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The international team won the sessions at Quail Hollow Golf Club on Saturday, and in the process, Tom Kim secured winning the week. Despite coming into eight matches on the third day of play at the 2022 Presidents Cup down 8-2, Kim walked in putts all over the Americans and dragged his team back into a competition that looked to be completely lost. In the process, the 20-year-old star introduced himself to the rest of the world.

In the morning foursomes match, Kim and K.H. Lee took down World Nos. 1 and 12, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Though the Americans led at the turn, Kim made a nasty eagle on the par-4 11th hole, which he walked off as hard as anyone at any team event in the history of team events has walked off a putt. The Lee-Kim duo never trailed after that and went on to win 2 and 1.

The afternoon was even better — as if that were even possible. Kim paired with Si Woo Kim, and they took on the seemingly invincible twosome of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in four-ball. Kim again eagled the par-4 11th on a monster putt, but it looked as if Cantlay and Schauffele were going to be able to hold them off and secure at least a half point.

After Si Woo birdied the 16th to tie it up, the teams remained deadlocked going to the last. Kim hit the 2-iron of his life to 10 feet. He stalked the putt for a long time, undoubtedly wondering if he had any celebrations left in the holster after a day full of them. He struck the birdie putt that would win a full point against Cantlay and Schauffele, but he never saw it go in.

Kim bellowed one final “Let’s go!” toward an international side that was chomping at the bit to dog pile him on the green. It was the perfect exclamation point to one of the great singular days for an International player in Presidents Cup history.

What has become clear, as the week has worn on, is how desperate Kim is to embrace the moment. You could almost see him formulating celebrations in his mind as he walked to and around the greens of Quail Hollow, and he was nonplussed at having to take on the titanic twosome of Cantlay and Schauffele.

“[I] 100% [wanted that moment],” said Kim after the matches. “I was already thinking in the back of my mind, ‘What am I going to do, how am I going to celebrate?’ … It was an amazing feeling for that to go in because the team was behind and they were watching. I wanted it more than anything in the world.”

Rick Gehman and Greg DuCharme recap Saturday’s action at the 2022 Presidents Cup. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The 20-year-old became the first golfer born in the 2000s to win a PGA Tour event when he won at the Wyndham Championship just over a month ago, but his legend has been growing since long before that. His given name is not Tom Kim but rather Joohyung Kim, though he started calling himself Tom because he had a “Thomas the Tank Engine” lunch box as a child.

He’s an easy player for which to root. A self-decribed fast food savant, he was voted by his teammates as the player that eats the most in the team room this week at Quail Hollow, and then he proved it by splitting two pairs of pants earlier in the week. He celebrates like it’s both the first time it’s ever happened and the last time he’ll ever have the opportunity. He is, in a sometimes joyless pursuit, an absolute revelation. Nothing is as much fun as watching a golfer delight (and thrive) in his first team experience like Tom Kim has done.

Whether he ever becomes the global superstar others have predicted remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure after Saturday’s show: If the Cup gets close late in the day on Sunday when Kim plays Max Homa in the 10th match off in singles, there’s nobody else the International would want out there. Kim proved that on Saturday. And you know what? I’m not sure there’s anyone else we would rather watch.

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This is always the time of year when Americans interested in the world of golf start asking questions like: How can we win this year’s team event? That was true of the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia and last year’s Ryder Cup in Wisconsin. This year, though, at the 2022 Presidents Cup in Charlotte? The better question might be: How in the world could the Americans lose?

Though the Presidents Cup has grown more competitive in recent years — the U.S. was actually down 9-5 after the Saturday morning session in Australia — this year’s edition does not follow suit. Every player on the American side is ranked higher in the Official World Golf Rankings than all but three golfers on the International team. The U.S. is going to be favored in most of the matchups on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and could be favored in all of them on Sunday during singles play.

According to Caesars Sportsbook, you have to put down $750 on the stars and stripes if you want to win back a measly $100.

Of course, one doesn’t win championships on paper, but this U.S. team is experienced enough to snuff hope out if it even begins to bubble in the locker room across from theirs. Only Sam Burns, Billy Horschel, Cameron Young and Max Homa are new on the U.S. side, and they have combined to win six PGA Tour events since last year’s Ryder Cup. However, the threat of losing for the first time this century is certainly something captain Davis Love III is acutely aware of and concerned about.

“Statistically, yes, we have a higher ranked team, but I know a bunch of those young guys on their team, and they’re going to come in with a chip on their shoulder and together,” said Love this week. “I think what we’ve talked about is we both have 12 guys that support the PGA Tour that want to play in the Presidents Cup and are fired up to be on these teams. It doesn’t really matter who the favorite is in match play. That’s why we only play it — in the regular season, we only play it once because you never know what’s going to happen. So we understand all that, and we’re prepared for that.”

