Ricky Rothstein
September 26, 2017

Presidents Cup: PGA Golf Odds And Predictions

The 2016-17 PGA Tour season comes to an end this weekend with the biennial Presidents Cup team competition between the United States and an International side comprised of players from outside Europe. Team USA has dominated this competition over the years and is a -289 Sports Interaction betting favourite with the Internationals at +222 and a draw at +1200.

Presidents Cup History

The Ryder Cup has been around since 1927 and has become the pre-eminent team competition in golf. However, since all of Europe was added to battle the USA starting in 1979, the Americans have been on the losing side more often than not. That’s not the case in the Presidents Cup, which began in 1994. The Americans have won all but two of the events: The Internationals won 20.5-11.5 in Australia in 1998 and the two sides tied at 17 in South Africa 11 years ago. Two years ago, the USA won by just one point, 15.5-14.5. Not since that tie in 2003 had had the International team even come within three points of a victory.

The Presidents Cup includes 30 matches throughout four days (two more matches and one more day than the Ryder Cup). The defending champion needs 15 points to retain the Cup and the opponent must earn 15.5 points to win it.

There are 12 players on either side, 10 on each who earn a spot through points and two captain’s picks. The captain for the International team is Nick Price, his third go-round as captain, while for the USA it’s Steve Stricker. One of his four assistants this year is a guy named Tiger Woods. One of Price’s assistants is Canadian Mike Weir. He played on five Presidents Cup teams for the Internationals, going 13-9-2.

This year’s Presidents Cup is held at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. It’s a par 71 measuring 7,328 yards with views of the New York City skyline. On Thursday, there are five foursomes matches, or alternate shot. On Friday, it’s five four-ball matches, or best ball. Saturday, there are four foursome matches in the morning and four best-ball matches in the afternoon. Sunday, every player on both teams competes in head-to-head singles. Every won match is worth a point and a tied match is worth a half point.

Team Rosters

USA: Daniel Berger (1st Presidents Cup), Kevin Chappell (1st), Rickie Fowler (2nd), Charley Hoffman (1st), Dustin Johnson (3rd), Kevin Kisner (1st), Brooks Koepka (1st), Matt Kuchar (4th), Phil Mickelson (12th), Patrick Reed (2nd), Jordan Spieth (3rd), Justin Thomas (1st).

International: Jason Day, Australia (4th); Branden Grace, South Africa (3rd); Emiliano Grillo, Argentina (1st); Adam Hadwin, Canada (1st); Si Woo Kim, South Korea (1st); Anirban Lahiri, India (2nd); Marc Leishman, Australia (3rd); Hideki Matsuyama, Japan (3rd); Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa (3rd); Charl Schwartzel, South Africa (4th); Adam Scott, Australia (8th); Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela (1st).

Team USA looks stronger on paper as the lowest-ranked player in the world among its dozen is Phil Mickelson at No. 30. Lefty is 23-16-2 in his Presidents Cup career. Johnson is No. 1 in the world, Spieth No. 2 and Justin Thomas, who just won the FedExCup and Tour Championship, is fourth. Johnson, Spieth and Thomas are all up for PGA Tour Player of the Year as is Matsuyama. Thomas should win that.

The U.S. side’s average ranking is 15.5 compared to the Internationals’ 31.6. The combined Presidents Cup records of all the American players is 38-36-16. The International team’s highest-ranked player is Matsuyama at No. 3. There are six players on that side ranked outside the Top 30.

Canada’s Hadwin, ranked 47^th, earned the final automatic spot on the International team. He’s the first Canadian to compete in the event since Graham DeLaet in 2013. Hadwin made it through all four FedExCup playoff events, finishing 23^rd at the Tour Championship. The combined Presidents Cup records of all the International players is 39-50-14. They have four rookies; the USA has six.