The post Who’s playing in the Presidents Cup? Meet the U.S. and International teams appeared first on Golf.

The post Who’s playing in the Presidents Cup? Meet the U.S. and International teams appeared first on Golf.

The stage is set for for the 2022 Presidents Cup where 24 of the PGA Tour’s top golfers — 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world (except for Europe) — will meet for the biennial matches.

Due to the pandemic, this will be the first Presidents Cup since 2019, when the Tiger Woods-captained U.S. team narrowly edged the Ernie Els-led International squad with a miraculous come-from-behind win in Sunday singles.

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The U.S. team holds a dominating 10-1-1 record in the matches and most expect a similarly dominate performance with LIV Golf defectors being ineligible to play in this year’s event and taking the hardest toll on Trevor Immelman’s International team.

Without further ado, let us introduce you to the players who are playing this year.

United States Team

*denotes captain’s pick

Captain: Davis Love III

Love was a six-time member of the U.S. Presidents Cup team and compiled a 16-8-4 record in those matches. Love — who was born in Charlotte, N.C., home of this week’s host, Quail Hollow Club — won 21 times on the PGA Tour, including one major win at the 1997 PGA Championship. He also notably won the 2015 Wyndham Championship at the age of 51, becoming the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history. Love was an assistant captain on the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Presidents Cup teams and captained the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cup teams.

Sam Burns

Career Presidents Cup record: First appearance

Burns may have been overshadowed by close friend Scottie Scheffler in the early part of the 2021-22 season, but the Louisianan had a break out year himself, winning three times, including taking down Scheffler in a playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. This will be his first appearance at either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.

Patrick Cantlay

Record: 3-2-0 in one appearance (2019)

Cantlay had another solid year in 2022, winning once while defending his crown at the BMW Championship in Wilmington and teaming up with Xander Schauffele to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He played all of his matches in 2019 with Schauffele and figures to do so again. Cantlay was also very successful at last year’s Ryder Cup where he compiled a 3-0-1 record at Whistling Straits, the one tie coming in the only match he wasn’t paired with Schauffele.

Tony Finau

Record: 0-1-3 in one appearance (2019)

The big-hitting Finau had a slow start to the season before catching fire over the summer, notching five top-5s in a stretch of eight events, including back-to-back wins at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic in July. He somewhat surprisingly did not notch a win in his only Presidents Cup appearance in 2019. He only had one loss in four matches, however, and he’ll be looking for a new partner as both his partners from 2019, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau, are not playing this year. He’s picked up three wins in his two Ryder Cups in 2018 and 2021.

Max Homa*

Record: First appearance

Homa comes in as perhaps the hottest player in the matches. He won in dramatic fashion last week at the PGA Tour season opening Fortinet Championship, holing a chip shot from off the 18th green to win. He also finished a career best tied for fifth in the Tour Championship in his previous start. This will be his first team match appearance.

Billy Horschel*

Record: First appearance

If you were shocked to learn Horschel is making his first ever appearance in either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup this week, you’re not alone. Horschel’s career resume includes seven PGA Tour titles, including this year’s Memorial Tournament, and the 2014 FedEx Cup. He’s had a mixed bag of a season, missing four of last eight cuts on the PGA Tour, but with the win in Columbus sandwiched between two of them. He did earn a top 10 in his most recent appearance during his title defense at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship.

Kevin Kisner*

Record: 2-0-2 in one appearance (2017)

Kisner is the oldest player on Team USA’s roster and has become known as somewhat of a match play savant, including a win at the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and owning an undefeated record at the 2017 Presidents Cup. His best finish this past season was a second at — you guessed it — the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, but he did rack up five other top 10s. Kisner will also be looking for a new partner as he played with Phil Mickelson in all three team matches in 2017.

Collin Morikawa*

Record: First appearance

Morikawa came out just as hot as his first three years on Tour to begin this season with five straight finishes of T7 or better, but he fell back to earth a little toward the end of the year, his first on Tour without a win. Although he did lead the U.S. Open through 36 holes, he struggled Saturday and was out of contention by Sunday. The two-time major winner, who is still just 25 years old, showed better form at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August with a T5 finish, but needed to be one of Love’s six captain’s selections to make it to Quail Hollow. He led the U.S. team in qualifying for the Ryder Cup last year and went 3-0-1 at Whistling Straits, his lone tie coming in singles.

