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Adam Scott doesn’t need reminding about what the International team has not done in the Presidents Cup.
When Scott tees it up for the Internationals at Royal Montreal Golf Club this week, it will be his 11th appearance in the event, and he has never been on the winning side. Scott was part of an agreed-upon draw in the darkness in 2003, but since then, the Presidents Cup has looked more like an exhibition than a competition because of the Americans’ dominance.
For the event’s relevance, the International team desperately needs to win. It has a 1-12-1 record, and it can’t be called a rivalry if the same team wins every time. If the Americans win again on Sunday, there may be more talk among fans about changing the format, perhaps making it a mixed-team event.
That’s not what the PGA Tour envisioned when it created the Presidents Cup in the early 1990s. The tour envisioned the biennial match standing shoulder to shoulder with the Ryder Cup in opposite years. That remains a work in progress.
“I’m being very harsh, but when it comes down to what’s on paper, we’ve lost a lot, and I think that’s why it hasn’t had the spark or the sparks flying like the Ryder Cup,” said Scott, 44, of Australia. “That’s very appealing watching that. I’m pretty hopeful we’re putting forward a pretty formidable team this year.”
To be fair, there have been close competitions, particularly when the Presidents Cup has been played outside the United States.
The Americans won by one point in South Korea in 2015, and the Internationals led entering the Sunday singles five years ago at Royal Melbourne. Two years ago at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Americans dominated, rolling to a five-point victory even as the International side sensed it was building toward a brighter future.
“Things are looking really good for the international team,” Scott said. “Since Melbourne, it was the first time I felt like we really had a home-crowd advantage since the creation of our shield. There’s a little bit of putting that out there, and now it’s been a couple of goes with that. Now we’re identified under something, not just this group of guys. I think that’s been helpful.”
It was Ernie Els five years ago who introduced the Internationals’ black-and-gold shield logo while taking other team-building steps to bond a group of players from all around the world. Captain Trevor Immelman built on that two years ago, and this year, Mike Weir, has added his own touches as he anticipates captaining a team in his native Canada with three Canadian players on his roster.
“The Europe [Ryder Cup] structure has worked well for them because they don’t always have as strong a team as America, but they raise their game,” Scott said. “Some of that is culture and history. The last couple of outings for the Presidents Cup has gone a long way toward planting that in young guys like Sungjae [Im] or Tom Kim. There is this generation of young guys who are going to make the team and see this great culture in our room that’s been established and want to continue it on for a long time.”
“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how many years it’s been, but I think the things we’ve done to increase our chances are a lot of the little things behind the scenes.” – Mike Weir
While the American team is stacked again, starting with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele at the top, Weir’s team has quality depth down the line, a shortcoming for many International squads.
“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how many years it’s been, but I think the things we’ve done to increase our chances are a lot of the little things behind the scenes,” Weir said. “You can just see it. You feel it that the guys are more comfortable with one another. The Korean guys just aren’t playing by themselves; they’re playing with the Canadian guys, playing with the South African guys and Australians and sitting with each other for dinner and things like that.
“We do know the past, and we want to change that, and we’re doing all the little things behind the scenes to help to change that.”
Similar to how the U.S. Ryder Cup brain trust looked at what the Europeans were doing and adjusted, the International team had adapted that playbook for their own purposes.
There have been dinners with prospective players throughout the year, and Weir gathered his team at Royal Montreal immediately after announcing his captain’s picks earlier this month. This feels like an important moment in the event’s evolution.
As a former Masters champion, Weir is a national hero. With Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith playing in their golf-loving home country, the Internationals figure to start with the vibe in their favor.
With Scott in good form, Hideki Matsuyama, Kim, Jason Day and Im on the roster, Weir has a lineup that allows him to counterpunch against the American power.
“I’m not going to make excuses for my play, but for quite a few years I was in a position to take the lead, be the guy. I don’t know if we put the best pairings out. It was more gut feelings for a long time. Now we have a better system in place,” Scott said.
“Looking at the team this year, I feel like I can be a leader on the course as much as around the room. Hideki is going to be that guy, too. It’s his sixth Presidents Cup. As well as I know Hideki, it’s going to be as much my job as anyone’s to make him understand that if he puts in a performance with me this year, that’s going to fire everyone up.
“I think that load can be shared.”
It is a load, to be sure. The International team knows the history to the point that Weir has said he doesn’t need to mention it.
Adam Scott has lived it. This is the chance to write a different ending.