Golf’s biggest team events—Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, and Solheim Cup—are falling flat. Here’s how mixed formats, LIV players, and global venues could save them.
Are golf’s most exciting team events on life support?
The Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, and Solheim Cup were once cornerstones of international golf competition. But after Team USA’s 10th straight win at the 2024 Presidents Cup, fans are wondering—is this even a contest anymore?
In this video, we explore why golf’s cup events desperately need a reboot—and how small changes could make a huge difference. Should we integrate LPGA players into the Presidents Cup? Should LIV Golf stars like Cameron Smith, DeChambeau, and Niemann be allowed to compete again? Should the Ryder Cup evolve beyond USA vs Europe?
We’ll also explore the potential of mixed-gender formats, the benefits of global venues, and why excluding international women stars is holding the game back.
💡 Imagine the Presidents Cup in India or China, featuring Scottie Scheffler and Lydia Ko on the same team. Imagine golf growing in countries that never had access to the sport’s biggest stages.
It’s time to rethink these events—not just for entertainment, but for the future of golf itself.
👇 Drop your ideas in the comments—how would YOU fix golf’s Cup events?
I don’t know if it’s just me, but it feels like golf’s cup events are dying. After watching Team USA crush the Internationals again at the President’s Cup, I’m sure you’d agree with me that competition needs an urgent revival. With that victory, the Americans lifted their 10th straight title. And that had me wondering if we could even still call it a competition. I mean, next time around, Team USA might as well take pictures with the trophy on day one and save everybody some time. But here’s what eats me up. so much about the President’s Cup. It really doesn’t have to be a walk in the park 14 USA. That is if the PGA Tour is willing and ready to make some drastic but very simple changes to the event. And it’s not just the President’s Cup. I feel the Ryder Cup and the Soulheim Cup could use some tweaking as well. Like the President’s Cup, they also have more to offer than they are currently giving. And I think it’s a great disservice to us fans if these events are not producing the best contests we know they can. Cup events are unique ways to showcase and consume golf. Mainly because they are matchplay events. We get to watch the world’s best golfers on different teams do battle and play exciting team golf. But if we keep getting the same poorly contested tournaments, I fear these competitions might not survive the next decade or two. So what can we do to save them? For start, we can involve women more, redefine certain terms, and repackage these competitions to serve a more global audience. Also, for God’s sake, can we bring back the Live Boys? Now, firstly, the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour must partner up to integrate women into the President’s Cup. We can all agree that the Soulheim Cup is basically the Women’s Rider Cup, right? They were both created when golf was still mostly limited to the US and a couple of European countries. So, it was understandable at the time to have competitions that only featured talents from Europe and the US. But after golf’s 21st century explosion around the world, it made sense to have a competition that brings the best of the rest of the world against the USA’s biggest hitters. So, the President’s Cup was born. But here’s the thing. While the American boys have maintained their dominance of men’s golf after the explosion, the story has changed on the women’s circuit, East Asia especially has emerged as a dominant force in women’s golf. Over the years, it has turned out superstars like Savory Pack, Mi Lee, Sununyong Co, Lydia Co, and many others. So, I guess your head must be just as blown as mine to know that these women, who, by the way, are some of the best golfers in the world, are not involved in any of the prestigious Cup events. It almost seems like they are kept out by a conspiracy to ensure America’s dominance in these events. I just don’t know how else to explain their exclusion, but if you have a better explanation, please let me know in the comments. So, with that much unused firepower available to the Internationals, I feel bringing the women on board is an easy fix that can save the President’s Cup. And here’s what makes this idea interesting. The numbers back it up. At the 2024 President’s Cup, every member of Team USA was in the top 25 in the official World Golf Rankings. And when you pit that monstrosity against a team of internationals with only four players in the same top 25, what you get is a train wreck waiting to happen. This is exactly why women internationals are the obvious game changers. Seven of the best women golfers in the world are internationals. And the pool gets even wider when you know a whopping 18 of the top 25 women golfers in the world are neither from the US nor Europe. The fact that these women won four out of the five women’s majors in 2024 is just another proof of their brilliance as a group. So, it’s safe to say on paper a women’s internationals team would destroy the US women’s team every day for 365 days. In other words, they would flip the script of what’s been happening on the men’s side for the better part of three decades. But, as I said, it seems the US women don’t want that smoke. They’ve already lost their dominance in the Solheim Cup where the Europeans have grown stronger in recent years. So, they probably aren’t thinking about going up against the Internationals for obvious reasons. With the wealth of talent in the women’s camp for the Internationals, they can easily balance the contest, taking away the advantage the Americans have enjoyed forever. But apart from that, I can’t stop thinking about the variety the women would bring to the event. Think about all the ways the organizers could mix the teams. For me, I’d suggest they keep the current 4-day format, but instead of the all men’s game, we could have mixed forsesomes on day one and mixed four balls on day two. On day three, the contest would get more exciting. Two men’s teams and two women’s teams on both sides would play the morning forsomes and the afternoon fourballs. And to keep the game even, the women would play against each other, and the men would do the same. Then on the last day, we’d have separated singles. So, six of America’s best men against six of the international’s best men. Then, six of the best women from the US against six of their counterparts from outside the US and Europe. I can already imagine the fireworks this would bring to a competition that has been made unwatchable by being so predictable. It’s almost unforgivable that the organizers haven’t tested this concept yet. Imagine the views and revenue this would generate for the event and its sponsors. all the eyes that would see