CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The last Presidents Cup was held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022.
Now, in 2024, the tournament moves to Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada, but if you aren’t making the trip to watch in person, no worries, you can catch the action on WCNC Charlotte this weekend.
Since the Presidents Cup’s inception in 1994, the U.S. team has dominated the event, winning 12 of 14 all-time and nine straight, which dates back to 1998. This week, the Americans will look to extend their streak to 10 straight, while the Internationals are hoping to break their drought and earn just their second Presidents Cup.
The U.S. comes in as the favorites to win with eight of the top-15 players on its roster, compared to just one for the Internationals, with the Americans average ranking equaling 12.4, while the Internationals are at 34.4.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Xander Schauffele hope to rise to the occasion and make their country proud just as they both have done before, from past Presidents Cups to winning a gold medal at the Olympics, which Schauffele did in 2020 and Scheffler accomplished just months ago at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“That's probably why you saw me so emotional after the Olympics. I really do take a lot of pride in playing for my country. I've had the opportunity to do it a few times, and it's very special. Coming here to foreign soil for us and trying to compete and bring back the Cup, I think will be pretty fun,” Scheffler explained on the opportunity to represent the United States.
As for the Internationals team, Captain Mike Weir hopes the young talent on his roster, including a trio of Canadians, can flip the script and do something historic, all while keeping the team focused on the present, not the past.
“I’m trying to keep them very focused and present on what's going on. We've got a lot of young guys on the team, and they're not remembering past defeats or anything like that. I guess they hear it from you all and they read about it, but they're not very focused on that. So, yeah, not really leaning into that,” Weir said.
One of those Canadian’s is Mackenzie Hughes, who resides in Charlotte at Quail Hollow Club, who is elated to represent his country during the Presidents Cup.
“Yeah, not only am I looking forward to this tournament for the last couple of years, but now that we've been here for the last few days, you kind of want to go. You just want -- the practice is all fun and it's been great and we've had some nice dinners, but you want to go out there and compete and get going and feel the juices. It's been a long wait, but tomorrow it's here,” Hughes said about his emotions of finally getting to the week of tournament play.
While Hughes looks to make some magic happen for the Internationals, who are coming in as the underdogs, the Americans aren’t necessarily embracing the mindset of being the favorites of this year’s Presidents Cup.
“I can always try to look through the lens of being an underdog all the time. You hear Scottie (Scheffler), one of the winningest seasons ever and he always talks about his process and always talked about not being the favorite, just talking about worrying about what he can worry about. There's a lot of that going on in this team,” Schauffele said.
Both 12-man rosters will begin play on Thursday with five matches of Four-ball (best ball), with each player playing their own ball and the lowest score between the pair counting as the team score on each hole.
Tune into WCNC Charlotte Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and again on Sunday for the conclusion of the Presidents Cup from noon to 6 p.m.
Golf comes to the Queen City again in May 2025 for the PGA Championship, which will be held at Quail Hollow Club.
Contact Ashley Stroehlein at astro@wcnc.com and follow her on X, Facebook and Instagram.