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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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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