Xander Schauffele

Record: 3-2-0 in one appearance (2019)

Like Finau, Schauffele also had a strong end to the season, finishing in the top 20 in all but one of his last 11 events. Again, like Finau, he notched back-to-back wins at the Travelers Championship and Genesis Scottish Open. He also teamed with Cantlay for a team win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and figures to see a lot of his close friend whom he has a 4-2-0 record with in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup matches.

Scottie Scheffler

Record: First appearance

Scheffler has come a long way from being a captain’s selection at last year’s Ryder Cup. The Texan notched his first four PGA Tour wins last season, including a major victory at the Masters, and earned the World No. 1 ranking. While he didn’t come away with the FedEx Cup title, PGA Tour Player of The Year honors are a decent consolation — as well as the $5.75 million he got for finishing T2 at East Lake. He went undefeated, going 2-0-1 at Whistling Straits, teaming with Bryson DeChambeau in two four-ball matches. He also beat Kisner at this year’s WGC-Match Play.

Jordan Spieth*

Record: 8-5-1 in three appearances (2013, 2015, 2017)

After missing the 2019 matches, Spieth is back on the U.S. team at just the right time. With stalwarts like Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed absent this year, Spieth and Justin Thomas are the only players with multiple Presidents Cup matches under their belt coming into the week. The 29-year-old notched a win at the RBC Heritage this season and finished a respectable tied for 13th in the FedEx Cup. He carries a career 16-12-4 record in U.S. team cup matches and played with Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed in all of his partner matches in 2015 and 2017. At last year’s Ryder Cup, he paired most often with good buddy Justin Thomas.

Justin Thomas

Record: 6-2-2 in two appearances (2017, 2019)

Thomas may not have met all of his preseason goals, but he notched 11 top 10s last season and his second major title at the PGA Championship. He brings with him the most impressive U.S. team match record, going 12-4-3 across two Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups. In his two previous Presidents Cups, he paired with Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Daniel Berger, all of whom are not playing this week. He figures to play more with Spieth as he did twice at Whistling Straits.

Cameron Young*

Record: First appearance

Young had a debut season to remember, notching six top-three finishes and was one of two rookies to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Those top finishes also include just missing out on the playoff at the PGA Championship by one stroke, and the memorable eagle finish at the Open Championship at St. Andrews to earn the runner-up spot.

International Team

*denotes captain’s pick

Captain: Trevor Immelman (South Africa)

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Immelman is the youngest captain in International team history at just 42 years old. The South African is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, including one major, holding off Tiger Woods to win the 2008 Masters. He’s also picked up six victories around the world on the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour. He’s a two-time veteran of the Presidents Cup and served as assistant captain under Ernie Els in 2019. Many fans will know him now for his broadcasting as he is expected to take over as the lead analyst for CBS’s golf coverage, following Nick Faldo.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout* (South Africa)

Record: First appearance

Bezuidenhout had a solid rookie year, making 20 cuts in 24 starts on the PGA Tour with 10 top-25 finishes. He’s perhaps better known in Europe, having a breakout year in 2020 while notching three victories including the Alfred Dunhill Championship. His best finish on the PGA Tour in 2022 was a T2 showing at the John Deere Classic and he advanced to the second FedEx Cup Playoff event at the BMW Championship. He’s one of five Presidents Cup first-timers selected by Immelman.

Corey Conners (Canada)

Record: First appearance

Conners played his way to the Tour Championship for the third time of his career thanks to 20 made cuts in 25 starts and four top-10 finishes. One of those top 10s came last month at the BMW Championship where he finished in T5, but he missed the cut last week in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Fortinet Championship. The Canadian has one win under his belt on the PGA Tour, coming at the 2019 Valero Texas Open.

