President Cup preview, LIV Golf changes

Check in every week for the unfiltered views of our writers and editors as they analyze the hottest topics in sports, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @igalofu_com. This week, we discuss the upcoming President’s Cup, LIV Golf’s Team Championship and the future, and more.

Presidents Cup week! So let’s head to Canada, where the Americans are playing The Internationals at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec. The US dominates the event and owns a 12-1-1 all-time record and is undefeated in two decades. If Mike Weir and the Internationals are going to win this week, what has to happen?

Jessica Marksbury, editor-in-chief (@jess_marksbury): The US will need to shut down their game to post an L this week. On paper, the Americans are just that, very powerful. But, that being said, it’s a matching game! So anything is possible (in theory). Playing on home soil is often a big motivator. With a Canadian captain and three Canadians on the international team, perhaps the unexpected will happen. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

Zephyr Melton, assistant editor (@zephyrmelton): The entire US team needs to oversleep their tee times? I’m kidding (sort of), but I really don’t see a way for the Internationals to win. Without the talent lost in LIV, the international team doesn’t have the strength to match Team America. I expect another pressure-free victory for the Americans.

Josh Sens, senior author (@joshsens): Weir can arrest Scottie Scheffler, and when the American team goes to protest, he can shut everyone else down. Like Jess said, it’s a matching game. Nothing is predetermined. But smokers have lost their reason.

Jack Hirsh, assistant editor (@JR_HIRSHey): The Canadian boys went undefeated. The only way the US team loses is if the home crowd is really fired up because of the five Canadians hacking their opponents. As my colleagues have mentioned, the gameplay is very good!

The Americans don’t have long-time event standouts Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and they already didn’t have any LIV players (Brooks Koepka was in the last Ryder Cup team). Is this US team more losing than any we’ve seen in years?

Marksbury: No. Even without those notable exceptions, the US remains so deep! Scottie, Collin, Xander, Sahith, Keegan, to name a few, all in between seasons.

Melton: They may be a slowly they’re more vulnerable than we’ve seen in the past, but they’re still a very strong group. The US has the deepest talent at the highest levels of professional golf. Although this team may lack the talent of previous teams, it still has a lot of talent.

Senses: All due respect to Spieth and Thomas, but neither has been lighting it up lately. I don’t see the US missing a step in its absence. And it’s not like the Internationals haven’t lost talent to LIV, either. No Cameron Smith. Not Joaqium Nieman.

Hirsh: Sorry to sound like a broken record, but no. Americans have won the last seven majors, the last two Players Championships and the last two Olympic golds. And that doesn’t include guys like Morikawa, Cantlay, Theegala, etc. This team is undefeated at all.

Look at your shiny ball and predict the highest scorers (for each team) and give us the winner.

Marksbury: Scottie Scheffler would put a bow on an already historic season by going 4-0-0 (four points) to lead the US Tom Kim would hit a three-pointer to lead the Internationals, but the US would end up winning 18-12.

Melton: Team USA: Xander Schauffele (3.5 points); International team: Adam Scott (2.5 points). Team USA comes out on top 18.5-11.5.

Senses: I think—or at least hope—it will be close. Team USA 16-14. Xander would take 4 points to lead the way for the Americans, with Canadian Taylor Pendrith ousting 3.5 at the Internationals.

Hirsh: Tom Kim was electric two years ago, I saw him and Hideki Matsuyama lead 2.5-3 points at the Internationals but they couldn’t hear Corey Conners’ argument. In the US, I see Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa (yes, this is the one that will get him out of his funk) going 4-0-0. The US rolls 17-13, close enough to make it exciting for the rest of the week, but still out of the question.

LIV Golf ended its season with a team tournament Sunday in Dallas, along with some of the league’s team captains. potential changes in the future are noted. What do you do with their comments? And how does more “team play” fit into LIV’s future (and does it mean the pending PGA Tour vs. LIV matchup)?

Marksbury: Despite the world-class points — and the broader context of each tournament’s meaning in the world of pro golf — the stroke-play portion of the LIV events lacks the drama of the PGA Tour events they face over the weekend. The LIV team segment has always been divisive, and making that segment of the league more engaging and exciting from a fan perspective would be a great thing.

Melton: Relying heavily on the team aspect will give LIV more identity than it has developed so far. For three seasons, part of the team has been undercooked, but if they were to make it the focus of the team, it would give them a clear identity that is different from all the golfers. Maybe LIV will be your team’s playground, while Tour is where you play for yourself? I wouldn’t hate that idea.

Senses: You get the idea from the comments of the players that they realize that things need to be shaken up. What should you really do? The biggest weakness of LIV is that there is no sense that anything is at stake. Relying on the team aspect makes sense, but I would add a Squid Game element to it. Not with blood and guts but with the power of real and immediate loss. Make it the bottom line of the descent. If a boy doesn’t do well for a few weeks in a row, he gets a warning. If he doesn’t shape the next one, replace him with someone else.

Hirsh: I really like that idea, Zephyr, you totally embrace the team aspect. I think playing individual and team tournaments at the same time is a problem in pro golf. It works at the college level because each event is second to the team event, not so much when there is $4 million at stake for first place. I think the team match play feature was fun as an innovation, but it was confusing and hard to follow. But it may be fixed in the future.

Speaking of LIV, in Year 3 now, what’s next and what’s important? Creating paths with Tour? Signing more talent? A big, wide TV deal? If you’re running a program, what’s on your offseason agenda?

Marksbury: A comprehensive agreement should be uppermost in mind. It seems like the only way to give LIV the consistency it needs – and a way to add both intrigue and eyeballs.

Melton: They should get a better TV deal. It’s hard to take a league seriously when it draws less attention than the world championship of underwater basket weaving. With the right TV partner, LIV will never fail to appeal to the masses.

Senses: A TV deal for sure. But I’ll also be pushing some LIV-vs.-Tour events, like the upcoming telecast with Scheffer, Bryson, Brooks and Rory. Grow that into a Ryder Cup-style tournament, and you’ll get attention.

Hirsh: It’s a TV deal like my colleagues said, but I also need to make sure their guys are getting quality points and that means finding ways to go to the majors again. There will be plenty of big names missing next year.

Rory McIlroy’s latest call came at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, as he lost a playoff to Billy Horschel. This followed a runner-up finish at the Irish Open last week and, back-to-back, his disappointing US Open loss. He hasn’t won since May. Any reason to worry about what is happening during this time?

Marksbury: A little! I can’t help but feel there are some mental game issues at play, when a player of Rory’s caliber collapses more than a few times a season. But we’ve seen him jump forward, and this has been a tough year for him personally and professionally. I’m inclined to give him some credit, and hope he can get some serious rest in the off-season.

Melton: No need to worry – closing golf tournaments is hard! The reason we’re talking about this is because he continues to put himself in contention. It would be very worrying if Rory was missing the cut every week. He’ll be back in the winner’s circle soon.

Senses: I agree that he will be back in the winner’s circle very soon. But I also think Rory’s fans have reason to worry that he’s going to close the deal on the events that matter most to him, which are obviously the biggest ones. A 10-year drought is a long stretch, and there have been a number of painful misses along the way.

Hirsh: Pump the brakes! Are we forgetting 2013, 2017 and 2020 when he didn’t win at all? He’s won twice on the PGA Tour this year (OK technically once) and has been in contention for loads of other times. I’d say he’s winning by more than at any point in his career. He doesn’t just win big! It will happen.