By: Max Bechtoldt
As happens every two years in the wake of the Presidents Cup, golf fans have been debating what to do about the fledgling event. The United States has lost the event only once, back in 1998. Since 2017, the International Team has only gotten within five points of the United States once. If this event wants to be taken seriously, something has to change.
The easiest answer, and one that has gained momentum seemingly every year, is to mix in the stars of the LPGA Tour. While the Americans are still strong on the LPGA, boasting the top two players in the world, the non-European international players are much stronger than their male counterparts. The only international match play competition these players are eligible for is the International Crown, but players like Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson have never taken part in that event since the selection process isn’t as much about individual play as it is overall country strength.
Even Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis made it clear a few weeks ago that she thinks the Presidents Cup should make this change. While it seems unlikely the PGA Tour would ever go for it, lets take a look at how the teams would shape up.
International Team
For the selection process here, I took the six automatic qualifiers from the 2024 team, along with the six highest ranked players in the Rolex Rankings who qualify. I set a limit at a maximum of three per country per gender. No captain’s picks. Here is how the team turned out:
- Lydia Ko (New Zealand)
- Ruoning Yin (China)
- Jin Young Ko (South Korea)
- Ayaka Furue (Japan)
- Hannah Green (Australia)
- Amy Yang (South Korea)
- Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)
- Sungjae Im (South Korea)
- Adam Scott (Australia)
- Tom Kim (South Korea)
- Jason Day (Australia)
- Byeong-Hun An (South Korea)
As you see, some of the best and biggest names from the LPGA Tour, Brooke Henderson, Jeeno Thitikul, Minjee Lee and Haeran Ryu, wouldn’t even make the team from the International Team. That is how strong the International women are. Here, the team gains three 2024 major champions, (and all six players have won a major in their career) Lydia Ko, Ayaka Furue and Amy Yang, and five players who have won on tour this season when Hannah Green and Ruoning Yin added in. To round out the new women’s players, is Jin Young Ko, one of the greatest players of the last 20 years.
The Internationals should be much more ready to compete here, where six major champions replace six players who have never won a major.
TEAM USA
Here, it’s pretty simple, top six qualifiers from Solheim Cup Team USA and the six automatic qualifiers for the Presidents Cup team.
- Nelly Korda
- Lilia Vu
- Lauren Coughlin
- Ally Ewing
- Allisen Corpuz
- Megan Khang
- Scottie Scheffler
- Xander Schauffele
- Collin Morikawa
- Wyndham Clark
- Patrick Cantlay
- Sahith Theegala
Doesn’t this just seem more intriguing? Who wouldn’t want to see Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler tee it up? Or watch the dynamic putting of Lilia Vu pair with the elite iron play of Collin Morikawa? How about the energy that a Megan Khang and Sahith Theegala pairing would bring? Even though the American team doesn’t get significantly better outside of Korda and Vu, this team would be more fun to watch.
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