Cam Davis* (Australia)

Record: First appearance

Davis notched five top-10s in 25 starts last season on the PGA Tour. His best golf came toward the end of the season when he made his last 10 cuts in a row. His best year on Tour came a season ago when he made 21 of 26 cuts and notched his debut win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His cuts-made streak broke last week at the Fortinet Championship where rounds of 74 and 70 sent him to Charlotte early.

Sungjae Im (South Korea)

Record: 3-1-1 in one appearance (2019)

The iron man of the PGA Tour, nobody plays more golf than Sungjae Im. Im had another strong season on Tour in 2021-22, winning for the second time at the Shriners Children’s Open and finishing strong with three T2 finishes in his last five events, including at the Tour Championship. The World No. 19 will be heavily relied upon as one of just four veterans on the International team with Presidents Cup experience. All three of his partners from Royal Melbourne — Adam Hadwin, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith — are not on the team this year.

Tom Kim (South Korea)

Record: First appearance

Kim burst onto the scene in 2022, finishing third at the Genesis Scottish Open, seventh at the Rocket Mortgage, and then capturing his first win at the Wyndham Championship in August to secure his PGA Tour membership and even qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He was only a special temporary member when he won, but had earned enough points to get his full status for 2023. He’s now exempt through 2024 and he auto-qualified for the International team.

K. H. Lee* (South Korea)

Record: First appearance

Lee has two PGA Tour titles and both have come at the AT&T Byron Nelson. At this year’s tournament, Lee outdueled Jordan Spieth down the stretch to defend his title. The rest of his season wasn’t much to write home about, with almost as many missed cuts (7) as top-25s (8), until he used T20 and T5 finishes in the first two Playoff events to catapult his way into his first Tour Championship appearance.

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)

Record: 6-7-4 in four appearances (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)

Hard to believe the 30-year-old Matuyama is about to start his fifth Presidents Cup, but the Japanese star heads to Quail Hollow as the alpha of the International squad. It was another good year for the World No. 17 on the PGA Tour, finishing 11th in the FedEx Cup after winning twice, with one of those victories coming last fall in his home country at the Zozo Championship. Only one of his previous partners, Adam Scott, is on the roster this week and they haven’t played together since Matsuyama’s Presidents Cup debut in 2013.

Sebastián Muñoz* (Colombia)

Record: First appearance

Munoz hasn’t quite played up to the same level as he did in his breakout season in 2019-20 when he got his first win at the Sanderson Farms Championship and then went on to finish 8th in the final FedEx Cup standings thanks to a solid performance at East Lake, but his 2021-22 campaign was enough to earn a captain’s pick. He had two runner-up finishes on the season.

Si Woo Kim* (South Korea)

Record: 1-2-0 in one appearance (2017)

Kim was the only one of Immelman’s captain’s selections with previous Presidents Cup experience, winning a four-ball match and losing in foursomes and singles matches in New Jersey in 2017. That season was also the year of his signature win, The Players Championship. He won in early 2021 at The American Express, but has not played well as of late, only recording one top 10s in 21-22, last fall at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Both of his partners from 2017 are not on this year’s team.

Taylor Pendrith* (Canada)

Record: First appearance

Normally for a rookie, an injury can be devastating. Taylor Pendrith missed time between The Players in March and the Barbasol Championship in July because of a rip injury, but it didn’t stop him from earning nine top 25s in 16 starts. Since coming back from the injury, Pendrith finished worse than T13th once in six starts, including a tie for second at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a tie for eighth at the BMW Championship.

Mito Pereira (Chile)

Record: First appearance

Heartbreak at the PGA Championship overshadowed what was otherwise a very respectable debut season on the PGA Tour for Pereira. He opened the year with a solo third at the Fortinet Championship and had two other top 10s, including at Southern Hills. Of course his season will be remembered for the leading the PGA through 71 holes, only to hit his tee shot in the water on 18, leading to a double bogey and missing the playoff. Pereira was rumored to be joining LIV Golf, but reportedly is waiting to jump so he could play in the Presidents Cup.

