Top-Heavy Odds
There is always room for an upset, but the International Presidents Cup team is an outsider to win in Quail Hollow this week.
The decision not to choose LIV defectors is likely to come back to haunt the Internationals, who are +700 underdogs against a strong Team USA outfit.
Golf betting markets have the United States at -700 and it’s hardly surprising given the strength of its squad.
Team USA Roster Stacks Up
There is no contest when it comes to deciding which team has the better roster. The Americans have a top-heavy team and we’re not surprised by the odds.
Headlining Team USA are the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, and Patrick Cantlay. There are no weak links in the squad and even Max Homa comes off a win at the Fortinet Championship.
Playing at home at Quail Hollow is another positive for the Americans, and coach Davis Love III should be confident with his unit.
We love the addition of Kevin Kisner as a captain’s pick. He adds some much-needed experience.
“Kevin adds some veteran leadership, a guy in the team room that everybody loves having around,” Love told Golf Channel, “and he’s really, really easy to pair.”
Team USA is 11-1-1 overall in the Presidents Cup and the Internationals are missing many quality players, so it’s only going to get harder.
“This is their 12-man team that has never played together before. So they want to win for this team,” Love said. “So I don’t think we have to do too much messaging or motivation. Certainly, you don’t want to be on a losing team, ever.
“And we know we are up against it. Trevor (Immelman) is going to have a team that’s got a chip on their shoulder and that’s motivated and wants to prove that they can still be competitive. We have to be careful. Certainly, these guys are not going to take it lying down.”
Golf odds are likely to shorten for Team USA, which is currently -700 but that could dip to around -850 come tee off.
LIV Decision Guts Internationals
The LIV Tour has decimated the International squad for the Presidents Cup and we don’t have high hopes for the visitors.
Golfers not allowed to play include last week’s winner, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and many more.
Oosthuizen was particularly miffed about his non-selection.
“I thought by resigning my membership before I did anything wrong really … there’s no rule that says I need to be a PGA Tour member to play the Presidents Cup, especially as an International team player,” he said.
“I didn’t think I did anything wrong. I made my decision on where I am playing golf. But I didn’t do anything wrong while I was a PGA Tour member. I was a bit disappointed in the decision that I was on the list not being able to play.”
There is still plenty of experience with the team, including Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, but it’s the rest of the team that could struggle to keep up with the Americans.
K.H. Lee, Taylor Pendrith, Cam Davis, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are severely outclassed and that’s where we expect the Internationals to struggle.
It’s reflected in the sportsbook, but they’ll likely go down fighting. It gives these players a chance to shine on the world stage, so we wouldn’t completely overlook their chance of success.
However, Team USA should be too strong and it could be among the biggest margins of victory we’ve ever seen.
