Instant reaction to surprising (shocking?!) Presidents Cup captain's picks | Golf Channel Podcast

hello and welcome to this edition of the golf tuno podcast with Rex and lav it is indeed an emergency edition of the Pod as the captain's picks for the US and international president Cup teams have just been made Rex we'll start for our purposes with the American side the winners of this event every time since 1998 us Captain Jim Fick is going with Sam Burns Tony fow Russell Henley Keegan Bradley Brian Harmon and Max if you're keeping score at home that is numbers 7 through 12 of the point standings as well as numbers 1 through 12 on the list of the available Americans via the official World Golf Ranking you just got off a teleconference with Captain furick what was the mood on the call uh twofold one I want to start it's been a long time since I woke up and was excited because pick season is about as close as we get to being able to play reporters for the NFL or the NBA where the transaction can be such a entertaining story and people pay attention to it this is like the only time we really get to do this I guess when when he does his pairings in a couple weeks for the matches themselves I guess we we get a little bit but pairing pick pick season is the absolute best that being said the one stat that I looked up first thing this morning is the average ranking for the American team that's 1 through2 now is about 12th it's 11.75 the average ranking for the 12 International Players is 35th so just to be clear this is not that happens that happens every time every single time and this is not a fair fight on paper and uh I looked it up Min wo Lee was not alive the last time the Internationals won this match so I'm just trying to put all this in historical context before I launch into some sort of ridiculous um analysis of specifically Jim picks because going six or I'm sorry going seven through 12 and I think you and I had the exact same reaction you can't lean into the eye roll Emoji enough with him picking seven through 12 and maybe those are exact six players he wanted and that's just happened to be how they fell and however the magic turned out 7 through 12 never ended in his mind and he did mention that on the conference call just now that that wasn't sort of he wasn't trying to play it safe based on what he had done as a Vice Captain before based on what he had done as a rder Cup captain this is just the way it played out and and we can sit and pick andart really all of the picks and I think some of them are oh we are going to Sam Burns pretty straightforward no one's goingon to criticize that one Tony fow really straight forward no one's going to criticize that one you can keep going down it seems to me that Jim and and I had so many high hopes for him going into the Ryder Cup in Paris because I felt like he was going to be kind of the anti-establishment guy we had had a a couple years of what a lot of people refer to as the buddy system when it comes to captains on the American side I felt like furick was going to do what he felt was right whether if he hurt feelings or ruffled some feathers or did whatever he had to do to make sure and in retrospect he was the anti- analytics guy because anybody that looks at those four captains picks he had four captains picks going into Paris it was Bryson D Shambo Phil Mickelson Tiger Woods and Tony feno that group combined went two10 and zero that week and the only two Tony fow rest of them were blanked didn't get any points didn't get any half points they would have been better off having the vice captains who I think was Zack Johnson Matt coocher and then Jim F yeah and Stricker play that particular golf course now by all accounts and I I spoke with Jim last week at the Tour Championship about this he expects kind of the same thing at Royal Montreal he said it's going to be narrow Fairways it's going to be thick rough how you can pick Max hom based on that knowledge how you can pick Max H based on the idea of what happened in Paris he talks about the lessons that he learned from Paris apparently he didn't learn the lesson that if you're not driving the ball well to finish the season you're probably not going to find it in that three weeks between the end of the season and when they have to show up at Royal Montreal to put it in context in Max homa's last two events which would have been the BMW and the St Jude at the uh at St Jude he finished 70th in the field and strokes gain off the T 70 players in that field at at the BMW he finished 48th in that category only 48 players finished that event you get the idea his driving is really really bad so the idea that he's going to find the magical magical Elixir between now and the time they get to Montreal based on what we saw a few years ago going into Paris and what we knew that Golf Course was going to be like that to me is ridiculous take a breath that was the most that was the most passionate uh inspired diet tribe you've ever had in like the eight or nine years that we've been doing this podcast I mean was Jim furick under attack on this teleconference with reporters he seemed to bristle at yeah he seemed to when he was doing the interview with golf today and I just appeared uh to sort of break down the the picks on that show as well he seemed to bristle at the suggestion that he was playing it safe he seemed