Geoff Ogilvy might have a tougher job than Anthony Albanese this month. Both men need to convince the broader populace that there’s hope on the horizon, even in the face of mounting evidence that suggests otherwise.
While Ogilvy isn’t carrying the weight of rising national economic pressures, he and the Australian prime minister are both navigating fractious international relations this September.
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For Ogilvy, the 49-year-old former US Open champion, he will captain an International team that looks set to be walloped once again by an American side on the Presidents Cup stage at a course his firm redesigned. It’ll be like welcoming people into your home for one of those “How To Host A Murder” games when you already know the culprit.
The 16th edition of the biennial teams match between the United States and an International side assembled from all other nations outside Europe has already been noticeably quiet on the build-up front.
With the completion of the two 12-man sides yesterday, the final three weeks before the event at Medinah Country Club’s No.3 course is sure to focus on the lopsided nature of the two teams. And not for the first time, for it’s a situation that’s becoming exponentially worse.
Momentum was created in 2019 when the Internationals led the USA going into the singles matches at Royal Melbourne. They still lost that Sunday, but seemed to have uncovered a newfound unity under captain Ernie Els.
Three years later, the emergence of LIV Golf dealt the International side a cruel blow. The PGA Tour, which owns the Presidents Cup, denied all LIV golfers the chance to be selected or qualify for the event, which stung the 2022 and 2024 International sides far harder than the Americans.
It’s the same case this year. The absence of Cam Smith, Lucas Herbert and Joaquin Niemann will feel like glaring omissions when world No.96 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (he of zero top-10 finishes in 2026 other than in alternate-field events) steps to the tee in Chicago.
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The Presidents Cup is broken and the PGA Tour is stubbornly letting it slide into irrelevance.
Myriad pundits have suggested worthy fixes – including reducing team sizes and adding LPGA players – although yet again we’re being saddled with the same outdated format and selection criteria. Neither has moved with the shifting professional-golf landscape that has been so turbulent this decade.
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With a vocal home crowd at its back, expect the American side to author a lopsided scoreline just as they did for home games in 2009, 2017 and 2022. All of Ogilvy’s tactical nous can’t save the Internationals at this Presidents Cup, for his hands were tied the moment he accepted the job.
The next edition will be held at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club in late 2028. The venue alone is sure to spark interest, but whether the event as a competitive outlet can survive another two years hinges on what Ogilvy’s misfit team can produce at Medinah later this month.