On the International side, only Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim have ever played in a Presidents Cup before, and none of them has ever raised a trophy at the end of the week. Captain Trevor Immelman is trying his best to use the inexperience to his advantage.

“I think it’s quite clear that we’re the underdogs,” said Immelman. “We generally have been in this competition over the years so it’s a tag that we’re used to. But the exciting part for us really is I do think that it frees us up, to answer your question directly, because we have nothing to lose. If you look at our record in this tournament and you look at our world rankings versus their world rankings, we have absolutely nothing to lose.

“So, we can go out there and play absolutely as free as we want, free as we can, and see if we can match up with the crazy good skills the Americans have, that they show us week in and week out. The excitement really comes from the standpoint of, when you’re a young kid growing up outside of the U.S. or Europe and you don’t have an opportunity to play against the Americans until the ’90s when the Presidents Cup came about, now this is our opportunity. You’re a young kid who wants to get to the highest level, you want to be on the PGA Tour, you want to play in major championships and compete against the best, we’re going to have that shot this week on American soil.”

The exact American soil they will try to conquer on presents another quandary for Immelman and his team. Quail Hollow Golf Club severely favors the much longer hitters on the U.S. side. Of the 12 longest players off the tee over the last 12 months, nine of them will wear red, white and blue. That’s always problematic, but the issue is exacerbated because Quail Hollow disproportionately rewards length compared to some other courses the Presidents Cup has been played at.

There are thousands of reasons the U.S. should win its ninth Presidents Cup in a row this week at Quail Hollow, and all of them are compelling. There’s only one reason the International team could post its first win since 1998 against all odds, and it’s perhaps the most romantic reason of all. The International team could pull off one of the great upsets in golf history because — every few years or perhaps decades — something inexplicable happens in the world of sports, and documentaries and movies are made about it forever.

The 1983 America’s Cup was brought up to Love on Tuesday. It’s a famous yacht race which the U.S. had not lost for 132 years but blew a 3-1 lead to the Australians in the best-of-seven finale back in 1983. There’s a terrific documentary on Netflix about what is now billed as the Race of the Century. Love was not dismissive of the Match of the Century playing out this week in North Carolina, nor did he engage with its likelihood or probability.

In other words, it’s something that he knows could happen but probably won’t. As a more unbiased third party, however, I would say the likelihood of this International team taking down this American team at this golf course in this week with the experience, talent and leadership the U.S. has is almost zero. Next to nothing. Too small to be measured. So it’s not going to happen. But, you know, what if it did?

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You know the names by now: Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama. But what about those who have yet to make a name for themselves? In total, the 2022 Presidents Cup will feature 14 rookies with six coming for the United States side and eight being featured for the internationals.

While a pair of those Americans include Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa, who were influential in the U.S. drubbing of the Europeans at the 2021 Ryder Cup, this week still marks their first experience in the Presidents Cup. Just one year ago, Scheffler was considered a borderline selection by captain Steve Stricker for Whistling Straits. The Wisconsin native’s pick proved to be a wise one as Scheffler played a key role in the competition by dethroning Jon Rahm in singles. He would later go on to become No. 1 in the OWGR, a position he still holds. 

Something similar may possibly be in store for either Davis Love III or Trevor Immelman and one of their team’s members this time around. Quail Hollow Club could prove to be a launching pad for some of the youngest stars in the game, or even a veteran, and the team environment will be conducive to big moments. 

In 2019, Abraham Ancer and Sungjae Im proved to be up to the task for the international side. Each gathered 3.5 points at Royal Melbourne and nearly led the international team to a dramatic upset victory over the Tiger Woods-led Americans. Facing heavy odds once again, the internationals will need more than a pair of their fresh faces to step up if they are expected to pull off the unthinkable.

Odds for top points scorer are courtesy of Caesars Sportsbooks

Potential unlikely heroes for United States

Tony Finau (12-1 to be top points scorer): He may be one of the oldest members of the team, and has plenty of experience having played in three prior team events, but Finau has yet been treated as an elite player. Winning twice in the late summer, the world No. 14 almost added another at the St. Jude Championship, which would have upped his career win total to five in a blink of an eye. 

He impressed in his Ryder Cup debut in 2018 at Le National, where even though the U.S. was outmatched, Finau garnered a record of 2-1-0 which included a 6&4 beatdown of Tommy Fleetwood on Sunday. Influential in Royal Melbourne and Wisconsin, the 33-year-old will serve as a key cog in Charlotte with Quail Hollow is statistically being right up his alley.