Adam Scott (Australia)

Record: 16-22-6 in nine appearances

The 42-year old hasn’t missed a Presidents Cup since 2001 and is by far the most experienced player on either team, having more appearances than the entire International team combined and as many as the entire American team combined. His 10th appearance will break his own record for the Internationals. He also has a chance to tie or pass Ernie Els’ International record of 21 points this week. Aging like fine wine, the 42-year-old didn’t win on the PGA Tour this year, but only missed two cuts all year and had five top 10s. His back-to-back T5s to start the FedEx Cup Playoffs helped him play his way into the Tour Championship from outside the top 70 at the end of the regular season. Matsuyama is the only teammate his paired with before on the International roster.

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The post Who does Davis Love III enjoy winning money from the most on the course? His answer will surprise you appeared first on Golf.

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St. Simons Island, Ga., has gained a reputation as a hotbed of professional golfers. Residents include Harris English, Hudson Swafford, Patton Kizzire, Brian Harman, Keith Mitchell, Zach Johnson, and Davis Love III.

One of the primary draws — in addition to the lure of a beautiful locale with a tight-knit, small-town feel — is the chance to rub shoulders with fellow elite players on the days when the they aren’t competing on the PGA Tour.

It’s during these times, at a number of top-notch area courses, including annual RSM Classic host Sea Island, that the pros’ wallets come out for some serious money games.

And on this week’s episode of Subpar, Love revealed the player he most enjoys taking money from to hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz — and his answer may surprise you.

“Dru Love,” Love said, referring to his professional-golfer son, who has competed on the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Canada.

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As Knost laughed, Knost mentioned that Kizzire has been the top pick for the other two pros to whom he’d posed the question.

“Patton hates — you know what, during Covid, we played a bunch of two, three, four groups. I learned about Venmo because I was winning money,” Love said. “I’m like, where’s the cash? Dru’s like, ‘No, Dad. You have to do Venmo.

“Ask Greyson Sigg. Dru beats everybody,” Love continued. “Like, Higgo came here before he went to [the Palmetto Championship at] Congaree. And Dru goes, hey, I met this kid, Garrick Higgo. He looks like he’s pretty good. I go, how’d he play? He goes, well, I won some money off him. Dru, on the island, you don’t want any part of him. But I always tell him, I can beat you if we find some yellow ropes and put them up.”

For more from Love, including his thoughts on LIV and Greg Norman, check out the full interview below.

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Davis Love III doesn’t seem to think LIV Golf has any intention of working with the PGA Tour.

On GOLF’s Subpar Podcast, Love told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stolz he thinks LIV Golf made it a point to go up against events sponsored by longtime PGA Tour partners, such as John Deere and RBC.

“They targeted that early on,” Love said. “So I don’t think there was any way that they wanted to get along or that they wanted to sit down and partner with us.”

When Knost brought up the idea that LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman would have never wanted to partner with the Tour in the first place because of a “vendetta” he might have against the PGA Tour, Love agreed.

“You can hear it in what he says,” Love said. “They say we’re here to shake it up, to take over, to change golf.

“He says things that are so untrue. He gets up there and says, ‘We’re a closed shop’ a few weeks ago. No, I know three guys and what you’re offering them and they’re begging him to come. It’s not a closed shop. And then he tells — I could see — you’ve seen it in the text messages that are released with Sergio. But he tells players they can’t suspend you for one day, much less a year. That’s a lie.”

“Yea it’s totally not true,” Knost replied.

“Guys get suspended all the time,” Love said, finishing his thought.

All players who have teed it up on the Saudi-backed, upstart tour have been suspended by the PGA Tour. Love has been one of the more outspoken longtime pros in the battle of public opinion between the two leagues.

Love suggested that it didn’t have to be that way, bringing up how the majors, DP World Tour and PGA Tour all coexist.

“We’ve made it easier for European players to play our Tour, not harder, right?” Love said. “We’ve made it easier for international players to get on our Tour.

“So we’ve been agreeable and accessible on everything except people that come into the United States and want to play against our weeks on Tour.”

Check out the entire Subpar episode below as Love discusses money games at his home course, what LIV Golf lacks and more.

