Keegan Bradley Makes Team USA’s Presidents Cup Squad, But Justin Thomas Is Out
By putting his name in chalk, United States captain Jim Furyk has added excitement to the run-up to this month’s Presidents Cup.
Furyk selected Nos. 7-12 on the team rankings for his six captain’s picks, which were announced Tuesday. The move means Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley will play for Team USA for the first time in a decade, but longtime American stalwart Justin Thomas will stay home.
The other American picks were Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Tony Finau. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala were the six automatic selections for the team.
The Presidents Cup will be held from September 26 to 29 at the Royal Montreal Golf Club.
“I’m just trying to put the pieces together,” Furyk said in explaining his choice, which he called a “tough omission” but gave no further explanation to Golf Channel for leaving out Thomas. The 31-year-old was No. 19 in the points rankings.
Bradley was initially set to serve as Furyk’s assistant captain, his only chance to gain team leadership experience before the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. Instead, he will be relieved of those duties, Furyk said, and will be allowed to focus on playing instead.
International team captain Mike Weir selected Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee and Taylor Pendrith. Conners, Hughes and Pendrith are all Canadian, giving the team a real maple flavour with a Canadian captain and three players. They join Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Byeong Hun An.
What about the American team
This is both unsurprising and incredibly disappointing at the same time. Furyrk going with the players ranked 7-12 saves himself from criticism because he can say “it’s fair,” but it means the US has a team that is failing in both current form And recruiting young talent. Max Homa has fallen to No. 86 on DataGolf amid a dismal season, and Brian Harman has just one top-10 finish since March. Meanwhile, Justin Thomas is a US Cup legend and is having a much better season than both. Thomas is 9-3-2 at Presidents Cups and finished T14 at the Tour Championship, and Akshay Bhatia won this year’s Texas Open. Getting the 22-year-old rising star into the team room for the future could have been invaluable. It all feels like a missed opportunity that neither brings in the best team nor helps the team move forward. — Brody Miller
Furyk could have gone straight down the list and picked the next six players on the US Presidents Cup rankings, but some of those selections are still baffling. Harman and Homa are outclassed by several players who would have been excellent choices, including Thomas, who is widely regarded as one of the best American match play players of this generation. Harman was likely chosen for his accuracy in driving in preparation for a tight and narrow Royal Montreal, and Homa will provide the fire and spirit that comes naturally to him in a team setting. But consider Bhatia or even someone like 20-year-old Nick Dunlap. This year’s Cup could have been the perfect opportunity to prepare young blood for future team events, but instead Furyk went with an older set of picks who aren’t necessarily playing that well right now. Stats likely played a big role in these decisions, along with partner fit. But you can’t ignore recent form, and it appears Furyk did just that. — Gabby Herzig
What about the international team
Weir is showing his Canadian homeland some love, but maybe not the love we thought. It would have been impossible for Weir to leave out Lee or Kim — two of his top prospects — or Bezuidenhout, who is having a great year, so there were essentially three decisions left. You could argue that Conners is one of the top five players internationally, so that’s a no-brainer. The same goes for Pendrith, who has jumped to No. 25 in the world rankings in DataGolf with a career year. It’s the choice of Hughes over potentially better prospects like Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor that’s so hard to make. Both Hadwin and Taylor have struggled mightily in recent months, so I get it, but Taylor is a killer with two big boy wins in the 2024 WM Phoenix Open and the 2023 Canadian Open before an absolute mess of a summer ensued. That stings. (It’s the right move to leave out Australian Cam Davis. His nice win in Detroit was more of an outlier.) — Miller
Weir considered several factors in his captaincy choices. Still, Canada’s home-game element and emphasis on recent form appear to have dominated his decision-making process. Of Weir’s captaincy choices, all three Canadians will enjoy playing on familiar ground in front of a cheering crowd. Hughes — who entered the 2022 roster at No. 15 in the International Team rankings — was notably left out of the squad. He’s also known to embrace leadership roles and should fit in well in the team room. Pendrith and Conners were the picks, seemingly over Hadwin and Taylor, who are perhaps the most recognizable and fiery Canadians. The selection indicated Weir’s prioritization of consistency and recent tournament results. Then there’s Kim: He brought some memorable heat to the 2022 matches and was undoubtedly a no-brainer choice for locker-room energy. Additionally, Weir specifically singled out Kim’s putting, which has been shaky of late but looks set to improve with a putter change. Bezuidenhout crept into the FedEx top 30 in an underrated season, and Lee has emerged as one of the best drivers on the PGA Tour and established himself as an easy fan favorite. Overall, there aren’t too many surprises here, aside from Hughes’ curveball and Davis being passed over at No. 8 in the rankings. Weir’s picks are strong and represent a deliberate, multifaceted strategy. — Herzig
Required reading
(Top photo: Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
