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00:00An international and team golf competition to end out September.
00:08It's the President's Cup up in the Great White North in Montreal.
00:12We are now joined live in Montreal by Keith Stewart here on this Tuesday on the Early
00:18Line to explain everything you need to know about the 2024 President's Cup, the format,
00:24the teams, the rosters, and what is at stake.
00:27Keith, as always, we appreciate the time.
00:29Thanks for being here on TEL.
00:31Ben, Joe, we're up here, the USA.
00:35Let's do it this week.
00:36Come on, guys.
00:37Let's break it down.
00:38What do you got for me?
00:39So, Keith, oftentimes I think when people who maybe are casual golf fans think of international
00:45team golf competition, their first thought is the Ryder Cup.
00:49That's Team USA versus Team Europe.
00:52This is Team USA versus the international team on international soil up in Montreal.
00:59Let's start with the format and the roster breakdowns.
01:02Who does Team USA bring into this fight?
01:05Who's the captain and who do you expect to excel?
01:08All right, well, the US, they've got 10 of the top 20 players in the world on a team
01:14of 12.
01:15I mean, they are stacked.
01:16The average world golf ranking of their team is 12.
01:21Versus the international team, their average world golf ranking is 34.
01:25Both teams are made up of guys that are around 30 years old.
01:28Average team age is 31 for both sides.
01:31So these guys know each other very well.
01:33They play on the PGA Tour all the time.
01:35There's no live guys here, right?
01:36It's just a PGA Tour sanctioned event.
01:39We're up in Royal Montreal.
01:40This is the 15th edition of this.
01:43American captain Mike Weir has his guys fired up to try to go after the huge, you know,
01:48favorite side of the US team, who is captained by Jim Furyk.
01:52Now, we all remember Jim was a losing Ryder Cup captain back in Paris 2018.
01:57And that's probably one of the things that the international side is hanging their hat
02:01on as far as coming up with an ups.
02:03Maybe the US side over thinks this, but I tell you, they are stacked.
02:07Scotty Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Colin Moore, Calvin Clark, Patrick Cantlie.
02:12These guys are all here ready to, you know, to do battle in a couple of different formats.
02:17And I guess we'll get into that too.
02:21Let me ask you, Keith, about the international side, because with Mike Weir, he's got three
02:25pretty darn good Canadians on his team with Pedrith Hughes and Connors.
02:31What are you expecting from this side?
02:34I think he's got to lean on those guys a lot and not just when they're playing.
02:38And I think Corey, as the Canadian best player in the world rankings, you know, I think he's
02:43got to go five matches.
02:44But I think he has to also rely on these guys to get the crowds motivated.
02:48You know, I think Canada, every time, you know, the PGA Tour, when we come up here for
02:51the Canadian Open one time a summer, Canada comes out and they represent.
02:56And I think this thing is going to be a madhouse this weekend.
02:58It's going to be a hockey match that's going to last four days.
03:01It's going to be a lot of fun to watch.
03:03But that's where the Canadians, I think, really, really can play an integral part of this team.
03:08Even though Mac Hughes, you know, he's not going to play five matches.
03:12But when he's not playing, it's getting the crowds going.
03:14It's getting them behind these guys.
03:16On the international side, they really need, you know, that 13th man, that one extra player to be the
03:22crowd, to kind of put some pressure on these guys.
03:25And if the Americans don't get out to a quick start, the pressure is going to build as,
03:29are you on the team that's going to be the first one to lose in a very long time,
03:34at least this century?
03:35I mean, this is the 15th one of these.
03:37In 14 Presidents' Cup matches, the U.S. is 12-1-1.
03:41They haven't lost since 1998 in Australia.
03:44And they didn't take a very strong side to that match back in the day.
03:48So, I'll tell you what, Scotty, Xander, you know, Colin, all of these guys,
03:52Tony Fino, they don't want to be on the team that loses.
03:54So, the pressure will mount if the Canadians can mount a charge.
