The Presidents Cup returns in 2024, with the biennial match seeing Team USA take on an International Team made up of players from elsewhere in the world except Europe.
Canadian Mike Weir is the International Team captain for September’s contest, which will be held in his homeland at Montreal Golf Club. However, per Sportsnet's Adam Stanley, he has confirmed that LIV Golf players won’t be among the 12 he leads. That decision will exclude a host of eligible players on the circuit, with two, in particular, standing out.
Mike Weir caught up with media this afternoon, about six months out of the Presidents Cup in Montreal. - Team dinner @ Bay Hill this week- Plenty of new stars catching his eye- No LIV guys for 2024- Three assistant captains named in mid-April (will have five total)March 5, 2024
One is Australian Cameron Smith, who won The Open shortly before joining LIV Golf in 2022 and has since claimed victory at three of the big-money circuit’s events, as well as the 2022 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship on the DP World Tour.
The other big name who won’t be appearing is Joaquin Niemann. The Chilean has won two of the three LIV Golf events in the new season, and is widely regarded as one of the most in-form players in the game so far this year.
For the duo, it’s a case of history repeating itself, because they had been eligible for the 2022 match at Quail Hollow thanks to their standings in the Presidents Cup International Team Points List, but they were excluded from Trevor Immelman’s team after signing for LIV Golf.
It’s not just Smith and Niemann who would have felt they were in with a chance of playing. Niemann’s compatriot Mito Pereira also qualified via the Points List for the 2022 match, but unlike Smith and Niemann, he played as he didn’t sign for LIV Golf until 2023. However, for the next two years at least, it seems that will remain his one appearance.
Others who are set to miss out include Mexican former World No.11 Abraham Ancer, Colombian Sebastian Munoz, who was a captain’s pick in 2022, and Major-winning South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. Another South African, Dean Burmester, would surely have also been in contention after he claimed two DP World Tour wins to close out 2023.
At the 2024 match, former Masters champion Weir will try improve a less-than-impressive International Team record, which has seen it lose all but two of the 14 editions to date.
Like his predecessor, he will still be able to call on some top players, including Japan's 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, Australian former World No.1 Jason Day and three-time PGA Tour-winning South Korean Tom Kim, who currently occupy the top three of the Points List. However, if the International Team is to claim a tie or better in 2024, it appears it will once again have to do it the hard way.
Weir, who will have six captain's picks for his team, also confirmed that he will name three of his assistant captains for the match in mid-April.
International LIV Golf Players Set To Miss Presidents Cup
- Abraham Ancer
- Dean Burmester
- Branden Grace
- Lucas Herbert
- Matt Jones
- Jinichiro Kozuma
- Anirban Lahiri
- Danny Lee
- Marc Leishman
- Sebastian Munoz
- Joaquin Niemann
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Carlos Ortiz
- Mito Pereira
- Charl Schwartzel
- Cameron Smith
- Keiran Vincent
- Scott Vincent