to bristle at the suggestion that Justin Thomas should have been on this team he seemed to bristle at the suggestion that Max H despite his current form was a deserved pick as well what was what was sort of Jim message that he was trying to portray when he was announcing these picks on the teleconference with reporters Rex well the first question and it was from a reporter from Golf Digest who I won't name but the first question is uh you had to defend The Pick of not picking JT two years ago or I'm sorry last year for the Ridder cup and now I'm asking you to defend not picking him for the president cup which is a weird sort of Twisted way of saying that he really should have ended up being on that team I think yesterday you picked him I think in in when I wrote Sunday night when I was leaving East Lake I felt like JT finished in the playoffs strong enough I felt like he and Russell Henley had done a very very good job of giving Jim fur something to think about I get why he probably didn't want to go in that direction uh he sort of dismissed the idea that I can't I cannot fathom why he why he would not want to go in that direction well twofold really one based on the idea and look he dismissed this but there there has to be something to it the it is a built-in partnership between he and Jordan Speed and the idea that Jordan spe is not going to be on that team he just had surgery we don't know when he's going to come back that's part of it I I think you don't have that sort of that built-in pairing however I feel like Thomas a generational Talent can play with other players guys I feel like he's a plug-and-play player and the other half of it is you have to look at statistically what he was trying to do with that team I don't think he used statistics or analytics very much at all he talked a lot about just having gut feeling so did Mike Weir with his picks and we're going to get to those we're just not going to spend this whole podcast picking on Jim furick I'm with you we could have gone a lot of different directions I know you had made an impassion Ploy for Nick Dunlap I don't think that was ever going to be in the cards the only one that I really get hung up on and look you were also kind of sour on Keegan Bradley kind of based on the idea of one event at elevation seemed to push him over the top just a few weeks ago he clearly was not in the mix to be a pick he was a Vice Captain so it seems odd that you're going to be in the mix at that point I kind of get where he's coming from when you look at the idea of way the way he's performed in the past how he fits in to this team he didn't finish well in the playoffs but again we're kind of we're doing this transit property thing where okay how you play at the East Lake is how you're gonna play at Roy Montreal that's not particularly fair or correct we all know that but I'm with you how do you lead JT off the team and how do you put maxom on the team and I don't want to to sound like I'm piling on to Max hom and and the one thing that he did say about Max that I did scribble into my notes is he just talked about him being the emotional leader of the team that I think he was asked on golf today right before you were on by aan is this a popular pick and he was really quick say to say no no this is not a popularity contest but he is the emotional leader of the team we saw it at Quail Hollow when he sort of gets in that mindset and he's out there fist pumping and screaming at the top of his lungs that gets the other guys fired up I understand all of that but what you're looking at here is just the facts you've put a guy in a position I'm actually shocked that Max would even want to go do this because the body language the last two weeks of the Season that he played was I don't want to see a golf club for a couple months not weeks a couple of months however now you're G to put him in a position of being the most pressure he probably faced all year long and you're demanding one thing out of his game that he has not had this season which is his driver and you're G to just plop him down and say good luck you can't play him an alternate shot so your only chance here is to play him in force fourball which I don't even know if that's a good idea it certainly is not a good idea I wonder if Netflix's cameras were rolling when Keegan Bradley got the call he was going to be on the team as opposed to being spurn last year while Justin Thomas who got the positive call last year got the negative call this year 30,000 feet view of this Rex is that Jim furck was certainly not adventurous with his picks 7 through2 the points list one through2 owgr I think the most heads scratching uh part of this is is isn't even just the recent form of the players that he did pick I think it also has to do with who the other available options were that Jim furick could have rounded out the American team with and yet he decided against let's stick with Keegan Bradley here for a second yes he does have the recent win at elevation the 50 man event at the BMW Championship and Damon and Aon sort of push back like whoa that's a pretty big uh result that he had just a couple of weeks ago the point is that that was an outlier that was an anomaly the win at the BMW Championship was his only top 20 finish in his past nine starts the only reason he got into the BMW Championship field as the last man