03:59The only two times Team USA has not won the Presidents' Cup, as Keith mentioned,
04:04losing big in 1998 on international soil and tying back in 2003,
04:10which means the Americans have won nine in a row.
04:12You saw the odds.
04:13Keith, before we get to the breakdown and just how competitive this year's Presidents'
04:18Cup might turn out to be, let's talk about the format.
04:22International team golf events are different.
04:24The atmosphere is going to be electric up there in the great white north.
04:28What is the format?
04:29What can fans expect to see over these next few days up in Montreal?
04:35I'll tell you what, there's two things that the Presidents' Cup does that I wish
04:38the Ryder Cup would do, and that is they stretch it out a little bit,
04:41and it's the way that they do the pairings.
04:43First, the format.
04:44They start on a Thursday, not on a Friday.
04:46So, on Thursday afternoon, we're going to get four-ball matches.
04:49That means four balls are in play.
04:51Two American guys versus two international players.
04:54The best score from each team per hole wins that hole.
04:57You win enough holes, you win the match.
04:59If there's more than that left to play.
05:01Now, of course, on Friday, we're going to go foursomes.
05:04That's better known as alternate shot.
05:06So, if Joe and Ben are partners, one guy chooses the odd holes to tee off on,
05:10the other guy chooses the even holes, and then they alternate shots from there.
05:13The team with the lower score wins the hole.
05:16Saturday, we're going to do both.
05:17We're going to do four matches of each.
05:19Four ball in the morning, foursomes in the afternoon, and then Sunday,
05:22we get to the 12 singles matches.
05:24Now, what's cool about the Presidents' Cup, which they don't do at the Ryder Cup,
05:28is when the captains make the pairings, they do it as a snake draft.
05:31Almost like your fantasy football, right?
05:33So, when Captain Weir brings up that, hey, I'm going to put out Corey Connors
05:37and Taylor Pendrith, then Captain Furyk can come back with whomever he wants
05:41from the American side.
05:42Let's say that Xander Shoffley and Patrick Kenley.
05:44So, when it comes to the singles on Sunday, they can actually match up the guys
05:48that everyone really wants to see play head-to-head, and I think that's one
05:51of the coolest things about the Presidents' Cup.
05:54Mark, we ain't running to the window to lay to 340, so how do we approach,
05:59when we're looking at betting this thing here, Keith, what's the best way
06:02to approach this?
06:03You got to start to look at some of the prop bets, Joe.
06:07You know, top captains pick for money.
06:09Maybe Sam Burns at plus 300.
06:11How about top American players?
06:12So, you know, a lot of these, you know, situations where you start to think
06:16about who's going to play five times.
06:18Scotty Sheffler's going to play five times.
06:20Xander Shoffley's going to play five times.
06:22If Captain Furyk doesn't play them five times, then, man,
06:24the internationals start to get an edge, don't they?
06:26Hideki Matsuyama, he's got to play five times.
06:29Adam Scott.
06:29So, there's all sorts of prop bets.
06:31Most points on their side.
06:33Most points in the whole matches between the international and the U.S. side.
06:37Most points by a rookie.
06:38Most points by a captain selection.
06:40Those are the spots where if you hit your mark, like I mentioned before,
06:44Sam Burns is going to play with Scotty Sheffler.
06:46They're going to play a bunch of times.
06:47You know, as a captain selection, most points plus 300, to me,
06:51that's much better than laying the minus 250 or minus 300,
06:54whatever the U.S. is when it starts.
06:56The United States, a hefty favorite, as you saw,
06:59and it's not expected to be overly close.
07:02But, Keith, as you might expect, Scotty Sheffler is the favorite
07:05to be the top overall and American points scorer.
07:09What else is new?
07:10Keith Stewart, enjoy the rest of the time in Montreal.
07:13Thanks for helping us get ready for the 2024 President's Cup
07:16that starts this week.
07:18Plenty more to come on the early line on the other side of the brink.