Sam Burns (12-1): A three-time winner during the 2021-22 season, Burns has fared well in team competitions before. Alongside Billy Horschel, the SEC duo finished runner-up at the Zurich Classic to U.S. teammates Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. Despite this being his first Presidents Cup, Burns hardly feels like a rookie.

Likely to be paired with Horschel, the two will be a difficult out as they can run as hot as anyone on the greens. If not paired with Horschel, his good friend Scheffler may be an ideal partner as the laidback, easygoing nature of each is ideal for the high-pressure, chaotic environment which will engulf Quail Hollow.

Cameron Young (18-1): Of all Presidents Cup players, Young is second only to Scheffler over the last three months in strokes gained off the tee. The presumed Rookie of the Year is familiar with finishing one spot short as he captured seven podium finishes throughout his 2021-22 campaign, including the PGA Championship and The Open.

Young is an ideal fit for Quail Hollow, and his ability to rise to the occasion should serve him well. He seems to play with the ultimate chip on his shoulder, and if able to channel this quiet assassin mentality into the team setting, this could be just the beginning of a fruitful Presidents Cup career.

Potential unlikely heroes for internationals

Corey Conners (28-1): The internationals are in a hole before a tee has even been pegged into the ground. They must rely on some of their known quantities without the depth of the U.S. team, one of which is Conners. The Canadian may technically be a rookie, but his ball-striking has the potential to give the Americans headaches.

Second in driving accuracy and sixth in strokes gained approach over the last three months, Conners is one of the few players who is on par with the Americans in this department. He often struggles on and around the green, but we have seen poor putters such as Sergio Garcia thrive in this arena. Perhaps the same will go for Conners.

Taylor Pendrith (55-1): The second of the Canadians for captain Immelman, Pendrith could be a star in the making. Returning from injury in the midsummer, Pendrith notched six top-15 finishes in his last eight tournaments, including a runner-up performance to Finau at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Pendrith is supremely long off the tee — third in this field — and possesses the firepower to dismantle the American side. Similar to Conners, the putter can pose problems, but if strategically teamed with Tom Kim or Christiaan Bezuidenhout, those concerns can be squashed.

K.H. Lee (70-1): The sexiest golfer in the world has quickly become one of the best golfers in the world. Successfully defending his Byron Nelson title this past season, Lee looked Americans Spieth, Thomas and Schauffele — and even his own teammate Matsuyama — in the eyes en route to his second PGA Tour victory.

The moment is never too big for Lee; that was on display in the FedEx Cup Playoffs when he clawed his way into the Tour Championship via a T5 finish at the BMW Championship. He ranks sixth in strokes gained putting, and while the results haven’t been memorable at Quail Hollow, he has posted some strong rounds, including a 5-under 66 to kick off the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship.

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Slowly but surely, odds makers at Caesars Sportsbook have swung the betting line ever more in favor of the United States team as action prepares to get underway at the 2022 Presidents Cup. Featuring 12 players who find themselves inside the top 25 of the Official World Golf Rankings, the Americans have a substantial advantage on paper in terms of experience and skill.

That talent disparity is reflected in the betting odds at Quail Hollow as the U.S. is listed as heavy favorites to successfully defend the Presidents Cup. However, it wasn’t always this skewed.

Opening months ago as 1/3 favorites, the U.S. was given an implied probability of 75% to raise the Presidents Cup for the 12th time in only 14 editions of this team event. With news reverberating throughout the golf world of players making the jump to LIV Golf — and thus forgoing their opportunity to play in the Presidents Cup — odds began to move in the direction of the home team.

2022 Presidents Cup odds

To win

• United States team: 2/15
• International team: 7-1
• Tie: 18-1

Louis Oosthuizen was the first international stalwart to make the switch in tours, yet lines remained steady throughout June. The South African was thought to be one of the leaders for his captain and fellow countryman Trevor Immelman. Instead, with his departure and the subsequent opening of the floodgates to LIV, the United States has since become even heavier favorites.

Along with Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann were all in line to participate for the international side. Each inside the qualifying criteria at the time of their leave, the loss of these top players has been felt by Immelman’s squad. 

Avid bettors took notice of the rumors circulating about the Champion Golfer of the Year and Niemann potentially exiting the PGA Tour, and they were afforded a much more favorable price on the U.S. side in September. While never sexy to lay $500 to profit $100, the imminent news of these big names to LIV Golf made the juice worth the squeeze for those who indulged.

