Scottie Scheffler has won *everything* in 2024, but the Presidents Cup presents a different kind of test.
Ben Jared | Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler has all the answers.
This is it the big difference between last year, when he was the best golfer in the world without a resume, and THIS year, when he was both. Becoming a head-and-shoulders World number 1finding glory in the Masters and the Olympics, winning 62 million dollars in a calendar year—these are all things that keep you from facing the nagging existential questions that plague almost every golfer alive.
And yet, that’s the funny thing about golf: you never have it all figured out. That’s how Scheffler arrives in Montreal facing the most extensive set of questions of any player in this week’s Presidents Cup field, despite being just weeks removed from completing one of the most successful seasons of any golfer. sometimes.
Questions like: Can great players be great team competitors? And also: what happened to Scheffler on the USA team in ’22 and ’23?
The match play is a fickle enemy, but the match events are satisfying in their clarity. High performers may look to the Presidents or the Ryder Cup as validation of a year’s worth of work; those who perform poorly may be forced to contend with the opposite.
Scheffler will be safely out of the extremes this week in Montreal, but he’ll face questions — and pressure — bigger than just his job. And as we look at the players under the most pressure at Royal Montreal, that’s where we start.
6 players under the most pressure of the President Cup
1. Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler’s rising 2024 season reached heights untouched since Tiger Woods. Now he will be relied upon to lift his teammates as well. That’s a big ask for anyone, but it’s an even bigger one for Scheffler, whose only blemish in four years on the PGA Tour has come in team events.
Since his undefeated presentation of the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, Scheffler’s team plays the results have gone sideways. He is 0-5-3 – winless – in two starts.
There are valid excuses for his lackluster play: He entered Quail Hollow in ’22 ice-cold after some of the only missed cuts of his pro career, and he was far from the USA’s only mollywhopping offender in Rome.
But those excuses are gone now, and the truth is simple: If the US is going to become a permanent power in these events, they need Scheffler as THE team anchor, no A anchor. We’ll find out this week if he’s ready.
2. International Team
There are several stories of the “Presidents Cup” being offensively overrated, but none bigger than the suggestion of the Internationals. need a victory to bring some legitimacy to the event. There are much bigger issues weighing on the legitimacy of the Presidents Cup than its lopsided win-loss totals, such as the issue of many of the top talents on the international team playing for a rival professional tournament. An international victory will not change these facts any more than a large amount of poutine will change my BMI – temporarily.
While I wouldn’t expect internationals to show up to the party with washboard abs, I do expect them to show us they’ve been eating greens. The last two iterations of the event – Australia in ’19 and North Carolina in ’22 – have featured surprisingly competitive and cohesive international sides, and I’d argue the pressure is on captain Mike Weir to answer the bell again.
Vegas has the home team as a +260 underdog on Tuesday morning, and a win could be out of reach. But a pesky international side and an electrifying Canadian crowd should be reasonable expectations.
3. Patrick Cantlay
Good news for those hoping to avoid a second straight year of team golf apparel stories: Patrick Cantlay has shown up at this year’s Presidents Cup in a hat.
While a discussion on the merits of pay-to-play may have to wait until next year, Cantlay enters this week as one of the most intriguing stories in the US.
Patty Ice followed up the most explosive moment of his professional career last fall in Rome with one of his most disappointing seasons between the ropes (no wins, four top-10s). It’s easy to forget now, but Cantlay was far and away the most important player on the American team last fall. A repeat performance would go a long way toward resetting expectations in ’25.
4. Tom Kim
It was a mostly painful 2024 season for Tom Kim. The unabashed star of the last President’s Cup suffered some crushing defeats – in a playoff at the Travelers, off the podium at the Olympics – and, for the first time in his professional career, no PGA Tour wins.
We know better than to refer to entire seasons simply as career steps forward or backward, but Kim would do well to remind the golf world why he was such a rising star after the last Presidents Cup — and why, only 22 years old, he can still be.
5. Wyndham Clark
The 2024 season turned out to be a strange one for Wyndham Clark, the ’23 US Open champion. Statistically, it was one of the best seasons of his career, with a win at Pebble Beach in February, followed by a narrow loss at the Players in March, and a string of 10s throughout the PGA Tour season. But his game seemed to fade as the season wore on, and his struggles multiplied in the majors. He recently admitted it took him a while to get back into Ryder Cup tournament form last year, but you can bet Wyndham is pushing ahead to wash away the flavor of ’24 in Montreal.
6. Min Woo Lee
Of all the teams playing for the first time, “The Chef” is the one with the best chance to emerge as a bona fide star in Montreal. Lee, the brother of US Women’s Open champion Minjee, has shown some serious talent since arriving on the PGA Tour last spring. Perhaps just as importantly, he has shown a sense of drama in a team that has traditionally rallied around its young stars.
If the Internationals make a run in Montreal, expect Min Woo to be at the center of the mix. He usually is.
