The biannual Presidents Cup wrapped up last weekend at Royal Montreal in Canada. The golf tournament, which pits 12 American male professional golfers against 12 “International” golfers (read: everyone except Europe), is the spurned little brother of the Ryder Cup (U.S. vs Europe), which takes place in opposite years.
What if it became a mixed event?
In the 15 times the event has been played since 1994, the International team has won once, in 1998.
Apart from a single draw in 2003, the U.S. has won every other time, and it hasn’t even been close in recent years — the Americans won by a seven-point margin this year (18.5 – 11.5), meaning that Sunday’s singles matches were all but a formality.
At this year’s Presidents Cup, the average Official World Golf Ranking of the U.S. team was 12.67. The International team’s average was 34.5. That is a huge margin.
Americans represent five of the top 10 spots in the OWGR (excluding Bryson DeChambeau, who sits in the 10th position but was not eligible to compete because he plays for LIV Golf), with only Hideki Matsuyama representing the International team.
Not to mention the form of players coming into the event — Scottie Scheffler alone had more wins on the PGA Tour this season than all of the Internationals combined, and Xander Schauffele won not one, but two majors this year. All of the statistical signs pointed to a U.S. blowout that not even the Canadian home crowd could dampen.
The lack of competitiveness from the International side makes for an uncompelling watch, especially during the PGA Tour offseason. Although young phenom Tom Kim did his best to carry the team and rile up the crowd, one person can’t do everything in a team event.
However, a new idea has been gaining some traction — a mixed Presidents Cup.
The women would add much more depth to the International side and, after the success of the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational last year (the first co-sanctioned mixed event), both professionals and representatives from PGA and LPGA tours have expressed interest in the idea.
Stacy Lewis, the U.S. captain for the Solheim Cup, the LPGA Tour’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup, said she’d “love to see the Presidents Cup become mixed” in a press conference during this year’s Solheim Cup.
“It’s the perfect way to blend the two tours,” Lewis said. “The international team will get better very quickly.”
Operating solely on World Rankings, the average World Ranking of the top six men and top six women of the U.S. team would be 8.33, while the International average would be 14.25. The U.S. side would still have a mathematical advantage, but the margin is much smaller (and that doesn’t even account for potential coaches’ picks).
The LPGA Tour currently only has the Solheim Cup on its schedule, so it wouldn’t have to cancel another team event to join the Presidents Cup. However, the Solheim Cup currently takes place during the same years as the Presidents Cup, so it would have to switch to Ryder Cup years, which could mess with media coverage.
The only downside for the PGA Tour is that it would have to split revenue from the tournament with the LPGA Tour, which it has been reticent to do with TV deals in the past. If the horrendous TV ratings from LIV Golf show anything, it is that throwing a bunch of money at a problem isn’t the solution to marketability in golf.
People want to watch golf tournaments with substance, which the Presidents Cup currently lacks. The solution is there — the tours just have to commit to it.
