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The first round leaderboard of the Shriners Children’s Open is fascinating. Tom Hoge leads after the round was suspended due to darkness Thursday with a stellar 8-under 63, but a host of players who bring interesting storylines to the table are just behind him.

While some of the biggest names in the field — Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Max Homa — didn’t ascend to the very top of the table, they’re all still very much in the mix after strong starts at TPC Summerlin. All will chase Hoge, though, over the final three days as he tries to add to his 2022 win collection after taking the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.

Let’s take a look at his round as well as who else is in the hunt this week.

The leader

T1. Tom Hoge (-8)

Hoge was a menace in Round 1, although he said that was “a little bit unexpected” because he took some time away from golf over the last few weeks. He finished third in approach shots and third from tee to green, which means he didn’t have to putt it all that well to shoot the only 63 in the field on Thursday. This is nothing new though. Since Jan. 1, Hoge is a top 30 iron player in the world, and even higher than that if you look at PGA Tour-only players. He is unlikely to fade even if he doesn’t win what would be the second Tour victory of his career following his first in February at Pebble Beach.

There’s a lot at stake for somebody like Hoge this week, especially considering only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup rankings will make it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs this year. He’s coming off a career year in which he cleared $4 million and finished inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings for the first time in his life (he finished 10th). To improve on that would be pretty incredible.

“Yeah, I felt like last fall I got off to a good start,” Hoge said. “I’ve played well in the fall in the past. I feel like there’s a lot of good golf courses that set up well for me in the fall. That’s one of the reasons why I’m playing a lot this year still. I feel like I could get off to a nice start in the FedEx Cup. I felt like I had that last year and continue that into the west coast. Just trying to do more of the same.

“I didn’t play as well as I would have liked in the summer last year, but you get off to this nice start, and you can kind of relax even when you’re not playing as well. Just trying to play as well as I can here in the fall and give it that head start.”

Other contenders

T2. Si Woo Kim, Maverick McNealy (-7)
T4. Keith Mitchell, Thomas Detry, Will Gordon, Tom Kim, Sam Ryder, Sungjae Im (-6)

There are so many different directions we could go here, but let’s keep it locked on how well the Presidents Cup International Team showed out in Round 1. It has three players in the top 11, including last year’s winner at this event, Sungjae Im. Im got one of the featured groups this week, and he picked up where he left off not only last year but also a few weeks ago when he starred at Quail Hollow.

Si Woo Kim also mirrored his Presidents Cup finale, where he took down Justin Thomas, by getting within one of Hoge. Is it a coincidence that those guys are carrying so much into this week’s Shriner’s event? Maybe, but also maybe not considering the experience they all had.

“I was not much confidence before Presidents Cup because I didn’t finish well like at the end,” Kim said. “I think that I had great confidence from the Presidents Cup, and then like everything feels comfortable and so much tension and so much pressure on the Presidents Cup week. So now like too much calm and nothing much pressure on it. So I try to keep more focused and like positive.”

Tom Kim forever

Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim’s partner for a chunk of the week at Quail Hollow, also started strong in Vegas after an incredible quote he gave early in the week about catching Tiger Woods’ career PGA Tour record of 82 victories.

“I’m always myself,” Tom Kim said. “The situation hasn’t really changed of who I am a little bit. No, I don’t really think it’s really changed for me. I think it’s going to be the same way. Tiger has 82 wins on the PGA Tour. Until I get to 83, it’s going to be hard for me to think a little different.”

Tom Kim forever.

2022 Shriners Children’s Open updated odds and picks

• Sungjae Im: 7-1
• Patrick Cantlay: 15/2
• Tom Hoge: 15/2
• Tom Kim: 10-1
• Si Woo Kim: 10-1
• Maverick McNealy: 14-1

I want to believe Tom Kim is going to win this golf tournament, of course, but I’m not sure 10-1 is a great number for him at this juncture. Instead I’d love to draw your attention to Keith Mitchell, who is just outside the shortest players at 18-1. He finished fourth from tee to green and fourth on approach shots on Thursday and will be a tough out if he keeps that kind of iron play up. He’s the sharp pick here even amid the bigger names. Homa (four back) at 25-1 is also worth a look.

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The aftermath of the 2022 Presidents Cup will not produce tear-jerking essays or over-the-top hyperbole about the future that resulted from last year’s Ryder Cup, but an event that ended in a ninth consecutive United States victory was still a massive success. If one looked exclusively at the Wikipedia of the Presidents Cup’s history, it would be easy to deem the event a bit of a failure; however, that would completely ignore the unique setup of team events and why they are notably entertaining.

At some point over the last 10 years of covering Ryder Cups, Solheim Cups and Presidents Cups, it became apparent that even most (not all, but most) blowouts at these team competitions feel close until the end. They also seemingly always feature bizarre moments that will inevitably take place before their conclusion.