Top points scorer

• Scottie Scheffler: 15/2
• Xander Schauffele: 15/2
• Patrick Cantlay: 8-1
• Justin Thomas: 17/2
• Max Homa: 9-1
• Collin Morikawa: 10-1
• Sam Burns: 12-1
• Tony Finau: 12-1
• Jordan Spieth: 14-1
• Cameron Young: 18-1

The first 10 names on this list are all American. Perhaps the most surprising is Homa at 9-1 as it will be his Presidents Cup debut, and yet, he checks in five points shorter than Spieth, who is the most experienced member of the U.S. The name of the game in top points scoring is playing in all five sessions and one would expect Spieth to be paired with his good friend Thomas for the majority of them.

• Sungjae Im: 18-1
• Hideki Matsuyama: 18-1
• Tom Kim: 20-1
• Adam Scott: 25-1
• Corey Conners: 28-1

The five men listed above likely will play in each session for the international team. Without the depth of its U.S. counterpart, the international team’s path to victory is extremely narrow and reliant on its top players. This does allow for an interesting angle into the top points scoring market as Im has been one of the best players in the world over the last few months and Matsuyama has previously thrived at Quail Hollow — they’re my two favorite picks.

• Billy Horschel: 35-1
• Si Woo Kim: 35-1
• Cam Davis: 40-1
• Kevin Kisner: 50-1
• Taylor Pendrith: 55-1
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout: 60-1
• K.H. Lee: 70-1
• Sebastian Munoz: 70-1
• Mito Pereira: 70-1

Like picking names out of a hat, one needs to decipher who will be the 2022 version of Ancer and Im in 2019, both of whom captured 3.5 points and were top points scorers alongside Thomas. If I had to take a stab, Lee would be my guess as a relatively under the radar name who could play in four sessions. The South Korean was brilliant in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and can make birdies in bunches.

Prop bets

• Day 1 Winner — United States: 4/9 | International: 11/4 | Tie: 25/4
• Day 2 Winner — United States: 4/9 | International: 11/4 | Tie: 25/4
• Lead After Day 2 — United States: 1/3 | International: 7/2 | Tie: 7-1
• Day 3 Winner — United States: 2/5 | International: 29/10 | Tie: 27/4
• Day 4 Singles Winner — United States: 20/67 | International: 15/4 | Tie: 15/2

If keen on the United States’ chances, this is another avenue to explore with prices that are easier to stomach. However, the international side to win Day 1 is intriguing as the U.S. has historically struggled in foursomes (alternate shot), which is the Thursday format. Lineup cards will be announced Wednesday evening, and this line will move one way or another depending on the matchups presented.

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The 2022 Presidents Cup has finally returned after a three-year hiatus created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last seen at Royal Melbourne in Australia during the winter of 2019, a highly-contested bout between an underdog international group and a favored United States squad played out in dramatic fashion.

With the international team taking a two-point edge into Sunday singles, any and all results were still on the table. The U.S. team, led by playing captain Tiger Woods, pulled off the comeback down under, winning the Sunday session to the tune of 8 to 4 and the overall match 16 to 14. Bettering its record to 11-1-1 in the history of the Presidents Cup, it was thought the U.S. had finally been caught in terms of skill, analytical prowess and strategy in this competition. 

Fast forward to the present and not only are new faces present, the aura around the event has changed. The upstart international side is no longer a pesky underdog but rather a team holding on by the threads after LIV Golf poached key cornerstone pieces Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann. 

In their place is a crop of young, hungry players hoping to prove captain Trevor Immelman correct and the wider golf public wrong. Tasked with defeating a stacked U.S. roster that features last week’s Fortinet Championship winner Max Homa, an array of major champions and a bevy of firepower, the international team is up against it. 

Will the experience of Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott lead the international team in this David vs. Goliath matchup? How will young rookies Cameron Young and Sam Burns fare in their first U.S. appearance? Is there anyway this will be a competitive contest? The answers to these questions lie on the shoulders of 24 men and based on their play, the answers may vary.

2022 United States Presidents Cup team

After Homa’s win in Napa and Kevin Kisner’s slight rise, all 12 U.S. players find themselves inside the top 25 of the Official World Golf Rankings. Coming in at an average of 11.6, it is a stout front that is sure to give the internationals all they can handle. Despite this depth of talent, it is a relatively young group in terms of experience.

With neither Woods nor Dustin Johnson at the helm, it is Jordan Spieth who has become the headman in the locker room. Taking on this leadership role alongside his good friend Justin Thomas, the two will have combined for 13 U.S. appearances between them all before turning 30. 

This equals the number of appearances of Homa, Kisner, Young, Burns, Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay. Thomas should have fond memories of Quail Hollow Club as he notched his first PGA Championship victory here in 2017. Homa collected his first PGA Tour win in Charlotte as well, but outside of them and Kisner, the other nine have yet to collect a top-10 result.

