Presidents Cup: Predicting the remaining 12 players that will compete in Canada next month

Among the captain’s picks, Tony Finau is a lock to make this U.S. roster once again. Since the PGA Championship, Finau has finished inside the top 20 in eight of nine starts. That included a T3 at the U.S. Open. Finau has also been a fixture for each of the last two Presidents Cups teams in 2019 and 2022. He is 35^th this season in driving distance, so that length could match with a player that does well coming into holes, especially the first two days in team format.  

Also read: Breaking down this week’s top 15 in the world golf rankings

Keegan Bradley is in an interesting situation ahead of next Tuesday’s announcement. Despite coming off his BMW Championship victory, he is scheduled to be a captain’s assistant. This also comes as he is the captain for the U.S. at next year’s Ryder Cup. In addition, he was a snub last year for the Ryder Cup team and probably has that motivation to make this Presidents Cup roster. And he has played his way to earn a spot. Bradley is back up to being 11^th in the world rankings, he has three wins in the last two years and the win last week could keep him hot going into next month.

Sam Burns is also as much as a lock as Tony Finau. Burns has been trending well as of late. He went from T31 at The Open Championship to T12 at the 3M Open to T5 and the FedEx St. Jude Championship followed by a T2 at the BMW Championship.

Because of the success that Max Homa has had in team play, going back to last year’s Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup two years ago, does he get the nod? The reason why it is questionable is due to the way Homa has been playing recently. Since tying for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship, he has just one top 25 finish with two missed cuts and a last-place finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. It is one of those cases of does Furyk go with an energy-boosting player with team play experience? Or does Furyk go with a player that is playing better as of late but with no team experience? 

If the U.S. does not have a player like Akshay Bhatia, it is going to be a very veteran roster. At 22 years old, Bhatia is one of the rising stars in the game with two wins in the last two years, highlighted by his Valero Texas Open win in April. Over the last few years, there has been those rookies on these rosters and have even taken advantage of the moment. Bhatia competed in amateur team events like the Junior Presidents Cup, Walker Cup and Junior Ryder Cup. He won each time he was part of those teams. This season, Bhatia is 26^th in strokes gained putting and 38^th in strokes gained approach.    

The sixth and final pick is going to be difficult for Furyk. With these five picks, there are then about four players to round out the roster. This could come down to Billy Horschel having a slight edge over Russell Henley for the final spot. Horschel has had that experience un match play, including being part of the 2022 Presidents Cup roster. Him or Bhatia could easily be paired with a Scottie Sheffler to round out the putting in four-ball or foursomes.

Just missed: Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Brian Harman

Being seventh in the standings gives a player practically a 99% chance that they will be competing. Corey Conners is there at No. 7 in the International team standings. He also tied for ninth at the Olympics and just a few strokes from finishing at the podium in France. This year has been a big year for the Canadians to represent your country at the Olympics and then potentially play the Presidents Cup in your home country.  

Also read: FedEx Cup: When, Where, How it works, and Much More

Since his T11 at the Corales Puntacana Championship, Taylor Pendrith has played a lot better with just one missed cut and a victory at the CJ Cup in May. He also has four top 10s in that span, in addition to a T13 last week at the BMW Championship. He is 11^th in the International team standings and is a second Canadian that could see himself playing next month. The biggest asset that Pendrith provides is his putting. He is 10^th on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained putting and fourth in putting average.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout has had a strong season to earn his ticket to second straight President Cup. Bezuidenhout has three top 10s this year and is one of two potential captain’s pick to play this week at East Lake. The other is Pendrith. This shows how well Bezuidenhout has played all season long to earn this spot, even with the Canadians around him wanting a spot.

Cam Davis has played well as of late, winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June before his top five finish last week at the BMW Championship. He is looking to earn his second nod to the Presidents Cup roster. In 2022 he won with Scott in Four-ball. He also secured the first point for the team with Si Woo Kim in foursomes. He could easily breakout in his second Presdients Cup this year.

The decision to have four Australians versus three Canadians is a puzzling debate for Weir. However, Min Woo Lee is the fourth Aussie who has earned his ticket. Making his PGA Tour debut this season, Lee has two runner-up finishes at the Cognizant Classic and the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He ranks fifth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee this season. He is fifth in driving distance to match with a player that is strong in their short game.

In total, there are five Canadians that have the potential to be selected by Weir. However, Weir will probably take three Canadians and either space them out or pair one of them together in team play. That third Canadian will be Adam Hadwin, who edges out Nick Taylor. Although Taylor is better in his strokes gained approach, Hadwin is better in strokes gained off the tee, which could be the difference, especially if finding the fairway is challenge at Royal Montreal.

Just missed: Nick Taylor, Si Woo Kim, Mackenzie Hughes