Question of the week [Sept. 28-Oct. 4]: What are your takeaways from the 16th Presidents Cup?
The First Call Inbox archives | View
———————
William M. Kennedy | Chicago, IL
Brandt Snedeker should never be involved in any USGA or PGA Tour team event ever again. His bending of the knee to President Donald Trump was profane and alarmingly disrespectful to the game and the players he captained. Trump is the biggest documented cheater in the game, yet Snedeker gave him all the credit after the players won the matches. Ban him.
—————
Vinny Mooney | Poughkeepsie, NY
I saw only about four hours total, but I actually enjoyed it. The announcers were decent and unobtrusive. With a couple of exceptions, the U.S. players comported themselves as professionals, which in turn led to much better crowd behavior than we usually see at the Ryder Cup.
My continuing question with these team events is: why the need for so many captains and assistant captains? Five for 12 players? Are these elite players really that fragile? Jack Nicklaus had only one assistant in some of his captaincies, and Ryder Cup captains had no assistants at all until the 1990s. Some of these assistants act like hover-mother hens who only raise the stress level by whispering constantly into a player's ear. All that being said, it was a fun watch.
—————
Chuck Dunlap | Lexington, SC
Great comeback on Sunday. It was a fantastic example of sportsmanship by Scottie Scheffler when a fan interrupted his opponent’s swing. However, the TV coverage was horrible — far too many ads and split-screens where you couldn't see anything. The announcers simply talked too much, and they need to find someone other than Cara Banks to conduct the interviews.
—————
Melanie Biel | Goodyear, AZ
Brandt Snedeker ruined an awesome moment by crediting Donald Trump instead of the players for the victory.
—————
Peter Wofford | Mount Pleasant, SC
A few takeaways from Medinah:
- Jackson Koivun is going to be a weekly contender.
- The tournament should trim to three days instead of four and drop the total points from 30 to 24.
- Scottie Scheffler’s sportsmanship will carry over to weekly Tour events.
- The volume of commercials interrupting the broadcast made it difficult to follow the action without relying on replays.
- I enjoyed the Trump appearance and noticed several players doffed their hats in respect.
—————
Everett Harbeson | Augusta, GA
I didn't expect to be interested, but this turned out to be the most compelling final day of a Presidents Cup that I can recall. I'm really not sure what can be done to increase long-term fan interest, other than the U.S. losing two or three in a row to make the overall series competitive again.
—————
Richard Whitaker | Anthem, AZ
The U.S. team needs to establish team competency long before arriving at the course. By its nature, golf is an individual sport at which U.S. players excel, but when teamed up in pairs, they struggle. There is a window of a few weeks between the Tour Championship and the start of the cup matches that team members should use to build a real foundation for team play.
—————
Paul Heanue | Plymouth, MA
It was a huge turnoff for me seeing President Donald Trump glad-handing golfers on the first tee and during the final presentation. I didn't tune into the coverage to see a political figure try to capitalize on airtime and make the moment about himself.
As much as the U.S. team staged a great final-day comeback, the International Team's missed putts down the stretch opened the door. The Internationals essentially tried to give it away, and the U.S. said, "Thank you, we'll take it."
—————
Dan Gillick | Stamford, CT
I thought Brandt Snedeker’s ridiculous post-match shout-out ruined the players' historic comeback effort.
—————
Dwight Hendrickson | Tucson, AZ
The U.S. team can be painful to watch early in these events. The lack of energy compared to the International side was obvious over the first three days. Jackson Koivun and Thomas Gotterup clearly led the emotional charge on Sunday, showing the value of bringing in new blood. Patrick Cantlay is like watching paint dry, and Xander Schauffele wasn't far behind him. It would be interesting to change the qualification criteria: six automatic qualifiers and six mandatory rookies.
—————
Art Williams | Luzerne, PA
It turned into a real battle and made for great TV. If the Internationals had pulled it off, it might have been better for the long-term health of the series, but it was a great contest. It's clear the American players struggle to embrace team formats early on, but it is certainly worth continuing.
—————
Kelley Hart | Idaho Falls, ID
Why doesn’t the U.S. team play with this level of urgency and heart in the Ryder Cup?
—————
Thomas Klabunde | Tempe, AZ
Match play is simply so much more interesting to watch and play than stroke play. Virtually every shot is vital, and momentum can shift on a single swing. Starting on Day 1, every hole matters, whereas stroke play only reaches that level of drama late on Sunday afternoon. We see far too little match play on Tour, primarily because sponsors want guaranteed airtime for big-name stars through the weekend.
—————
Robert Denney | Palm Beach Gardens, FL
There was a much better competitive balance between the two teams this year. The event should trim down to a three-day schedule while keeping the existing match formats.
—————
Tracey Blake | Pauma Valley, CA
It was exciting to watch right up until the end when Brandt Snedeker opened his mouth about President Donald Trump. Keep politics completely out of golf.
—————
Tom Hoyt | Hanover, NH
Why does an American squad play in these team competitions every single year? You essentially have three major global regions: Americans, Europeans, and the Rest of the World. Why not rotate the schedule and create a new event where Europe faces the Rest of the World?
—————
Andy Phelps | Summerville, SC
I really liked the course setup at Medinah, and the International Team gave it their best shot. There were way too many commercials during the broadcast. I found it funny how the commentators kept calling the U.S. a dominant squad, given that they got beaten handily in team play and only won because of individual singles sessions.
—————
Steve Micheletti | Bradenton, FL
Never invite President Donald Trump to attend a team event again.
—————
Chris Ferrara | Delmont, PA
It was more entertaining than in past years, but the ultimate result remained the same.
—————
Charles Davison | Newport Beach, CA
Outstanding golf, but far too many commercial interruptions.
—————
Dale Dust | Collinsville, IL
Much like in the Ryder Cup, the U.S. struggles in foursomes and four-ball formats because of poor pairings. Can we please use analytics to align players instead of pairing guys based on personal friendships? Most American golfers would be thrilled to represent their country, but this squad seemed overconfident going in. Friday showed they can be taken to the woodshed, though it is to their credit that they got off the mat for a Sunday comeback.
I knew as soon as Brandt Snedeker mentioned President Donald Trump's name, the critics would be out in force. But it is the Presidents Cup — why wouldn't a president be present? Have people forgotten about President Barak Obama attending? My main hope is that the U.S. finds a way to construct better team pairings moving forward.
—————
Pete Croppo | Bayfield, Ontario, Canada
The competition was great, and I watched almost every minute. I heard an interesting suggestion recently: why not add a best-ball component to the final day or use it to shake up the format? It would be incredible to watch.
—————
The First Call invites reader comment. Write to editor Stuart Hall at shall@buffalogroupe.com. If your comment is selected for publication, we will not publish your email address. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity.
Front: Scottie Scheffler, right, and Sam Burns at the 2022 Presidents Cup.
Photo: Scott Halleran | Golffile