From left: Sungjae Im, Tom Kim and Min Woo Lee in a lighter moment Monday at Royal Montreal.
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MONTREAL — The talk turns to Sunday, although it’s now Monday. They’re playing pro golf, but the chatter is about pro football.
About Tom Brady. The GOAT-turned-TV-analyst seemingly still dominates conversation, even if he’s just tossing out nouns and verbs now, rather than pigskins. Or at least TB12 did here, on the 12th green of stately Royal Montreal, as four Americans readied for Thursday’s start of the Presidents Cup, which biennially pits the US against the best in the world outside of Europe.
“Did any of you catch what Tom Brady said yesterday?” said caddy Ted Scott, whose employer, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, is currently shredding golf courses to a similar level as Brady once did defenses. Scott then continued his anecdote about Brady’s thoughts on Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys-Baltimore Ravens game, and laughs followed from Scheffler and Sam Burns, a Scheffler teammate this week and a close friend.
The takeaways here are a few. For one, Brady is at least getting some folks to tune in, although whether he’s worth nine figures is a debate to be argued on another web page. This, of course, is a golf article. And the thought on the golf is that the quick back-and-forth offered a peek into the Scheffler-Scott dynamic, which shouldn’t be underestimated in the pro’s ascent — and that the American mood looked light Monday, when spectators were limited to various officials and a handful of reporters.
Including this one, who’s hoping to offer 17 more observations on the week ahead in the paragraphs to follow.
In the words of Brady then, let’s goooo!
2. If you’re into the history of this event, know that the US side has won 12 of the 14 games of the Cup, losing once and tying once. This also fascinated me, though. This is the second time that Royal Montreal has hosted, following 2007, when memorably Tiger Woods was defeated in Sunday singles by Mike Weir, this year’s captain, on Weir’s home-country soil.
Two years later at the Presidents Cup, and 15 years ago now, Woods and partner Steve Stricker then defeated Weir and partner Tim Clark in a match — where Woods authored THE club twirl on his way to sealing things, which you can see below.
3. More history!
Also at the 2007 event, during Friday four-ball play, while trying to drive the drivable par-4 14th hole, Woody Austin hit his tee shot into the water to the left of the green, then this happened on his second swing — and he became known as Aquaman:
4. You’re going to hear about the shot this week.
On Monday afternoon, Golf Channel analyst Johnson Wagner was scoping out the area, then tried the swing later in the day, which you can watch here. He’s been fantastic in recreating shots on live air.
5. Shortly after Wagner looked at the spot, the author did. It’s a steep drop.
The water was warm, though.
6. MORE history!
Just five Americans — Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele — were on the 2021 team that steam-rolled the Euro side at the Ryder Cup.
The next year, LIV Golf notably started.
7. It will likely be brought up this week how US captain Jim Furyk and International captain Weir feel about the PGA of America’s recent announcement that LIV players can be picked for the US team.
The Presidents Cup is, of course, staged by the PGA Tour — which has been in a three-season-long fight with LIV.
8. Should the Presidents Cup be a mixed event? US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis thought so.
“To be honest, I’d love to see the Presidents Cup become mixed,” she said two weeks ago. “It’s the perfect way to blend the two tours. The International team will get better very quickly.
“I think it would be amazing to have the two tours together that way.”
Tour Confidential: Presidents Cup preview, LIV Golf changes and more
GOLF Editors
9. Should you be wondering if the pay-for-play storyline from last year’s Ryder Cup will continue, know that players won’t be paid at the Presidents Cup.
Here is the official word, from the Presidents Cup website, in the “frequently asked questions” section:
“The Presidents Cup is a biennial global team competition between the United States and an International team that represents the rest of the world excluding Europe. The competition alternates between venues in the US and overseas. The Presidents Cup is a unique golf event in that there is no purse or prize money. Players are not paid for their participation, but each competitor allocates an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice. Since the inception of the Presidents Cup in 1994, more than $56.4 million has been generated from event proceeds. Over the past 25 years, the Presidents Cup has impacted more than 475 charities in 18 countries worldwide. Cognizant and Rolex are the exclusive Global Partners of the Presidents Cup.”
10. On that note, below are Cantlay’s thoughts on this year’s clothing.
11. Speaking of articles of clothing, Keegan Bradley’s caddy, Scott Vail, was quizzing Scheffler on his shoes while walking after a tee shot, making a gesture at one point in the manner of Scheffler’s slide follow-through.
Scheffler re-assured him that the grips on his shoes were good.
12. If you’re up for some Presidents Cup reading, Furyk sounded fired up in this article here from Golfweek’s Adam Schupak.
13. And Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan makes the case in this article here that the Presidents Cup will one day be bigger than the Ryder Cup.
14. Here’s saying Min Woo Lee is the breakout International star.
15. Here’s saying Sahith Theegala is the breakout American star.
16. Here’s hoping Max Homa holes out.
Should he, assistant captain Kevin Kisner promises to take his tarp off, a la the caddies two weeks ago at the Solheim Cup.
17. So who wins this?
Our Tour Confidential gang has their say here. If you’re into odds, as of Monday afternoon, BetMGM lists the US at -250, and the Internationals at +260 (and a tie at +1,400)
Me? No guesses here. But if you believe in depth of talent, the world rankings will tell you that favors the Americans (The US: Scottie Scheffler, No., 1; Xander Schuaffele, No., 2; Collin Morikawa, No. 4; Wyndham Clark, No 6, No. 13; No. 19; 23. And the Internationals: No. 21; , No. 34; No. 45;
If you believe in home-course advantage, that should fall into the International ledger. The Canadian Open annually is a party. This Thursday through Sunday should be bopping.
18. On that note, the Avis rental car stand on Monday at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport was all outta cars. The reason a cashier told a poor soul ahead of me in line:
“A golf tournament.”
19. Bonus!
If you’ve made it this far, and you love your Montreal, tell me where I need to eat. Give me your recs at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
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