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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 21-time PGA Tour winner Davis Love III who reveals his favorite pro to beat at home in Sea Island.

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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by US Presidents Cup Team Captain Davis Love III who discusses LIV Golf competing for players and statements made by commissioner Greg Norman.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 21-time PGA Tour winner Davis Love III who talks what LIV Golf lacks compared to the PGA Tour.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

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Davis Love III is maybe like you, should you have at least a passing interest in the fight that it is PGA Tour v. LIV Golf. To recap, the upstart, Saudi-backed latter has played three events, Tour members have been suspended for playing in them, 10 of those players have filed a lawsuit against the Tour for anticompetitive practices and restraint of trade, and three of those golfers filed for — and on Tuesday, failed to earn — a temporary restraining order in order to play in the start of the Tour’s playoffs. That’s a lot, though you probably have little idea what could come next. 

You’re also not alone. 

“Well, look, as I said a year ago, I would have said don’t worry about it,” Love said this week on the No Laying Up podcast. “Now you say, what’s next. I have no idea. I haven’t seen this movie before. We don’t know what’s going to happen. And it’s frightening. It’s disheartening.”

In speaking of the big picture, Love has a point. Concretely, we now know that no LIV players will play in the Tour’s three playoff events, all over the next three weeks, and LIV will play the fourth of its eight events the week after that, on Labor Day weekend. And LIV and the Tour will play events next year. We also know, on the court side, that the antitrust trial could start as early as fall 2023. But what the landscape looks like until then — after all, other Tour players will likely switch sides, and the sparring will continue — is unknown, as is what pro golf could evolve into after any trial. 

But could the sides ever negotiate? Podcast host Chris Solomon wisely asked Love the question — and it’s here where we’ll tell you that the entire show is worth your time — and Love had no doubts in this scenario. 

In a word, no. 

“We can’t sit down with guys that are wanting to compete against our model, because they don’t want — if they were saying, hey, we just want to get along, we’ll play outside the U.S., how can we make this system work,” Love said on the podcast. “Greg Norman flat-out will say … we want to shake up the golf world, we want to take over. And behind the scenes, they’re saying to players, we’re going to own the PGA Tour. You will see going forward in this Tour case, you know, their strategy is not to co-exist. 

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“So to your question before: Could the Tour see it coming, yeah, they’ve seen the real intentions coming for a long time, a lot clearer than me. When I talk to Tiger [Woods], when I talk to Rory [McIlroy], I go, ohhhh, I didn’t see that part of it. So there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes and reasons why — leave the Saudis out of it; it doesn’t matter whose three billion dollars it is; if they want to take over the PGA Tour and have us be a feeder system, we’ll pick guys out of college, we’ll pick guys off the PGA Tour and then we’ll have the best golf product in the world. Well, why wouldn’t we defend it? I don’t think we should sit down with them, especially not with [LIV CEO] Greg Norman.”

There’s a good deal to unpack there, and maybe it’s best to start by saying that Norman has said, at least publicly, that he believes the Tour and LIV can play together. In that scenario, and we’ll take any LIV player as an example, he would play in all 14 of LIV’s events next year — which will include several in North America — and then pick and choose a handful of PGA Tour events to complete his schedule. Love knows what the Tour would look like in this case. 

Still, let’s also say this could work in some scenario. It’s here where the conversation turns to media rights, and GOLF’s James Colgan expertly broke this down earlier this week. To sum things up in a few sentences, the Tour sells the exclusive right to broadcast its events to networks, who in turn pay a large sum to the Tour, and players agree “not to play in, and thereby contribute their media rights to, non-Tour golf events held in North America that conflict with PGA Tour events,” according to the Tour’s court filing from this week. Meanwhile, LIV, as Colgan described, will argue the Tour’s media rights rules were created with the intent of suppressing meaningful competition, refusing players the right to compete as they wish and, in turn, harming the growth potential of an upstart league. 

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It’s all murky, big money is at the root, and the case will eventually be determined in court, though each proceeding and verbal jab and player defection, you would think, make it more and more unlikely for a compromise. Then again, you never know. And Love will be watching. 