On Saturday afternoon of this year’s Presidents Cup, just after Tom Kim poured in the putt of the week to cap the day of his career, the chances of the International team winning the Presidents Cup improved from 3% to 3.6%, according to Data Golf. And yet, because of what happened at the 2012 Ryder Cup, and because it felt like Kim couldn’t lose, and because we like believing in sports miracles, it felt a lot closer than that.

Fast forward to Sunday. Despite Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay picking up singles points in routes, Justin Thomas was on the ropes against Si Woo Kim, and there was a swath of black and gold on the board as the afternoon wore on. It felt like it was truly getting close and that the Internationals had a real chance of winning 8.5 points in singles their first event of the century. 

The Americans’ odds of winning never dropped below 89% and mostly stayed well in the 90s, according to Data Golf. Even the International team winning 8.5 points in 12 matches against 12 players who are all in the top 25 in the world, as it turns out, was an extremely difficult ask.

This is the part where you holler about how events aren’t played on paper. While that’s true, probability models also provide a reality check on our emotions. Unlike us, they don’t project based on momentum or feeling or acknowledging how many times Si Woo has fist pumped J.T.’s soul but rather on skill and math. While the intangibles of sports seemingly affect myriad games and events we’ve watched over the years, we underrate the tangibles — what matters most — mostly because we want to believe.

This is where the beauty of how team golf is scheduled comes into play. You can talk yourself into a particular match flipping or certain evens transpiring other ways. If you ignored reality — and I almost always want to ignore reality during events like this one — then the event was quite exciting. That’s because team events are set up to become increasingly volatile in terms of point distribution. Nearly half the points available at a team event are in play over a tiny five-hour stretch on Sunday afternoon, and the rest of the week seems to crescendo into that window.

As long as you don’t get a true rout, which does sometimes happen, hope almost always stays flickering for longer than it should. Even in five-point victories (considered blowouts in team competitions like this one), you can talk yourself into it. That can be both beautiful and tragic.

“This week, you know, we were in a tough spot on Friday,” said International captain Trevor Immelman. “We showed a lot of guts to fight back. At some point, I don’t know about you guys, but at some point this afternoon I thought there was still a chance. And when you consider that we were 8-2 down on Friday evening, this team is no joke, and I’m sick and tired of it being spoken of as a joke.

“We love this event, and we love our team, and we cannot wait to run this back and have another shot.”

There was much chatter this week about how the Presidents Cup format and setup needs to change. Infinite possibilities were dangled and mentioned as possible “solutions” to an event the United States has dominated. Though I could be talked into a mixed team event, the Presidents Cup is fun and good because the setup is absolutely perfect. As long as the International team maintains the baseline of competitiveness it has displayed over the last four Cups, the structure of events like this one does most of the heavy lifting.

And if you are in fact a statistician or data nerd and can’t shake the fact that this Presidents Cup (like many other blowouts) was never truly in doubt even if it felt that way, there’s good news for you as well. It seems the tide has turned on continuity and galvanization in the International team room. Now they, like the U.S. a times in its past, just need to plug in some future stars.

“It still hurts not to win,” said Adam Scott. “I think the big difference I felt the last couple years is what’s going on in our team room, what’s going on between the captains and the players, the caddies, everybody involved on our team. I think good things are really starting to happen in that environment.

“Once some of these players who sit here for the first time or the second time start playing a few more and teams, that bond forms over years, I think we’re not going to leave here disappointed. A Cup is coming our way soon.”

When they do find those additional stars, this event is going to be more interesting (and perhaps competitive) than it has ever been. And even if it’s not, it’s likely going to continue to feel that way, which for us as sports fans, is all that really matters.

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Xander Schauffele holed the winning putt as the United States retained the Presidents Cup with a dominant 17½-12½ win over the International team at Quail Hollow Country Club in South Carolina.

The home side’s victory was its ninth in a row and gives the USA a 12-1 overall lead in the event, with one match tied.

“It feels good to win,” said Schauffele, whose form throughout the matches was somewhat scratchy. “It got really close there for a little bit. Winning is winning and there are no pictures on the scorecard.” 

US captain Davis Love added: “They played great. It was hard. They put in a lot of effort the last three weeks. They came in ready to go.”

Having lost his previous eight singles matches in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, Spieth was in superb form throughout the week at quail Hollow, producing a 100% record from his five matches, and he got the US team back on track with a 4&3 win against Australian Cameron Davis.

“I was extra nervous,” he said. “I wanted to get that monkey off my back. They are looking for red on the board and it feels really good to finally provide that. You can’t put a price on this. I did as much as I could this week.”

Burns tied his match with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, while Cantlay beat Australian Adam Scott 3&2.  Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz beat world number one Scottie Scheffler 2&1 to make it 13½-9½ and it started to get close with several International players up in their matches.