what they’ve been missing on the LPGA tour, the new audiences that would tune in to watch, and it’s just the perfect excuse to bring all the fans of Elite Golf together in one place. Also, with only six men and six women eligible for selection, we could eliminate captain’s picks, which can be biased at times. Instead, we could have one male captain and a female captain, leading six men and six women selected strictly on merit. And before you say it, I know the format I’m suggesting is not perfect. So, let me know what other ways you think these mixed teams can be used more effectively. But before you type your comments, I think you should know there’s another way to solve this problem. And you might not like it. Now, although I think including women will solve most of the problems the President’s Cup currently has competition-wise, there’s an alternative that’s at the very least a fun thought experiment. So, what do you think about expanding the RDER Cup beyond the US and Europe? I know that sounds nuts to some people, but please hear me out. The Ryder Cup has been played between the US and Europe since 1979. But before then, the competition only involved players from Great Britain and Ireland playing against Team USA. So, the question is, if it could change in 1979, why can’t we change it now? If Europe is allowed to join the internationals, the contest automatically evens out. But that would mean the elimination of either the RDER Cup or the President’s Cup. And since the Ryder Cup is the more prestigious of the two, it’s the one I’d like to keep. If this ever happens, I’d like to see the same change in the Soulheim Cup. And with the addition of the Internationals to the Soulheim Cup, I doubt Team USA would win another tournament in the next 20 years. Still, I’d love to see them try. But if we decide to redesign the RDER Cup and the Soulheim Cup to feature the USA versus the world instead of Europe, this leaves enough room for a mixedgendered President’s Cup. So still three cups, but more inclusive and three times more exciting. I mean, look at what happened to the Ryder Cup after the inclusion of continental Europe. Before then, America’s victory was as certain as day and night. But after the 79 change, the US has had to earn every victory it has recorded. Don’t get me wrong, I also think the protracted underdog story is fascinating. For instance, I know if the Internationals manage to magically win the next President’s Cup, it will surely be talked about for ages, but left to me, I’d prefer a competition where the difference in quality is not as wide as the Atlantic. One of the factors that have widened that gap is the ban on live golf players. And I think it’s time we talked about it. I know we all stand on different sides of the debate on whether to let live golfers back into the cup events or not, but here’s why I think we should allow them. Their absence is killing these competitions. Take the last President’s Cup for instance. The Internationals could have used the services of the likes of Louisisen, Cameron Smith, and Wen Neman. Sure, their involvement wouldn’t have guaranteed victory for the Internationals, but I bet it would have kept the margin a lot more respectable. They were a weak team before Liv and they are now even weaker after some of their best players made the trip over to the Saudi backed league. But the internationals are not the only ones affected by the PGA Tour and European Tours ban on live players. Team USA also had its fair share of notable absentees at the 2023 Ryder Cup. Even though it boasts the deepest talent pool in the men’s game, it had to play the 2023 Ryder Cup without big names like Bryson Dambo and Dustin Johnson. And I’d argue that the team would have put up a better fight with these characters on the team. Captain Zack Johnson somehow squeezed Brooks Keepka into the fray, but you could see how the controversy around his inclusion overshadowed his performance. Now, if things remain as they are, Europe would also have to play without Hatton and John Rom in 2025. Maybe that would help the Americans get their revenge for the trouncing they received in 2023. But I’m sure fans would rather watch a Ryder Cup with the strongest teams possible. I don’t even get why the ban is still in place since the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have also agreed to take the Saudis money. Also, these players have been playing major tournaments and winning them without issue. So, at this point, I think it’s pointless to shut some of the best golfers in the world out of these cup events because it’s hurting the game. Something else is also hurting the game and it’s what seems like is golf reluctance to break out of its shell. Golf is now a global sport and I think these cup events are the best avenues to advertise it. Obviously, financial and logistical factors determine the venues of these events. But I feel any of these events would make money wherever they go. Besides the US, the other countries that have hosted these cup competitions are countries where golf is already popular. And that’s just not how to grow golf in the less golf obsessed countries. Imagine the President’s Cup in China, for example, or the Rder Cup in India. Imagine what they could do for golf’s image in these countries. We have heard so many players say they developed their love for the sport after watching their first tournament live. But the argument against this might be that there is little demand for golf in these countries. That’s very true, but you can’t have demand without interest. Football, for instance, owes its popularity to how traveled the sport itself is, and it’s still traveling to this day. Teams from the English Premier League have been playing their preseason matches in the US. The last Super Cup of Espa or the Spanish Super Cup was played at the King Fod International Stadium in Riad, Saudi Arabia. In fact, forget about those. The last FIFA World Cup was played in Carter, a country ranked 50th in the world in the FIFA rankings. And yes, I know there are many small tournaments sanctioned by the PGA Tour played outside the US and Europe. Still, nothing can beat displaying the best you’ve got to the world. I think of the Malaysian kid seeing great golf for the first time and getting her first club when the competition ends. So, this is not a simple outreach program. It’s an opportunity to sell golf to new markets. There’s probably some kid in Rwanda waiting to be inspired by Scotty Sheffller. And who knows, the next Tiger Woods might not even come from America. It could be a boy somewhere in Argentina. All I’m saying is the same thing motivational speakers have said for years. Golf has to get out of its comfort zone if it wants to realize its maximum potential. All right, that’s it for me, but I know you also have some intelligent ideas on how golf’s cup competitions can be improved. So, please head to the comment section and share them. I’ll see you in another video.