But back to him. You may also be wondering why Love has been so vocal on the issue — last week, at the Wyndham Championship, he spoke of a potential player boycott of events should LIV win, and he also appeared on a Fire Pit Collective podcast — and it’s a question Solomon also asked. For one, the 21-time Tour winner is this year’s U.S. Presidents Cup captain and a host of the Tour’s RSM Classic, so he has a business interest. 

But on the podcast, Love says it’s more than that.   

“I’m not saying the PGA Tour does everything right,” he said. “But somebody has to defend our rights and what’s right for the game, and good for the game is a great term. So am I sticking my neck out more than anybody’s ever seen me? Yeah, because I want to — Tiger can’t say what he thinks sometimes and can’t stick his neck out. I can stick my neck out. I can’t get hurt in this. But yes, I’m giving back. I’ve been blessed. …

“I’m defending the process that I know works. So if I overstep, Jay [Monahan, Tour commissioner] will tell me I’ve overstepped. It’s kind of like being in the Army or the Marines — I’m protecting my people as much as I can.”

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Golf’s next great battle could take place in a courtroom, but make no mistake about it, it’ll be decided on the course.

On Wednesday, Phil Mickelson joined 10 other LIV Golf players in filing an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in an effort to have their suspensions lifted. The suits allege the PGA Tour’s suspensions serve no purpose other than to cause harm to the players and to restrict LIV’s growth, and ask the court to issue a temporary restraining order that would allow each of the players to return to competing on the tour of their choice.

For the LIV 11, the goal of the suit is simple. If they are successful, each of the 11 players will be free to compete on whichever circuit they please, be it the PGA Tour, LIV, or the DP World Tour. But there’s one group who could stand in the way of even the group’s most successful legal efforts: their fellow professional golfers.

At the Wyndham Championship, U.S. Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III suggested that, should the courts rule in LIV’s favor, the PGA Tour’s players could take the dramatic step of boycotting tournaments attended by LIV players, setting the scene for what would be the first labor-related work stoppage in PGA Tour history.

“If we say to the FTC and to Washington, ‘no, we support the rules, we don’t want those guys playing,'” Love III said. “We don’t care what the courts say. Our only option really, the nuclear option, is to say ‘well fine, if they have to play in our events, we just won’t play.'”

Of course, any decision to boycott would require collective action among the Tour’s 175 card-carrying members, a massive accomplishment in one of the few professional sports without a labor union or collective bargaining. Unilateral agreement among the Tour constituency is exceedingly rare, and is one of the reasons responsible for the creation of the Tour’s Player Advisory Committee (PAC), a representative system in which players are elected to protect the best interests of the constituency.

But Love III says the LIV issue could be the rare issue strong enough to elicit a near-universal response from players. After all, he says, LIV inclusion on the PGA Tour would serve as a threat to players’ own personal and financial interests.

“If the LIV guys sue and are allowed to play on the PGA Tour, the players are enough fed up with it,” Love III said. “We understand that we make the rules on the PGA Tour. The commissioner is enforcing our rules. We don’t want those guys playing and coming in and cherry-picking our tournaments.”

In Love III’s vision, Tour players wouldn’t be forced to boycott every week on the calendar, only the weeks in which LIV players would submit for an entry into the field. If players have the freedom to choose the events they wish to enter without recourse, Love III’s logic goes, they too should have the freedom to choose which events not to enter.

It’s a radical vision, and one that remains unlikely to reach reality, but for a player group that has been rendered powerless to LIV defections and suspensions for the better part of two months, it’s also a reminder of the powers that are responsible for professional golf’s existence, and the ones that are not.

“We hold all the cards — not Jay [Monahan], not [PGA of America Commissioner] Seth Waugh, not [USGA CEO] Mike Whan, they don’t hold all the cards — we hold all the cards,” he said.

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The post Why this surprising Tiger Woods phone call meant so much to Davis Love appeared first on Golf.

Tiger Woods wasn’t a perfect Presidents Cup captain at the 2019 edition in Melbourne — his decision to bench himself for both sessions on a tight Day 3 remains a head-scratcher — but Tony Finau that week nicely summed up one of Woods’ biggest assets when he said, “We were very inspired to play for Tiger, and with Tiger, and it’s so satisfying to win this Cup because of that.”

