Who will Weir, Furyk select to fill out Presidents Cup teams?
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It will soon be decision time for Canadian golf legend Mike Weir.
The 2003 Masters champion is serving as the International team captain for this year's Presidents Cup taking place at Royal Montreal Golf Club Sept. 26-29.
You can watch the entirety of the competition on TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The top six eligible players on the Official World Golf Ranking point system following last week's BMW Championship automatically qualified for the Presidents Cup. That list includes Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, South Korea's Sungjae Im, Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An as well as Adam Scott and Jason Day of Australia.
Weir will be tasked with filling out the 12-player roster by making six captain picks following this week's season-ending Tour Championship from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
TSN's Bob Weeks recently gave his captain picks for Team International and Team United States.
Since the first Presidents Cup in 1994, the International side has a lone win, beating the Americans in 1998 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The United States have won the competition, which takes place every two years, 12 times in 14 tries, including the past nine. The 2003 Presidents Cup ended in a tie.
Royal Montreal hosted the 2007 Presidents Cup, the only previous time the event was held in Canada. Weir was on that squad and despite his side losing 19.5-14.5, Weir gave fans across the country something to cheer about when he defeated the great Tiger Woods during a head-to-head matchup on Sunday.
The International squad will be major underdogs again in 2024, meaning Weir needs to be perfect in his selections to give his side a chance against the mighty Americans.
Let's take a closer look at who Weir may select to fill out the roster.
Who will Mike Weir select?
Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners
It's a safe bet Weir will select at least a couple Canadians with the Presidents Cup taking place on home soil.
According to TSN's Bob Weeks, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., are both very likely to make the team.
Conners sits seventh on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) point system, just one spot away from earning automatic qualification.
Pendrith, ranked 11th on the OWGR, is probably Canada's hottest golfer since late July, finishing fifth at the Barracuda Championship and 3M Open, 22nd at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and 13th at the BMW Championship over recent weeks. The 33-year-old is also the only Canadian set to compete at the exclusive 30-player Tour Championship, giving him another opportunity to prove his worth.
Both Conners and Pendrith represented Canada at the 2022 Presidents Cup from Quail Hollow Club. Unfortunately, each posted 0-4 records and weren’t able to record a single point as the International team lost 17.5-12.5.
Following Conners and Pendrith, the Canadian content gets a little more murky.
Winnipeg's Nick Taylor is the next highest ranked Canadian at No. 12 on the OWGR, followed by Moose Jaw's Adam Hadwin at No. 13 and Hamilton's Mackenzie Hughes at No. 15.
In February, the 36-year-old Taylor seemed like a lock to make the team as he was fresh off famously winning the RBC Canadian Open last summer and had just captured the WM Phoenix Open.
It’s been a rough stretch ever since for Taylor as he has only one top-10 finish since that victory during Super Bowl weekend and hasn’t made the cut in five of his past 10 tournaments with his best finish being a tie for 30th at the Olympics during that stretch.
Hadwin, 36, is having an up-and-down season and hasn’t had a top-20 finish since ranking third at the Memorial Tournament in early June.
Weeks believes Weir should go off the ranking board and select Hughes with the six and final pick, giving the International team three Canadian players.
The 33-year-old is a strong putter, an important aspect of match play golf, says Weeks.
"No one makes more long putts than Hughes, who is ranked fourth on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained - Putting," said Weeks. "His short game is also exceptional."
As for the non-Canadians who could be picked by Weir, Weeks looks to the OWGR.
Weeks believes Australia's Cam Davis (No. 8) and Min Woo Lee (No. 9) as well as Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 10) of South Africa will all make the team. Bezuidenhout is the only player in that group who qualified for the Tour Championship.
Davis and Bezuidenhout were both part of the 2022 Presidents Cup team, combining for 3.5 points and a 3-3-1 record (W-L-D).
If Weir decides to go off the board for his non-Canadian captain picks, some possibilities include South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (No. 14), South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen (No. 16), Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (No. 17) and Ryan Fox (No. 18) of New Zealand.
Who will Jim Furyk pick for the Americans?
Billy Horschel
Jim Furyk has the same responsibility as Weir and needs to make six captain picks following the Tour Championship to fill out the United States roster.
The Americans are already stacked with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala all booking their spots via the OWGR. Five of those players are ranked in the top 10 in the world.
For the captain picks, Weeks thinks Furyk will stick with the OWGR for the most part, predicting Sam Burns (No. 7), Tony Finau (No. 8), Russell Henley (No. 9), Keegan Bradley (No. 10) and Brian Harman (No. 11) to be selected.
Weeks is going off the board with his final pick, taking Billy Horschel, who is ranked No. 17 on the OWGR. Horschel will compete at the Tour Championship after finishing second at The Open Championship, seventh at the Wyndham Championship, 10th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and 22nd at the BMW Championship in his past four starts.
If Furyk decides to stay closer in line with the rankings, Max Homa (No. 12), Chris Kirk (No. 13) and Akshay Bhatia (No. 14) could all be in the mix.