Presidents Cup: How the teams match up

USA vs International Team: How do they match up? 

Following the end of the PGA Tour season, the two sides are heading to Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey this week for the 12th edition of the President’s Cup. 

Given the history of the event, the more popular narrative preceeding the 2017 President’s Cup is that it will once again go in favour of the American side – but it definitely won’t be a one sided race. So how do they match up?

The USA team currently don’t have a single player ranked over #30 in the world, and have four in the World’s top 10 – giving them a distinct advantage over their International counterparts.

However, whilst they do have six President Cup rookies, one of those is the recent FedEx Cup winner, PGA Champion and Mr. 59 Justin Thomas, while another is US Open champion Brooks Koepka. Combined, the US team have three majors and 17 wins in the 2016/17 season – compared to the 8 wins from the International side. 

Meanwhile, the International team currently have two players ranked inside the World’s top 10, but have just six in the World’s top 30. They have four rookies on their side, which is two less than the American team – but considering that the International team has just one victory in 11 matches against the States, it would be hard to argue they have momentum on their side (particularly as the USA have three of the year’s four majors and two WGCs). 

USA Team:

USA Team combined Presidents Cup experience: 38-36-16
Combined Foursomes record: 19-12-6
Combined Four-Ball record: 15-12-6
Combined Singles record: 4-12-4

Captain: Steve Stricker
Captain’s Assistants: Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk
Captain’s Picks: Phil Mickelson and Charley Hoffman

Dustin Johnson (World No. 1)
2 Appearances (2011, 2015)
9 Matches, 4.5 points: 4W, 4L, 1H
PGA Tour Wins: 16 (1 Major)

Jordan Spieth (World No.2)
2 Appearances (2013, 2015)
9 Matches, 5 points: 5W, 4L
PGA Tour victories: 11 (3 majors)

Rickie Fowler (World No.8)
1 Appearance (2015)
4 Matches, 1 point: 1W, 3L
PGA Tour victories: 4

Patrick Reed (World No.20) 
1 Appearance (2015)
4 Matches, 1.5 points: 1W, 2L, 1H
PGA Tour wins: 5

Matt Kuchar (World No.12)
3 Appearances (2011, 2013, 2015)
13 Matches, 5 points: 4W, 7L, 2H
PGA Tour wins: 7

Phil Mickelson (World No. 30)
11 Appearances (’94-’15)
51 Matches, 29 points: 23W, 16L, 12H
PGA Tour wins: 42 (5 majors)

Justin Thomas (World No. 4)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 6 (1 major)

Daniel Berger (World No. 25)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 2

Brooks Koepka (World No. 11)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 2 (1 major)

Kevin Chappell (World No. 26)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 1

Kevin Kisner (World No. 24)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 2

Charley Hoffman (World No. 23)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 4

International Team: 

International Team combined Presidents Cup experience: 39-50-14
Combined Foursomes record: 12-22-7
Combined Four-Ball record: 16-19-5
Combined Singles record: 11-9-2

Captain: Nick Price
Captain’s Assistants: Ernie Els, Tony Johnstone, Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Weir
Captain’s Picks: Anirban Lahiri, Emiliano Grillo

Hideki Matsuyama (World No. 3)
2 Appearances (2013, 2015)
9 Matches, 4 points: 3W, 4L, 2H
PGA Tour wins: 5

Jason Day (World No. 7)
3 Appearances (2011, 2013, 2015)
15 Matches, 5.5 points: 4W, 8L, 3H
PGA Tour wins: 10 (1 major)

Adam Scott (World No. 22)
7 Appearances (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015)
35 Matches, 15.5points: 13W, 17L, 5H
PGA Tour wins: 13 (1 major)

Louis Oosthuizen (World No. 21)
2 Appearances (2013, 2015)
10 Matches, 6 points: 5W, 3L, 2H
PGA Tour wins: 1 (1 major)

Charl Schwartzel (World No. 27)
2 Appearances (2013, 2015)
14 Matches, 6.5points: 6W, 7L, 1H
PGA Tour wins: 2 (1 major)

Branden Grace (World No. 42)
2 Appearances (2013, 2015)
9 Matches, 5 points: 5W, 4L
PGA Tour wins: 1

Marc Leishman (World No. 16)
2 Appearances (2013, 2015)
8 Matches, 3.5 points: 3W, 4L, 1H
PGA Tour wins: 3

Anirban Lahiri (World No. 68)
1 Appearance (2015)
3 Matches, 0 points: 3L
PGA Tour wins: 0

Jhonattan Vegas (World No. 38) 
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 3

Si Woo Kim (World No. 39)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 2

Adam Hadwin (World No. 47)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 1

Emiliano Grillo (World No. 60)
ROOKIE
PGA Tour wins: 1