Wells Fargo Championship every year since 2003 with a few exceptions. In 2017, the PGA Championship was held at Quail Hollow so the Wells Fargo was moved to Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC. Last year, the Wells Fargo was held at TPC Potomac in preparation for the President’s Cup.
The President’s Cup will have a different layout this week than previous events. The routing was changed to get the Green Mile (holes No. 16-18) in play for most matches. Routing is 1-8, 12-18, 10-11, and 9.
| 2022 President’s Cup Scorecard – Quail Hollow Club
(Wells Fargo Championship routing in parenthesis) |
||||||||||
| HOLE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 (12) | OUT |
| Yards | 500 | 452 | 483 | 184 | 449 | 249 | 546 | 346 | 456 | 3,655 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| HOLE | 10 (13) | 11 (14) | 12 (15) | 13 (16) | 14 (17) | 15 (18) | 16 (10) | 17 (11) | 18 (9) | IN |
| Yards | 208 | 344 | 577 | 506 | 223 | 494 | 592 | 462 | 505 | 3,911 |
| Par | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
For a hole-by-hole overview of the course, you can click the following link.
Key Statistics:
- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass)
- Driving Distance
- Scrambling
- Par 3 Scoring: 200-225 Yards
- Par 4 Scoring: 450-500 Yards
- Par 5 Scoring: 550-600 Yards
Format:
With 30 matches, it will take 15.5 points to win the Cup (each match is worth one point; there are no playoffs, with each team receiving a half-point for matches tied after 18). The teams will share the Cup if the matches end in a 15-15 tie.
In 2019, a minor format change was implemented, stating each player shall only be required to play a minimum of one match before the Sunday Singles matches. This was a change from previous years when players were required to compete in two matches before Singles matches.
- Day 1 (Thursday): 5 Foursomes Matches
- Day 2 (Friday): 5 Four-ball Matches
- Day 3 (Saturday): Morning: 4 Foursomes Matches
- Day 3 (Saturday): Afternoon: 4 Four-ball Matches
- Day 4 (Sunday): 12 Singles Matches
The Teams/ Field:
| UNITED STATES – Captain Davis Love III | |||
| Player | Presidents Cup appearances | Record | Best finish at Quail Hollow |
| Sam Burns | Debut | 0-0-0 | T55, 2018 Wells Fargo |
| Patrick Cantlay | 2019 | 3-2-0 | T33, 2017 PGA |
| Tony Finau | 2019 | 0-1-3 | T16, 2015 Wells Fargo |
| *Max Homa | Debut | 0-0-0 | Won, 2019 Wells Fargo |
| *Billy Horschel | Debut | 0-0-0 | T33, 2011 Wells Fargo |
| *Kevin Kisner | 2017 | 2-0-2 | T6, 2014 Wells Fargo |
| *Collin Morikawa | Debut | 0-0-0 | N/A |
| Xander Schauffele | 2019 | 3-2-0 | T14, 2021 Wells Fargo |
| Scottie Scheffler | Debut | 0-0-0 | N/A |
| *Jordan Spieth | 2013, 2015, 2017 | 8-5-1 | T28, 2017 PGA Champ. |
| Justin Thomas | 2017, 2019 | 6-2-2 | Won, 2017 PGA Champ |
| *Cameron Young | Debut | 0-0-0 | N/A |
* denotes captain’s pick
| INTERNATIONAL TEAM – Captain Trevor Immelman | ||||
| Player | Country | Presidents Cup appearances | Record | Best finish at Quail Hollow |
| *Christiaan Bezuidenhout | South Africa | Debut | 0-0-0 | N/A |
| Corey Conners | Canada | Debut | 0-0-0 | T42, 2018 Wells Fargo |
| *Cam Davis | Australia | Debut | 0-0-0 | T26, 2021 Wells Fargo |
| Sungjae Im | South Korea | 2019 | 3-1-1 | T31, 2019 Wells Fargo |
| *Si Woo Kim | South Korea | 2017 | 1-2-0 | MC, 2016 Wells Fargo |
| Tom Kim | South Korea | Debut | 0-0-0 | N/A |
| *K.H. Lee | South Korea | Debut | 0-0-0 | T58, 2021 Wells Fargo |
| Hideki Matsuyama | Japan | 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 | 6-7-4 | T5, 2017 PGA Champ. |
| *Sebastian Munoz | Colombia | Debut | 0-0-0 | T38, 2019 Wells Fargo |
| *Taylor Pendrith | Canada | Debut | 0-0-0 | N/A |
| Mito Pereira | Chile | Debut | 0-0-0 | MC, 2018 Wells Fargo |
| Adam Scott | Australia | 2003-05-07-09-11-13-15-17-19 | 16-22-6 | 3rd, 2006 Wells Fargo |
* denotes captain’s pick
The Odds:
The United States are heavy favorites this week. On most major books, they’re around -1200 to lift the trophy. It may seem like absurd odds but if we look at the OWGR, the US has an average of 11.6 compared to the Internationals of 48.9.