in at number 50 was because Tom Kim collapsed over the last couple holes at TBC Southwind otherwise Keegan Bradley would have been watching from home he was 18th in points he would have been passed over he would have been at Royal Montreal not with his clubs but instead with a walkie-talkie that's Keegan Bradley in his place I would have put a player like Billy horel because when Jim furick is citing Keegan Bradley's most positive attri attributes it's the grit it's the passion it's the determination keep in mind he has not played in a US team competition in a decade you're already getting those sort of assets and attributes from Keegan Bradley because he's gonna be part of the US team room I would have taken Billy horel who does the exact same thing as Keegan Bradley he has played consistently better than Keegan Bradley over the past couple months remember the Deep Run at the Open Championship that he had as well as a couple good finishes in the playoffs and he has a better putter at this stage of his career than Keegan Bradley is that is sort of the one for one replacement that Jim furick overlooked you mentioned maxom and although he has gone 71 and two in the last two US team competitions although he has been the best American player you mentioned the struggle statistically particularly off the te just one top 10 finish since the Masters I would have gone one forone replacement with Justin Thomas what are some of the traits and attributes that Jim furick has mentioned about maxom it's he's the glue guy he can partner with a lot of guys he's great in the team room the guys really like him he's a fiery presence he's emotional leader who does that sound like for the last decade we've been saying those exact same things about Justin Thomas and yet what Justin Thomas has done this season that maxom has not is play better Golf five top 10 finishes that's more than maxom Brian Haron and Keegan Bradley he's played well in the Signature Events he's played well in a major championship I don't understand it Rex when you look at the career record of Justin Thomas in match play it it smashes max homa's level of experience and you don't have to have the question mark of hey you can only play him in one format because he he can't keep the ball on the planet this is why we love pick season because both of us best just can't get it that fast enough I will say when it comes to Keegan and you're right it seems to me those two are interchangeable talking about JT and Keegan for all of the reasons that Jim pointed out that he felt like Keegan should be on the team and he also went to great length on golf today and when he spoke with reporters afterwards to to point out that JT he really wanted JT on the team like it's clearly those two it's clear those two have a very close relationship with Keegan I almost felt like and look if Jim was sitting here he would obviously push back on this but I almost felt like this was a make good for not being on the Ridder Cup team last year I think of all the things that happened going into Rome and everyone wanted to point to maybe Lucas Glover should have been one of the picks Lucas Glover himself told me he felt like Keegan should have been one of the picks because the way he he had performed and that's a kind of a ridiculous way to think about it but you have sort of these cycles and in this particular case Keegan Bradley probably should have been on that team he probably shouldn't be on this team I I keep going back to the idea you and I are gonna pick this apart on paper this is not going to be a very good competition so all of these things that we're being critical of it's going to be in a microcosm like it's not going to be the macro you're going to have to look at this afterwards as then the Americans will probably win again it'll probably be a commanding win again but how did Max perform and that's really not what we do when we we turn around and we start nitpicking but but Jim furick like you mentioned pick season is one of your favorites like fantasy football season is is the sort of co- lesing at this exact same time as well when you think about fantasy football and the draft you're doing there you want guys who have sort of a mix on your team of a high floor and a high upside right like a high ceiling we talk about that all the time to me Jim fur could have raised the floor of these p picks while also dabbling in some of the high upside picks as well to me AKA Bradley is a higher floor guy to me Justin Thomas is a higher floor guy to me AE batia is a higher ceiling guy like you can mix and match those sorts of those sorts of attributes and assets and Jim fck did not seem uh well suited uh to to do so or particularly eager uh to do so I'm also curious Rex about this Brian Harmon pick because Brian Harman he's a a a fierce competitor the Bulldog match play specialist like you can throw any sort of cliche and the folks have Max excuse me Brian Harman has not played particularly well over the past couple of months just won Top 10 finish since a runner up of The Players Championship he acred most of the points that led him to being inside the top 12 in the US president Cup standings based on his play in 20123 particularly with his win at the Open Championship I don't feel like this was a particularly egregious pick and yet I still think it was a mistake to take Brian Harman