Updated:2019December sees the 13th edition of the Presidents Cup golf competition, this year being held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, from 12 to 15 December 2019.
Dates: 09/12 To 15/12
Host City: Melbourne, Australia
It’s a crack team of international golfers, minus Europe, against the best from the USA in this annual matchup. Over the brief history of the PGA fixture the US team usually comes out on top. In fact, apart from a tie in 2003 and an international victory in Melbourne in 1998, the USA side has always won.
Going on that previous form you’d expect the USA to walk it this December too. However, that epic International team victory happened in 1998, the year Bill Clinton was impeached. Could history repeat in more ways than one?
We are first going to have a good look through each of the team lineups and highlight some players to watch plus which side the bookies favour to lift the trophy.
International Team analysis
Here’s how the International Team lines up:
- Marc Leishman
- Jason Day
- Adam Scott
- Hideki Matsuyama
- C.T. Pan
- Haotong Li
- Abraham Ancer
- Sungjae Im
- Adam Hadwin
- Joaquin Niemann
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Cam Smith
Overall there’s no huge surprise to the selections here, it’s a simple case of the captain Ernie Els picking the best he has in front of himself right now.
Jason Day has struggled for form recently but was always a shoo-in thanks to his golfing record and the fact that this event is in his home country.
Joaquin Niemann is a potential superstar in the making after his superb recent wins.
Sungjae Im is certainly amongst the best players in the world right now, recently rising into the top 35 in the Official World Golf Rankings and one to watch closely.
Adam Hadwin is the highest-ranked Canadian in the team and deserves his place there. Els went with his as a solid putter for the match-play event.
Im, Niemann, Ancer, Li, Pan and Smith are all first-timers to this event so this could go in their favour or work against them. We’ll only see which is true when they tee off in December.
Current betting odds on International Team victory:
Betway has the best odd on an International Team victory at 11/4.
USA Team analysis
Here’s how the USA tournament team lines up:
- Brooks Koepka
- Dustin Johnson
- Justin Thomas
- Patrick Cantlay
- Tiger Woods
- Xander Schauffele
- Bryson Dechambeau
- Webb Simpson
- Tony Finau
- Patrick Reed
- Gary Woodland
- Matt Kuchar
Tiger Woods is reborn and in top form, so there’s no question as to whether he would pick himself for the side as the captain.
Patrick Reed has healthy records in both singles and team play at all match play events so is a top pick.
Gary Woodland played well in Asia and is the reigning U.S. Open champ so brings a lot to the side here.
Tony Finau is included despite his stumble in Asia this year. However, he was a revelation at the Ryder Cup last year so is a great pick by Woods and is sure to boost the team’s chances.
Current betting odds on US Team ictory:
Betfair and PaddyPower both have the best odds on an US Team victory at 2/5.
Will it end in a draw?
It has only happened once in the tournaments 13-year history but you can never rule out a draw after the final ball has been played. It’s looking pretty unlikely with the strength of the much favoured USA team but it could be worth a cheeky outside bet.
Current betting odds on a draw:
If you want to bet on a Draw, go with the current best odds with Bet365 at 14/1.
Rady, Set, BET!
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