The U.S. leads, 11-1-1. The lone International victory came in 1998 in Australia. The two teams tied in 2003 in South Africa. Since its inauguration, the United States has never lost on home soil.
To see the most up-to-date odds, you can click the following link.
Previous Winners/ Locations:
- 2019: United States 16-14
- Location: Royal Melbourne Golf Club (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
- 2017: United States 19-11
- Location: Liberty National Golf Club (Jersey City, New Jersey, United States)
- 2015: United States 15 1/2 – 14 1/2
- Location: Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea (Incheon, South Korea)
- 2013: United States 18 1/2 – 15 1/2
- Location: Muirfield Village (Dublin, Ohio, United States)
- 2011: United States 19-15
- Location: Royal Melbourne Golf Club (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
Picks (Top American Rookie):
- Scottie Scheffler (+240) – Bet365
- Risk 0.50 to win 1.20 Units
This will be Scottie Scheffler’s first President’s Cup. However, we did see him last year at the Ryder Cup. He played three matches and finished with a record of 2-0-1. On the PGA Tour this year, he won the WGC Dell-Technologies Match Play event defeating fellow teammate Kevin Kisner. While this is his first President’s Cup, he’s shown he can succeed in this format. Scheffler has never played at Quail Hollow before this course suits his game very well.
- Max Homa (+400) – Bet365
- Risk 0.25 to win 1.00 Unit
Max Homa, is coming off a victory at the Fortinet Championship where he was able to successfully defend his title in an improbable fashion. He’s also had success at Quail Hollow winning the Wells Fargo Championship back in 2019. This will be his first President’s Cup with the only other recent experience in match play coming at the WGC Dell-Technologies Match Play. He didn’t make it out of the group stage finishing with a record of 1-2-0. Based off his recent form and course history, he seems primed t have a great week.
Just Missed: Cameron Young (+700)
Picks (Top International Rookie):
- Corey Conners (+333) – Bet365
- Risk 0.50 to win 1.67 Units
Corey Conners is coming off a missed cut at the Fortinet Championship last week. However, before that, he finished 26th at the TOUR Championship, T5 at the BMW Championship, and T28 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He’ll be making his President’s Cup debut this week but he’s had success in recent match-play events. At the WGC Dell-Technologies Match Play event, Conners’ made it to the Semifinals before losing to Kevin Kisner. In his last two appearances at Quail Hollow, he finished T42 and T43. His Driving Distance isn’t the best but given his approach play and short game, he should be able to compete.
- Cameron Davis (+650) – Bet365
- Risk 0.25 to win 1.63 Units
Unlike, Corey Conners, Cam Davis has the distance off the tee to do very well here. The yardage increase from the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship, where he finished T26, should only benefit him. This will be his first President’s Cup and first professional match-play event. In his last start on Tour, he missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship posting back-to-back rounds in the 70s. However, before that, he finished T35 at the BMW Championship and T13 at the FedEx St Jude Championship. For Davis, there are a lot of unknowns but given his style of play and course history, he should play well.
Just Missed: Taylor Pendrith (+600)
Picks (Top Scorer):
- Justin Thomas (+1000) – Bet365
- Risk 0.50 to win 5.00 Units
Justin Thomas, a veteran of the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, looks poised to succeed at Quail Hollow, a course he’s won at before. He’s played in two Presidents Cups before (’17,’19) finishing with an overall record of 6-2-2. In terms of recent form, JT has been playing some great golf as of late finishing T13/T52/T5 in his last three starts on Tour. He’s been here before and knows what’s expected when the lights turn on. His style of play has shown that it fits the course so I expect him to play well this week.
Picks (Correct Score):
- United States 17.5 – 12.5 (+1100) – BetMGM/ FanDuel
- United States 17.0 – 13.0 (+1200) – BetMGM/ FanDuel
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting. Any feedback whether positive or negative is always encouraged.
