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Whatever happens on Sunday at Medinah, this year’s Presidents Cup has unquestionably been a triumph that the event desperately needed.
The International Team went into the singles with their first ever lead on American soil. There is no question that Geoff Ogilvy has completely outshone Brandt Snedeker, and given his side a phenomenal opportunity to secure their first victory since 1998.
Who will win the Presidents Cup and what will be the final score?
The Internationals need just five points for a historic victory!
The Internationals have certainly silenced those of us who had awarded the trophy to Team USA before a single shot had been hit this week.
And with that, it is perhaps fair to say that this year’s Presidents Cup has dealt yet another blow to LIV Golf by proving that those who made the jump are not needed.
How LIV Golf’s formation appeared to be the final nail in the coffin for the Presidents Cup
The 2022 Presidents Cup essentially ended as a contest the moment Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann decided to join LIV Golf. The two players would have qualified first and fourth respectively for Trevor Immelman’s team at Quail Hollow. However, they decided to move across to LIV before the event.
The Internationals had already lost a number of stalwarts, with the likes of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace among those to join LIV. It was a brutal turn of events, and it was impossible not to feel for Immelman.
The 2024 Presidents Cup did not end up being particularly close either. Mike Weir played the same eight players across both sessions on Saturday at Royal Montreal, and it cost the team in black and gold.
With Ogilvy picking players such as Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout for Medinah, there was pressure on the PGA Tour from fans to save the Presidents Cup by allowing LIV players to feature.
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LIV is no longer any sort of threat to the PGA Tour. And Brian Rolapp should be desperate to transform the Presidents Cup, so offering the two captains the chance to pick one or two LIV players makes a lot of sense.
However, the Internationals have shown this week that they can believe they can win the Presidents Cup without those who went to LIV.
The Presidents Cup may no longer need those who decided to join LIV Golf
Those LIV players who hoped that the Presidents Cup would be on life support for long enough that a pathway would be opened up for them now have a dilemma.
Should they leave LIV now and focus on playing on the DP World Tour next season, they could have a PGA Tour card for 2028 and potentially be eligible for Kingston Heath. But they surely have to make that move in the coming months.
As things stand, there appears to be no guarantees of LIV’s future beyond this year. What those on LIV perhaps did not need was for the Presidents Cup to be given fresh life and for the league’s players to have yet another reason to potentially walk away.
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