President's Cup Preview & Betting Insight

President’s Cup Preview

Team golf is back this weekend as the President’s Cup heads to Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC. Unfortunately, the International side has been decimated by LIV golf defections and we won’t see Cam Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, or Louis Oosthuizen. On top of that, the US team comes into this week after a historic win at the Ryder Cup in 2021. Put them on a bomber’s course at Quail Hollow that should set up well for the US, and the Internationals have little hope.

The Course:

Quail Hollow is a regular PGA Tour stop for the Wells Fargo Championship. The US side has a recent winner here in Max Homa, and Justin Thomas won his first PGA Championship here, but most players should be familiar with the layout. A few notes on the course and how I expect it to play:

• Quail is a par 71 at about 7,500 yards. It’s generally a bombers paradise, but it's not a birdie fest.

• Expect them to use several different tee boxes to bring in some strategy. For example, number 8 is a very short par 4 where you see a lot of balls within 50 yards of the green during the Wells Fargo. This could be a fun match play hole if the tee is moved up for the whole field to be able to reach the green.

• I expect the rough will be cut extremely short, as we often see on US home setups in these team events. This plays into the bombers hands even more.

• The course has been re-routed for the Presidents Cup in order to bring the difficult “Green Mile” into play for more matches. The Green Mile typically plays as 16-18, but will be 13-15 this week.

• Favorite Hole: Traditional #14, which will play as #11 this week (see below). It’s a reachable par 4 for everyone, and some with less than driver. However, the green is narrow and well-guarded by by bunkers and a lake left of the green. Very few players actually drive it “on” the green, and it is not an easy up-and-down.

The Format:

Thursday: 5 foursomes matches

Friday: 5 fourballs matches

Saturday: 4 fourball/4 foursomes matches

Sunday: 12 singles matches

Therefore there are a total of 30 points up for grabs, and teams need to secure 15.5 to win.

Predictions:

The United States is -700 for a reason. The talent difference between these two sides is unfair. I would be surprised if we even get any weekend drama.

With that said, how can Trevor Immelman set up his International team to be competitive? If it were me, I would load up with power pairings. I’d pair Sungjae with Tom Kim and Adam Scott with Hideki, then I’d play them in every single session. You have to try to create advantages in any way you can and then just hope you get lucky. I also expect to see good friends Corey Conners & Taylor Pendrith paired together.

On the United States side, expect to see the usual power pairings of Thomas-Spieth and Cantlay-Xander. No matter what pairings the International team throws out, they will simply be overmatched. I predict a final tally of 19-11, US over the Internationals.

Betting Angles:

Due to the lopsided nature of this event, its pretty difficult to find betting angles. The US should be favored in nearly every match, so its almost impossible to predict who will be their highest scorers, but I think there are some intriguing angles on the International side:

One angle would be looking at who will play the most sessions; Hideki, Sungjae, Scott, Conners are likely to play all 5. But how important is this really when they are likely to be dogs in every match?

Therefore, I’m looking at some of the International longshots in Taylor Pendrith +1100 & Cam Davis +1200 to be the top scoring Internationals. Both are bombers who should excel on this layout and I don’t think they should sit out many sessions with Bezuidenhout & KH Lee below them on the totem pole. If they can get hot and win a match on day 1, they will almost assuredly play every session. This is good value in an event that provides very little.

Stay tuned to our twitter page for updates on match bets each day once the pairings are announced.

RM