[Photo: Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images]
Geoff Ogilvy intends to replicate the victorious cohesion the European Ryder Cup team is famous for in a bid to captain his International Presidents Cup side to its first victory this century.
Two weeks before the 16th edition of the biennial teams matches comes to Chicago, Ogilvy’s team is complete and the 49-year-old is undaunted by the event’s overall ledger that shows the American side with a near-perfect record.
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The Melburnian is aided by an advantage only he possesses – his design firm, OCM Golf, is responsible for the renovation of the No.3 course at the host venue, Medinah Country Club.
Whether that counts for anything when the two 12-player sides line up remains to be seen, but Ogilvy would like to harness some of the energy the European Ryder Cup side has discovered when it comes to taking on the might of American golf.
“It used to be a group that would get together every two years and play a golf tournament. Now it’s a constant, the International team,” he told Australian Golf Digest this morning. “We have dinners all the time, they all play practice rounds [together on tour], we had an outing last year with the whole group at Medinah.
“It feels a bit more like – I don’t know what it feels like to be a European leading up to the Ryder Cup or in the Ryder Cup team – but it feels more like that.
“They’re the benchmark in international team golf. They do such a good job. Luke [Donald’s] hallmark has been attention to detail and leaving no stone unturned. All the different things they do to create that… and that energy continues.
“You can bridge that gap from all the players who have played before to now, and I think Europe have really always done that really well and I think we’re getting to a point where that’s starting to work for us.”
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Ogilvy has continued to build upon the unity Ernie Els elevated during his captaincy of the 2019 International side that led going into the singles matches at Royal Melbourne before falling short on Sunday. The team shield remains and so does a heightened sense of camaraderie across a side drawn on this occasion from seven different nations.
“It takes a long time to get a group of people from all these different countries feeling like they’re all playing for the same team, if you like,” Ogilvy said. “Europe, I think, took a long time with that as well, if you look at the history of the Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup history is actually pretty similar to that.
“So we’re feeling [like we’re] in a pretty good spot and it’s pretty exciting. The boys are definitely into it.”
However, the odds are still stacked against the Internationals. Only once in 15 previous contests has the blended side captured the trophy, and not since 1998 and never in the United States. Only twice since 1996 have the Internationals managed to finish within three points of the US side in Presidents Cups held in America.
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Also hamstringing the visitors is a comparatively limited pool of golfers to draw upon.
Ogilvy today referenced his inability to select LIV Golf members among his six captain’s picks. The PGA Tour-owned Presidents Cup has been a no-go zone for LIV players since 2022, a stance that cost Ogilvy any hope of drawing on Cam Smith, Lucas Herbert, Joaquin Niemann and others.
“I asked it a few times. I asked it two years ago when this job started,” Ogilvy said of campaigning for including LIV Golfers on his side. “‘Is there going to be any chance?’ ‘Well, there’s not going to be no chance – we’re going to have to see how it unfolds.’ I guess it just hasn’t unfolded to the point where they’re ready to let that happen.”
It’s a situation that has impacted the International side more heavily than the US side, now touching upon three Presidents Cups.
Jason Day’s ongoing injuries removed another veteran Presidents Cupper from selection as Ogilvy will nurse a side replete with four rookies from four different nations: Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Ryan Fox (New Zealand), Ryo Hisatsune (Japan) and Nick Taylor (Canada).
