A long week at the Presidents Cup, a lot of matches. Time to grade the participants.
So let’s get to it.
United States Team:
Jordan Spieth (5-0-0): Spieth was simply unstoppable as that putter of his is coming back to what we saw when he was winning major championships. He was unbeatable with teammate and good friend Justin Thomas. Together, Jordy and J.T. went 4-0-0 in the two-man matches. Grade: A+
Max Homa: (4-0-0): Came into the competition with big-time momentum from his win out at the Fortinet where he successfully defended his championship. Sat out just one team session and went 4-0-0 and we’ll see him on the U.S. side for the Ryder Cup. He really wanted to play in this competition. Grade: A+
Justin Thomas (4-1-0): J.T. was unbeatable with Spieth at his side. He went out in the first match Sunday but couldn’t get the first point, losing 1-up to Si Woo Kim in the battle of two Players Champions. Still, J.T. was quite effective. Grade: A
Patrick Cantlay (3-1-0): Unbeatable at alternate shot with sidekick Xander Schauffele. Only loss came in the best-ball portion Saturday afternoon as he and X-man lost to Si Woo and Tom Kim, 1-up. Cantlay/Schauffele may be the world’s best alternate shot duo. Grade: A
Xander Schauffele (3-1-0): See Patrick Cantlay. Grade A
Tony Finau (3-1-0): Tony’s only loss came when he had to team with Kevin Kisner, who was a mill-stone around everyone’s neck. Grade: A
Collin Morikawa (2-1-0): Sat out two sessions, don’t know why. Grade A-
Sam Burns (0-3-2): Didn’t win a match with Scottie Scheffler. Seriously? Burns only managed two half-points? Grade: F
Scottie Scheffler (0-3-1): Pitiful. What happened to the Scottie Scheffler we saw at the Ryder Cup? He didn’t look prepared. The world’s No. 1 simply didn’t show up. Grade: F-
Kevin Kisner (0-2-1): He was dead weight to haul around Quail. Grade: F
Billy Horschel (1-2-0): At least Billy didn’t get shut out of the win column. Grade: C-
Cameron Young (1-2-1): Weak showing considering all the hype around him. Lost on Sunday to Sungjae Im. Under-performed considering his talent level Grade C-
International Team:
Si Woo Kim (3-1-0): Nice week for Si Woo, especially considering he can’t putt anymore and went to the desperation long putter. Grade: A
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1-0-1): Not sure why he sat out three of the five sessions. Win against Kisner, well, yeah. Grade: B
Sungjae Im (2-2-1): Captain Immelman was probably hoping for more points from Sungjae. Grade: B-
K.H. Lee (2-1-0): Getting two points was an accomplishment from anyone on the International side: Grade B+
Sebastian Munoz (2-0-1): Took down the world’s No. 1 in singles. Grade: A
Adam Scott (2-3-0): Mistake to pair him with Hideki. Getting long in the tooth for this stuff. Grade: C
Tom Kim (2-3-0): Brought his 20-year-old enthusiasm to the week. Beat Burns and Scheffler on the final hole Saturday afternoon by himself. Grade: B+
Cam Davis (2-3-0): Introduced himself to a lot of viewers. He’s got talent! Grade: B
Corey Conners (0-4-0): Probably the biggest disappointment to captain Immelman: Grade: F
Taylor Pendrith (0-4-0): Dead weight with Conners — Oh Canada!! Grade: F
Hideki Matsuyama (1-2-1): Another disappointment. Grade: D
Mito Pereira (0-2-1): How did this guy lead the PGA for 70 holes? Grade: D
There you have it.
Internationals have two years to go out and find some talent.
2 Comments
rufustelestrats@gmail.com
One aspect of the whole affair that seems swept under the rug, is the absolute boring cookie cutter players. Other than the Jordan and JT story line, which for a lack of other interest then becomes the focus of a Presidents Cup, this was about as exciting as painting a barn.
Personality and interesting story lines seem to have gone with the LIV players.
I know that sure it was nice to see the US side win, and the World side played hard, but the elephant in the room is the loss of talent on both sides to LIV.
At some point there is going to need to be some sort of truce, parlay, perhaps a joint agreement on team play events, majors, and the like. I know there are many who think LIV should dry up and go away, but at this time it appears to be here to stay, and that is how I see it.
Tom Edrington
LIV players with personality?? DJ? Incredibly boring; Brooks? Incredibly boring. Bryson? Zzzzzzz; You must not have seen Tom Kim emerge on the International side, personality and fire and we predict he’ll be next season’s Rookie Of The Year….I think the 40,000-plus per day on site would disagree with you. As for LIV, as it move to far away lands like Thailand, it will get even less attention…..one day the Crown Prince will wake up in a really bad mood and pull the plug on that thing….no business model…..north of $2.5 billion spent with no return (sounds like Congress)….I think five years from now there’s no LIV but the PGA Tour will still be there.