Ergo, when the conversation turned to who would succeed Woods at the next Presidents Cup, the answer seemed obvious: no one. Capt. Woods should run it back.

Gear

One problem: Woods’ heart wasn’t fully in it, because he felt like he still had the game to qualify as a player for the 2021 edition at Quail Hollow, in Charlotte (which subsequently was pushed to 2022 on account of Covid). After Woods’ 2019 Masters win and spotless 3-0 performance at Royal Melbourne, you’d have been a fool to doubt him.

Also muddying the waters was the looming 2023 Ryder Cup captaincy. Might Woods fill that spot? Or was Zach Johnson a better match for Rome? The U.S. Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup captaincies are like a jigsaw puzzle — getting all the pieces to fit isn’t always easy.

As it turned out, neither player got the nod for Quail Hollow.

The duty instead went to Charlotte-born Davis Love III, who has twice served as U.S. Ryder Cup captain and also has been an assistant captain at multiple Presidents Cups. When the offer came to Love, it came from the same guy for whom Love had been lobbying to get the job: yep, Tiger Woods.

“He calls me and says, ‘All right, you’re captain in Charlotte. It’s the right thing to do at this time. You’re going to be Presidents Cup captain eventually, so you should do it in Charlotte,” Love recalled earlier this week from the RBC Heritage. “To have him make that phone call and be a part of it really makes it even more special. I’ve had some great phone calls like that as both captain and assistant captain, but that was the coolest one probably.”

News

Among the next big questions: Will Woods play on Love’s team? Or, more to the point, will he be physically able come September? Love knows about as much as you do. He, like many observers, didn’t think Woods would play again. Woods did. He, like many observers, didn’t think Woods could walk 72 holes at Augusta National. Woods did. Could Woods possibly qualify for Love’s team?

“I’ll just say no, he’s not going to play enough golf and he won’t be able to do it, so then he’ll do it,” Love said.

Love said he just wants Woods around the team in any capacity, even if it has to happen remotely, via teleconferences and texts, as was the case at the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits last fall. If Woods continues to show flashes of his old self this season, a captain’s pick is also very much a possibility.

“Any role he wants,” Love said. “We had to pry him off the couch a little bit last winter and spring to get involved in the Ryder Cup and then once we got him going, he was very engaged and loved it. Obviously, it’s been a long year and a half for him, so that’s one thing that [assistant captains] Fred [Couples] and Zach [Johnson] and I need to do is get him in the loop and say, ‘All right, what do you want to do?’

“I mean, if he says, ‘You’re not captain anymore, I’m going to be the captain,’ we’ll probably have to talk about that one. But anything else, if he wants to be co-captain or assistant captain or player … whatever he wants to do.”

It’s good to be king.

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The post Inside Davis Love III’s bag: 7 interesting things I learned inspecting his clubs appeared first on Golf.

The post Inside Davis Love III’s bag: 7 interesting things I learned inspecting his clubs appeared first on Golf.

Davis Love III is a certified legend in the game of golf. He turned professional in 1985 out of the University of North Carolina, and since then he’s amassed 21 PGA Tour victories, including the 1997 PGA Championship and the Players Championship (1992, 2003).

The 57-year-old is also a Ryder Cup icon, golf course architect, author, and he hosted the recent 2021 RSM Classic in Sea Island.

Love III has been a professional since the days of persimmon driver heads with steel shafts, so he’s been right in the heart of the technology boom over the past several decades. As one of the old school pros on tour, it’s always interesting to see what he decides to have in the bag these days.

Recently, at the RSM Classic, I was able to take in-hand photos of Love III’s golf clubs. Here are 7 things I learned from his setup.

1) Lead tape placement

Those little gray strips of tape that pros apply to their golf clubs are called lead tape. The inexpensive, heavy strips help to add weight, and based on the location and how much is applied, lead tape can actually help shift center of gravity (CG) in the club head, thus impacting how the golf ball flies.

