It is all about teamwork this week in the main golf action as Brandt Snedeker’s USA take on Geoff Ogilvy’s Internationals in the 16th edition of the Presidents Cup.
The two 12-man outfits take on each other at Medinah Country Club in Illinois and the Americans will be looking to continue their dominance of the competition, which they have won on 13 occasions and never lost on home soil.
Snedeker boasts a star-packed squad with seven of his players currently in the world’s top 10 and the visitors look set to face a difficult task as they aim to win for the first time since 1998, when they came out on top at Royal Melbourne.
Ogilvy can at least call upon the Open champion Ryan Fox for the first time but there will be plenty of other players who will need to step up to the plate if the guests are to avoid another comprehensive defeat.
Presidents Cup betting picks and predictions
Adam Scott to be top Internationals points scorer (+650)
Ogilvy will have four rookies in his squad, including Fox, and he will be desperate for some of his veterans to lead the way and push the Americans.
With that in mind, we should expect the highly experienced Adam Scott to play a key role in the Internationals quest to cause an upset.
Only Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have won more Presidents Cup points than the Australian, who will be making his 13th appearance in the competition at Medinah this week, and it should be acknowledged that 23 points from 54 matches is not a terrible record when the Internationals have tended to be on the receiving end of some heavy defeats.
Scott can lead from the front and it should not be forgotten that the 46-year-old remains a top competitor in his own right.
He demonstrated this last week when he was tied for second behind J.J. Spaun at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on the DP World Tour and even before that performance in England, his form figures were 9-12-16-11.
The former Masters champion is clearly still at the top of his game and he can be expected to lead the charge for the visitors in Illinois this week.
Xander Schauffele to be top USA points scorer (+750)
While Scott is one of the standout performers in the Internationals line-up, it is difficult to see who will be the star for the USA as Snedeker has so many top-drawer performers at his disposal.
Much of the attention will center on world number one Scottie Scheffler, but two-time Major winner Xander Schauffele could be the one who offers the best value in the top USA points scorer market.
Schauffele is just the sort of competitive all-round operator who can flourish in matchplay conditions and he has taken a particular liking to this competition since he made his debut in 2019.
The 2024 Open and PGA champion has struck up a strong foursomes partnership with Patrick Cantlay, which has earned four victories in five matches in this competition and Schauffele has also become a player who can be relied upon to close the deal as he has won all three of his singles matches.
He should be a reliable source of points while others produce the spectacular and there looks a strong chance he can prove to be Snedeker’s most valuable asset at Medinah.
USA to win 19-11 (+1200)
The USA have a stranglehold on the Presidents Cup and that looks unlikely to change this week judging by the line-ups who are set to battle it out.
Snedeker has a host of top players at his disposal and it seems likely that the lack of depth in the Internationals line-up will be exposed.
There has been just one occasion in the eight visits the Internationals have made to the States that they have managed to get within three points of their hosts, and they have had a team containing much stronger players on some of those occasions.
Ogilvy is handicapped by the fact he is unable to name the likes of Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Carlos Ortiz and Joaquin Niemann in his team due to their LIV links and there is a strong chance they would have been a lot more competitive had they been included.
So a comfortable win for the hosts is anticipated and a 19-11 victory, like the one they enjoyed in 2017, is recommended as a correct-score selection.
Presidents Cup odds
USA | -600 |
Internationals | +500 |
Tie | +1400 |
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time