not drive the ball as well as he had in 2023 and you can get a similar level of putter in OA batia that you can in Brian Haron with again a higher ceiling as as well that's why I keep circling back around to this like we can pick these apart and I am taken by the idea that Jim clearly did not learn the one lesson that I felt like should have been glaring at Paris the one lesson that all of us realized that oh you didn't pick the right people like regardless of the rest of the players regardless of the eight players automatically qualified the four that you put on to help out those qualifiers only hurt your process Tony fenale being the exception in that group so I I'm taken by what it seems like he didn't learn from Paris the one thing that we all felt like but again I keep going back to and and he was asked this by aan I guess if he's the American captain that breaks the string for the President's Cup team I guess if he's the one that ends the decades long of suffering for the Internationals we like we'll have a field day when we Circle back around and I fully expect us to do that I'm still just having a hard time wrapping my mind around how how that's going to happen because as much optimism as Adam Scott had on Sunday when I talked to him at Eastlake and he had a surprising amount of optimism when we talked about this I still don't see how you can change this momentum that seems to go in the American side every single year I know we've had some close ones in the last few matches but it doesn't seem like they're they're close enough to turn the tide this time might be different and Mike we seems to have a formula but as much as we're going to nitpick these picks and I think you're absolutely right on multiple fronts I think Keegan Bradley could have gone in he could have gone in any direction when it comes to that one and certainly JT or ptia or Harmon uh I'm probably not with you on that one I think Harmon is exactly what the team needs I think that's the kind of passion that as a captain you want on your team but H and I hate to pick on Homer because he's had a bad year and he doesn't need us picking on him but that one baffles me and you mentioned Rex like this this may be a moot point like on paper it still does not appear to be particularly close but with the six picks that Jim furick made on Tuesday he may have just committed like some acts of self-sabotage like if he picks the wrong players and the Americans lose uh he is going to be inundated with criticism and just a quick housekeeping note Keegan Bradley uh will not be necessarily he technically he'll be a playing assistant Captain uh but Jim fck said that he'll essentially be relieved of his Assistant duties the week of the tournament very similar to what Anna norquist will be doing for the European solheim Cup team as well Jim furck said that he expects to name a replacement assistant Captain for Keegan Bradley here the next couple of days uh I think there's something do that uh because he did mention in the in the conference call with reporters that he could actually name two more assistant captains so I don't know that Keegan is going to be considered a playing Vice Captain uh simply because of that like he I think Jim wanted the flexibility of okay he's not a captain although he probably will be because you want him involved getting him ready for next year I understand all that uh I do find it fascinating that when press not only on golf today but in in his interview with reporters he wouldn't even give a hint of who the Vice Captain would be and I didn't get the idea it was going to be Tiger Wood so I will be curious to see who he brings in next yeah Jim Fury can have a maximum of five Vice captains right now he has just four again of Keegan Bradley is I guess sort of officially stripped of his assist Captain duties he could have two Tiger Woods would be a name to be considered I highly doubt that if he was not able to do the president the rer cup captaincy in 2025 I I have a hard time believing he'd be pressed into emergency Duty here Matt coocher is probably a name to watch as well any other names rex that you would Bandy about as potentially wearing an earpiece for Royal Montreal no and he might be he might just circle back around and name I don't know bring in Freddy or whoever yes someone who who's been there before someone who can help him with the pairings I think the one thing that when I spoke with Jim last week about it and again I'm kind of going back to the idea what did you learn that went wrong in Paris that you think you'll you'll be able to fix this time around and he sort of talked about how fast everything goes once the week starts like it seems like the two-year buildup takes forever but then once the first go golf ball goes in the air it seems like everything moves at just lightning speed and as a captain you're having to make so many decisions important decisions on the Fly specifically as they apply to getting the pairings right for the next session and in that particular case I think he would want as many voices and as much information as possible that is the US side uh on the international side International Captain Mike Weir chose Cory Connor minwu Lee Taylor pendrith McKenzie Hughes seu Kim and Christian Zaden how I don't gather rex that you feel as strongly or as passionately uh about the picks that Mike