With two long strips added to the back portion of his Titleist TSi3 8-degree head, it’s likely Love III is looking to move weight away from the face to increase launch and forgiveness.

On his Titleist AP2 718 mid irons (6 and 7), Love III has clumps of lead tape around the middle portion of the back cavities, likely helping to add overall weight to the club head and put more meat behind the center of the face. On his 5-iron, though, Love III has just a small strip on the heel portion. While that may not be enough weight to significantly change the CG, the placement of the tape may help Love III release the club slightly faster for a draw flight.

It’s important to remember when applying lead tape for yourself that the location matters! Don’t apply lead tape on the club head just because it looks cool (although I do think it looks cool). If you’re confused about what location you may need to apply extra weight, consult a trusted fitter or local professional for advice.

2) A missile launcher

Love III uses a Titleist TS3 fairway wood, which was designed to be slightly smaller and lower-launching than its TS2 family member. Upon a closer look, he also employs the 13.5-degree version of the club head rather than the more traditional 15-degree version.

Loft is a crucial aspect of finding the launch, spin and distance you need, so make sure to test out multiple options before purchasing a golf club. For Love III, it’s likely he was looking for a slightly more penetrating ball flight with his fairway wood. Most amateurs, on the other hand, will probably benefit from clubs with more loft!

3) Always a Tar Heel

Love III was a three-time All American at the University of North Carolina, capturing six tournament titles, so he surely wasn’t short of confidence when he turned pro. He quickly proved he had staying power in the pro ranks, winning his first PGA Tour event in 1987 at the MCI Heritage Golf Classic at Harbour Town. It appears he’s never forgotten where he’s come from, though, as he still represents the UNC Tar Heels with his Stitch-made headcovers.

4) An iron set from the new school

Split iron sets (also referred to as “blended” or “mixed” sets) combine different models of irons to take advantage of design differences in the heads. Old school golfers – Love III could certainly be considered part of this group – typically grew up using one model throughout their set. Often, that meant using very small, thin and unforgiving long irons. Love III, however, has taken to the new school mentality of combining models.

For Love III, he uses a Titleist U-505 2-iron, a U-500 4-iron, and AP2 718 irons (5-9 iron). This means his longer irons will be relatively more forgiving, higher launching, and help to increase forgiveness across the face. His shorter irons help to take advantage of spin and trajectory control.

5) Simple stampings

Wedge stampings allow golfers to express their creativity, sense of humor, sports fandom, or give a shoutout to their family. When you have an awesome nickname like “DL3,” though, what else do you really need from your stampings?

Also take note of the loft-gapping of Love III’s raw Titleist SM8 wedges. Most interestingly, he goes with a 46-degree wedge instead of using the pitching wedge from his AP2 iron set. Using a traditional wedge rather than a stock iron-like pitching wedge can help golfers add a bit more control and spin, but a slight loss in distance.

6) A masterful putter

Love III is no stranger to using Scotty Cameron’s throughout his years on the PGA Tour. He even has his own “Inspired By” model made by Scotty Cameron himself. With such a close relationship to Scotty, it’s always exciting to see what flatstick Love III has in his bag.

At the RSM Classic, Love III was gaming a Tour-Only “Masterful” putter, which is made of high-end GSS (German Stainless Steel) with a milled face.

Funny enough, the topline dot was actually made with just a sharpie marker. It always makes me laugh when pros, who have access to the best club builders and prototypes money can buy, end up making custom adjustments with just a sharpie. But hey, whatever works.

7) The importance of shaft fitting

Need proof that shaft fitting is hugely important? Love III uses four different models of shafts throughout his set. He has a Fujikura Ventus Red shaft in his driver, a Tensei CK Blue 80 TX in his fairway wood, a Project X HZRDUS RDX Smoke in his driving iron (2), and True Temper Elevate Tour X shafts in the rest of his irons and wedges.

The lesson here is to not just assume that all of your clubs need to be from the same shaft manufacturer. Since each club head is different, each club needs to be fit differently for a shaft. Take Love III’s setup as the perfect example.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2021? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below!

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