However, the US side’s superior putting was the difference between the teams and Finau’s 3&1 win against Canadian Taylor Pendrith moved the US one point from their target before Schauffele made sure of it with a solid par putt at the last.

There were contrasting fortunes for two South Koreans. Sungjae Im saw off Cameron Young, likely to be an American stalwart for years to come, by one hole while Tom Kim – hero of Saturday’s fightback – was edged out on the 18th by Max Homa. Another South Korean, KH Lee, was an impressive 3&1 winner against Billy Horschel as the International team played for pride after the match had been won.

In the final two matches, Chile’s Mito Pereira was comfortably beaten by Collin Morikakwa, but South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout finished off with a point for the Internationals against Kevin Kisner.

“We’re a little disappointed,” International captain Trevor Immelman said. “We believed in ourselves. We had an amazing week. They were fighting. These guys have massive hearts. I’ll go into battle with them any day.”

The result was all the more impressive from Immelman ‘s point of view given that the International team featured eight rookies and was missing many of its top players because of defections to LIV Golf. Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman were all absent due to the PGA TOUR, which manages the Presidents Cup, banning players who had signed for the Saudi-backed tour. The Americans were without Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, although the US side still contained 10 of the world’s top 16-ranked players. 

Zach Johnson will lead the US side when they attempt to retain the Ryder Cup against Europe at Marco Simone in Rome in a year’s time.

For the full scores, click here. 

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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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The United States tightened its already vice-like grip on the 2022 Presidents Cup after Davis Love III’s team won three of Friday’s five fourball matches to extend their lead over the International team to 8-2 on day two.

With a further 21 points on offer at Quail Hollow, the US need just 7½ points to win for a 12th time in 14 matches. The US have won the past eight editions of the event and lead the series 11-1, with one match tied.

“Our backs are up against the wall,” said International captain Trevor Immelman. “We’re going to have to dig deep. But it’s going to have to start with making some putts.”

The US could retain the trophy on Saturday with four foursomes (alternate shot) matches and four fourball matches to be played, before Sunday’s 12 concluding singles matches.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas won the first point of the second day by beating Australian pair Adam Scott and Cam Davis 2&1. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele defeated Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korea’s Kim Joo-hyung 3&2, while Max Homa holed a birdie putt at the last to claim a 1up win with Billy Horschel over over Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith.

The International team picked up one point on Friday from two halved matches. Colombian Sebastian Munoz won the 18th with a par to ensure he and Sungjae Im earned a half-point against world number one Scottie Scheffler and his partner Sam Burns, while Chile’s Mito Pereira and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout also ground out a half-point against Cameron Young and Kevin Kisner.

Despite their six-point advantage, US captain Davis Love III said: “We’re not sitting there going, ‘OK, this is great.’ We’ve seen a lot of big leads lost. We’re going to try to be motivated and not really talk about the outcome till the end.”

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The 2022 Presidents Cup continues this week in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the United States looks to flex its might and win its ninth straight trophy dating back to 2005. The Americans trying to win their fifth straight Presidents Cup on home soil, while the International team is seeking its first victory since 1998 (or perhaps at least its first tie since 2003).

The U.S. is a heavy favorite entering this year’s event at Quail Hollow Golf Club, and it got out to a hot start during foursomes action on Day 1, taking a significant 4-1 lead. Not only is the American team strong from top to bottom, the International side is without many of its top players due to the decision of some to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, thus making them ineligible.

Still, there is a lot of potential for the International team, which could pull off a monumental upset if all goes its way. And that effort would need to begin Friday during four-ball play, a style in which the International side has largely kept up with the United States despite struggling in foursomes recently.

Given the Presidents Cup actually has more matches than the Ryder Cup, that setup perfectly plays into the hands of Davis Love III’s team of 12. History has not been kind to the yellow and black, either. Though they have won and tied on international soil, the U.S. is a perfect seven for seven inside its borders. Only one of those events was closer than a three-point margin, and that came back in 1996 when a team featuring Corey Pavin and Mark O’Meara squeaked past the international team, 16.5-15.5.

Here’s a look at the 2022 Presidents Cup schedule of events so you can watch the action all week long. Check out the Presidents Cup pairings for Day 2 along with our Presidents Cup predictions and picks. All times Eastern

2022 Ryder Cup TV schedule

Day 2 — Friday, Sept. 23

Session 2 (Fourball): 11:30 a.m. [Pairings, tee times]

TV coverage: 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Golf Channel
Live stream: 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free)

Day 3 — Saturday, Sept. 24

Session 3 (Foursomes): 7 a.m.
Session 4 (Fourball): 1 p.m.

Early TV coverage: 7-8 a.m. on Golf Channel
TV coverage: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on NBC
Live stream: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free)

Day 4 — Sunday, Sept. 25

Session 5 (Singles): 12 p.m.

TV coverage: 12-6 p.m. on NBC
Live stream: 12-6 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free)

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