Weir made do you think he did a good job do you think he did a questionable job do you think he did just sort of a shrug let's see how it plays out sort of job what's your takeaway from what Mike Weir did so this is the opposite of what you know we just hashed over when it came to Jim furick it seems like going s through 12 seems like you just mailed in a homework assignment it's you just checked the boxes I said I said it was essentially like Jim furick was autod drafting like he he just he he just left an autodraft he probably for the draft was going to be on he forgot he had to make the picks live on on like oops sorry I'm sure I'm sure those 12 will be fine so in Mike we's case I will give him credit that he did drift all the way down to mcken McKenzie Hughes at 15 that he did pass over some players that you probably would have thought I thought Cam Davis was going to be on the team to be quite Frank with you so I will be curious as time goes on how that Dynamic played out I think he wanted as many Canadians on the team as possible he ended up with three Canadians on the team he could have gone even deeper than that that might have been a perception issue again he had another conference call with reporters afterwards and it did sound to me like he was walking a fine line that you leave Nick Taylor off and we all know his history at the Canadian open and what it would mean to the crowds to have him there you leave Adam had went off and of course another Canadian you would want in that mix but Mike was really quick to point out that this is an International Event and he had to look at a lot of different players I like the idea that when he was asked specifically about mat Hughes in the conference with reporters he said a quote unquote gut feeling and so again it doesn't seem like either captains leaning in this is not Moneyball they're not going to the back room and turning the computers on and have the numbers crunched and yep that's what we're going to do it seems to me that both captains just did the eyeball test like yep I I like him like well he's not playing great and maybe he's not a good fit for the golf course yep it'll be fine so I I am curious like when it in the weeks after the matches is always when we start finding things out that are more interesting to me because it's at the time of these picks or I guess on Sunday night at East Lake both captains are clearly huddled with their teams trying to figure out okay who are going to be our six it did not look like either Captain cared about the analytics of it all and that does surprise me I I do think that there was data that leaned in mckeny hughes's favor keep in mind he was passed over in in 2022 despite being a member at quell Hollow that of course is a big ballpark need to have a Masher off the tea McKenzie Hughes that is not the strength of his game instead he's one of the best putters and shippers of the golf ball on Ryan Fox should have been on that team so to your point Ryan Fox should have been on that team that went to quall I made that argument very very strongly the only reason he wasn't is because he was playing the majority of his golf overseas I mean he was a bomber he clearly was perfect for that team for that golf course and didn't feel like he got a sniff yes I I think that's that's certainly Fair we can we can go back to to rewind the podcast from 2022 this year if you were just as impassionate of a plea uh with there like I I in a nod to our friend Mark schau of ESP and like I think of these in tiers and in the locks like on the US side I thought the locks were Sam Burns Tony feno and Russell Henley on the international side I thought the locks were going to be Cory Connors phenomenal ball Striker Canadian seventh in points that just missed out Taylor pendrith he won this year at the Byron Nelson he just made the East Lake for the Tour Championship uh I thought Min mle tremendous young Talent uh just 26 years old can sort of be a spark plug for that team Alla Tom Kim in 2022 and seu Kim I thought was a lock as well top tier ball Striker can pair well with a hot Putter and so it was really coming down I thought in Mike Weir's mind to just two picks again M Hughes to me is eminently defensible wants to have as many Canadians as possible three seems to to to sort of thread the needle of having enough for the the home crowd to get behind while not having so many that you're potentially undermining the competitive Integrity of the team or even heaping too much pressure on the Canadians as well and Christian bazen Hout I thought was a defensible pick as well strength of his game is a good putter just had his best season to date on the PJ tour and made the Tour Championship you mentioned the two Canadians and Nick Taylor and Adam hadwin Nick Taylor has not done anything since we in the Phoenix Open in dramatic fashion essentially played his way out of consideration for this team Adam Han Adam hadwin statistically is not a strong ball Striker as well really across the board compared to mck Hughes just didn't quite fair to me the the biggest is Cam Davis here he played on this team in 2022 had a couple of of key moments at qu Hollow he won the rocket Mortgage in July he was eighth uh in the point standings he had a nice finish in the playoffs at the BMW Championship statistically if if you're going to say that Mike Weir is