So, while on paper this U.S. team should roll to a convincing victory, there are certainly cracks in its armor that the international could expose. Needing only five new additions since the 2021 Ryder Cup, current form, continuity and home course advantage all lie in the hands of the U.S. but so do heavy expectations.

2022 International Presidents Cup team

The turnover from 2019 is glaring as Matsuyama, Scott and Sungjae Im are the only players who competed at Royal Melbourne. Factor in Si Woo Kim’s participation at Liberty National in 2017, and the South Korean rounds out the short list of players who have been members of past international teams.

Scott is set to play in his 10th Presidents Cup as he has been a mainstay in the competition since the early 2000s. Playing his way into the Tour Championship from outside the top 70, the Australian is in fine form and is still in search of his first team victory as his debut came in the 17-17 tie of 2003.

With little team experience under their belts and an average world ranking of 48.9, I wouldn’t say the internationals are completely done for as they faced a similar task in 2019. Half have won on the PGA Tour over the last two seasons with Tom Kim’s victory at the 2022 Wyndham Championship being the most recent. His fellow countryman, Im, ran rapid in the Tour Championship, nearly stole the FedEx Cup from Rory McIlroy and will have to serve as the catalyst if they are to pull off the improbable.

Im, Matsuyama and Scott will most likely play in each session as will Conners despite being a first timer. Captain Immelman will have to rely on what little experience he has and marry it with the scoring abilities of Munoz, Lee, Davis among others. If able to effectively do this, there is a path to victory — albeit a narrow one.

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International team captain Trevor Immelman had an impossible task in front of him as he made his 2022 Presidents Cup picks. He had to fill up spots that would have otherwise been taken by the No. 2 player in the world, Cameron Smith, as well as another top 20 guy in Joaquin Niemann after both left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf and became ineligible for the competition. 

On Tuesday, with two weeks to go until the Presidents Cup begins at Quail Hollow, Immelman made his selections.

Cameron Davis, Si Woo Kim, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, K.H. Lee, Sebastian Munoz and Taylor Pendrith will join Adam Scott, Mito Pereira, Tom Kim, Corey Conners, Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im — all of whom qualified on points — on the international team. Originally, Immelman was slated to have just four picks, but the departures of Smith and Niemann gave him two more openings.

None of these six captain’s picks are ranked among the top 40 golfers in the world — K.H. Lee is the highest-ranked at No. 41 — but all are intriguing as talents, which will be needed against a loaded United States team. Pendrith and Davis are monsters off the tee. Munoz and Lee are former PGA Tour champions. Bezuidenhout is arguably one of the best putters in the world, and Kim is an immense (if enigmatic) talent who has won three events, including a Players Championship, and lost three others in playoffs by the age of 26.

Kim is the only player with any previous Presidents Cup experience.

One of the international team problems’s (among many) is Quail Hollow’s length and how little of it the team possesses, which is something they clearly tried to solve with these six captain’s picks.

“Quail Hollow is a golf course which rewards length,” said Immelman in a statement. “And [Pendrith] is without doubt one of the longest drivers of the ball in our sport. The way he responded to the adversity of a serious injury in his rookie season, rejoined the PGA Tour and had five top-15 finishes in his last six events highlighted by a T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, meant that he was someone we couldn’t look past.”

Immelman joined The First Cut Podcast last week to talk about some of the players on his squad, and he was unsurprisingly high on both Im and Tom Kim, both of whom had terrific years. They will be among the better players on this team and looked at to carry much of the load against the Americans.

2022 Presidents Cup teams

* Projected captain’s picks for the U.S. team on Wednesday

The international team is up against both a tepid past and an overwhelming present. Only six players automatically qualified for U.S. captain Davis Love III, but he is expected to pick Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa for his captain’s picks. With Will Zalatoris’ injury, the 12th is undetermined, but the U.S. depth is staggering compared to the international team.

Immelman will try and combat the immense U.S. talent with all the talent he has at his disposal. He could have easily gone with some other older players with more experience, but instead, he chose five rookies who are unproven but also not scarred. This is a methodology that the U.S. team actually employed last year against the European Ryder Cup team, and it worked splendidly.

While I don’t really expect the international team to ultimately compete with the U.S. squad at Quail Hollow given the depth and strength of the latter over the former, Immelman has at least been wise with how he’s gone about constructing his team in the wake of the LIV departures and team anchor Smith not getting another run. He’s at least given himself and his team a chance.

The international team has not won a Presidents Cup since 1998 and has never won one inside the United States.

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