All The Presidents: Men And Women

The Presidents Cup is begging for a breath of fresh air and the most logical way of doing it is by opening the event up to women golfers.

Full disclaimer – this was written before a ball had been hit from the first tee at Quail Hollow. And even if the Internationals team does well this week, the idea remains as valid as ever.

The Presidents Cup … what to make of it? Especially given that the US team has won all but two playings with one being a draw. Through the years of Ryder Cup struggles, they have continued to dominate and win the Cup against the Internationals. And now, as the US team is coming into a period of their own dominance in the Ryder Cup it could really turn this biennial event into a D-grade golf competition.

The exodus of LIV golfers has robbed Trevor Immelman of some of his best talent, some of the most exciting, and some of the most experienced.

Ernie Els, who oversaw his team come so close at Royal Melbourne, changed the way the Internationals were picked in a bid to have more captain’s picks. It has worked to an extent but it won’t bring what this Cup needs – a true competitive change to the status quo.

The best (and if not the only) way to do it is to bring the best in women’s golf.

Simple idea: Bring 6 women into the 12-person team. Four men and women would qualify automatically and there would be 4 picks by the captains – two men and two women.

The Internationals team goes from – excluding the names here for the purposes of this matter:

17
19
22
26
30
43
49
63
66
67
76
109

to this:

1
3
4
5
6
8
17
19
22
26
30
43

Did you see what happened? 

By adding Jin Young Ko, Minjee Lee, Lydio Ko, Atthaya Thitikul, Brooke Henderson and In Gee Chun.

And don’t forget that in the women’s rankings, from 9-20 there are 9 Internationals in the mix.

It’s something that the Internationals audience would seriously get behind. The team gets far stronger overnight. But there are other aspects to consider.

We’ve seen mixed events on the main tours but this would be the biggest stage and would make significant strides in actually growing the game. It would foster a better atmosphere between the best in men’s and women’s games and no doubt would have great spinoffs commercially for the biggest women’s tours.

So, if this Presidents Cup does indeed go according to the stats, the form book, etc then surely it’s time to explore turning the Presidents Cup into a mixed-team event.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is on record as saying back in 2018: “We’re very interested in getting the men and women together inside the ropes in the same week and in the same competition. I think that’s something you’ll see in the future. It’s just a matter of time. That’s really exciting and interesting.”

Let’s get done with the talking already.

BET Contributor