not leaning heavily into the data or the analytics here statistically Cam Davis was all over the board not a strong ball Striker not a strong putter he did sort of pop up at times and have these occasional flourish but from a a full body of work McKenzie Hughes was better in 2024 I think that's why he leaned in that direction well and you can kind of go down the list it will be curious and I pointed this out on Sunday night when I was writing about the potential picks that minu Lee was almost a lock to me because of what he and Jason day did in Paris at the Olympics that's not a team event so clearly it doesn't factor into this but those two really turned it into a team event they got there early they were there the Sunday before they practiced together they ate together they stayed in the same Hotel like they they clearly clicked and so in Mike's mind I'm sure it was oh this is going to be an easy pairing because then you're going to start looking at Adam Scott he's a veteran who are you gonna put him with you'd probably want to put him with a younger player I agree he he threaded the needle pretty well if you go back to when the President's Cup was played at rural monreal last time around Mike we was the only Canadian there and you want to get the crowds behind you from the very get-go you need to turn this into some sort of home field advantage that's the way to do it but if you went four five deep that wasn't going to work Rex speaking of data and analytics I'll be able to go back and look and see if this is our least listened to or least watched podcast in in history because I'm curious Rex like is there actually apathy towards this event do fans even care about the President's Cup as I mentioned off the top the international team has not won the President's Cup since 1998 it has been decidedly one-sided the international team has been decimated by the Liv defections uh a lot there's been a lot of hankering and calls for this to be sort of blown up and turned into a mixed team event can the Internationals actually make this a competitive product in 2024 or should this thing be blown up it was one of those knuckle balls that we always get from aan yesterday when I was on golf today and I think he essentially said is an ill irrelevant which is a bit of a hot potato did to throw at someone on the network that is airing this particular tournament so I'm going to say it's not irrelevant there is a danger that it is trending in that direction though because without parody you're not going to have anything close to what you end up with at the Ryder Cup which is by all accounts not just one of the greatest events in all of golf it's one of the greatest events in all of sports why because they go back and forth because you have that parody because it comes down to these exciting finishes on Sunday you just don't have that at the President's Cup so yes I I think you're constantly in danger the further we get away from 1998 and I pointed out at the beginning of this podcast there is a member of the international team who was not alive the last time the Internationals won this I can't lean into that enough it shows you how look I don't want to call the international side irrelevant and get I'll go back to what Adam Scott told me on Sunday at Eastlake I'm always surprised when a veteran like that who has been let's just admit it just beaten down by this event like he has done nothing in this event but lose every two years match after match after match so I'm shocked when he's excited about it but I keep going back to the idea how long is that going to last if you're Adam Scott how many more times do you want to go through this how many more times do you want to put yourself through it I will give Ernie El's a monsoon of credit he tried to create something when he was Captain that get them to play under one Shield under one flag is the idea you have all of these players coming from all these different parts of the world and it's been difficult for them to get them to sort of cohese as a unit and that that's perfectly understandable I think TR emman last time around did a good job of taking that another step forward trying to get all of these players to believe that they're in a team I think Mike Weir has taken a good step I don't know if we're any closer though because I'll go back to the stats that I started this podcast with 11.75 average world ranking for the US team 35 for the international team that's not good statistics I just noticed rex that I was drinking out of a Southern Soul Barbecue cup shout out McKenzie Hughes former winner of the RSM classic that must have been on my mind but I was going into the cabinet I I hear what you're saying I thought the turning point for this event could have been in 2017 at Liberty National remember when the Americans like almost could have closed out the event on Saturday like I think that would have been reason to blow this thing up and try again but in the two editions since then 2019 they just reared on Golf Channel on Tuesday like the Americans were down heading into Sunday singles stage a pretty miraculous final day comeback at Royal Montreal uh led by playing Captain Tiger Woods and one back to cup that way in 2022 qu Hollow although the eventual margin of victory was five points I remember distinctly being on the back nine and there was about a 45 minute window where there was actually a pathway for the Internationals to win again it looks bad on on wikip there was a 45 minute window where it was actually possible again it did not come to fruition but it it it was at least believable at that point I think Trevor imman in the press conference afterwards said like we're closer than we've ever been to making this thing a competition the Internationals like the Internationals have to be tired to point the Internationals have to be tired of being the Plucky underdogs who are going up against the dominant Americans and are just trying to give them a spirited run like that is not Spirit of of competition eventually you have to win or it's just a waste of everyone's time it's a waste of the Americans time it's a waste of the International Players time who are just continually uh sort of futile in their efforts to to win this tournament and and the captains over the past few years in particular Trevor imman and Mike we have not been helped out by the organizing body of the President's Cup in the PJ tour with the lived affections and and having these teams decimated by little players like this would have looked dramatically different if Walky Neeman was on this team if Cam Smith was on this team if Dean burmaster was on this team if Louie usas and Abe aner and Carlos Ortiz are on this team that would have been a much more even much more compelling match instead we're sort of robbed of what could be a dramatic competition look we're still going to cover it we're still going to enjoy it like team golf to me is is the best thing that we cover all year long but it's not as good as it could be and to that respect I I understand the fan apathy well and I do want to counter this and I want to fill in the gaps real quick I want it to be competitive personally professionally I want it to be competitive I work for a network that wants it to be competitive competitive is not good enough though like the Internationals have to win or it's a waste of time I I would agree with that like we have seen it it came down in Korea a few years ago where it did come down to that last match and it was exciting and it felt like they had some momentum but now we're still many many years removed from those matches and we still haven't gotten to the finish line so I am going to agree with you on that front they need to win one you want it to be interesting because you're right these are the most interesting events that we cover all year long go back to Rome last year you want it just to be close the blowouts don't work in either direction if it's Europe winning by a blowout or the United States winning by a blowout you always want it to be close it's a more pelling product it's a more entertaining product I I will see if we're closer and you make a really good point that when you look at the impact that Liv go had on both teams and I think we had the same conversation going into Rome last year for the Ryder Cup I made the argument last year that the Europeans were actually impacted more than the United States team I'm not quite sure if it played out that way this time around I think you're right on the surface it looks as if the international team they were robbed of all of these players that would have been sort of the heart and soul of this team that was building in the right direction and now they're gone and it's almost as if Trevor two years ago and Mike this year has had to start from scratch you like their team and I think if you look at the way they're playing certainly Hideki leading the way Adam Scott is playing much better Jason day actually had a solid finish to the season so they have some reasons to be optimistic but I'm still gonna believe it when I see it yeah I don't think it's quite as dramatic uh of a of a makeover as what Trevor imman had to do in 2022 like remember the Liv defections throughout the PJ tour season that year really left him short-handed uh it was basically miraculous the Internationals only lost by five given the turbulence that they had over those final couple months U of qualifying I I think you're spoton with that Rex if the Internationals are going to win it's not going to be because of the six captains picks that Mike Weir did and whether or not he was leaning into the data in the analytics Hideki matama has to come to play Adam Scott has to continue to to play the way that he has over the fex Cup playoffs Jason day has to step up and part partner with Min Min wle in a dramatic way Tom Kim needs to show his potential sort of flashback to 2022 as well we'll be there to cover it in a couple weeks time if if the action is not compelling Rex at least you and I will be eating some of the best steaks of her life at Joe Beef the reservation in Montreal you've already got the itinerary ready don't you has already been reserved all right that is going to do it for this Edition the golf General podcast with Rex and lab you guys know the drill for much more on the president cup captains picks go to nbcsports.com golf we'll be skipping the Sunday podcast this week because there is no PJ tour action we'll be back next week with a season preview in Napa forgot what the official title of that PJ tour fall opener is as well as sort of a season in review for the 2024 PJ tour proper thanks for listening thanks for the support we'll talk to you guys next week pick season