Hadwin best bet for Canadian content at Presidents Cup
We finally get answers to two questions on Wednesday: Will a Canadian make the international Presidents Cup team? If so, will it be Corey Conners or Adam Hadwin?
Ernie Els will complete his team by making four captain’s picks Wednesday and there’s no real consensus as to whom the 50-year-old South African should take to Australia next month. Els has said he’s leaning heavily on analytics over gut feelings, but also has repeatedly mentioned players such as fellow countryman Branden Grace, who has no business on this year’s team.
Unlike Tiger Woods’ American team (which will announce its picks Thursday), the list of worthy players for the international team is rather short.
As we see it, Els should be considering six players to fill his four spots. That list includes Conners and Hadwin, but most likely it will be one or the other, not both, if a Canadian is to be selected. So in reality, it’s five choices for four spots.
Already on the international team as automatic qualifiers through the points system are: Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, Abraham Ancer, Haotong Li, C.T. Pan and Cameron Smith.
Here are the contenders to join them:
Jason Day, 31: Once thought to be a mortal lock to be named to play in his home country, Day’s poor form in 2019 has him off some lists. Day hasn’t won since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship and his last top-10 finish was in June at the Travelers Championship. But Els’ list is the only one that matters and it’s likely the captain will still be drawn to what the Australian can potentially offer the team. Day’s knowledge of Royal Melbourne would be helpful for an international team likely to have five or six rookies on it. Also, Day has the pedigree to go toe-to-toe against the heavily favoured Americans. Sure, he’s dropped to 29th in the world rankings, but he spent 50 weeks as world No. 1 since the beginning of 2016. Looking up and down the international roster, who else is there for Els to trust in big moments?
Sungjae Im, 21: Picking Im is an easy one for captain Els. The reigning PGA Tour rookie of the year finished his first season 19th in the FedEx Cup standings and has kept it up early this season. He’s coming off an 11th-place tie at last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in China and a third-place tie at the ZOZO Championship in Japan a week earlier. Before storming the PGA Tour, Im was the 2018 Web.com Tour player of the year. The South Korean hasn’t won on the PGA Tour, but has turned plenty of heads. Earlier this year, Joel Dahmen’s caddie Geno Bonnalie described Im as “the most impressive player I’ve ever seen.”
Byeong Hun An, 27: Here’s where it gets interesting. Over the PGA Tour’s three-week Asian swing, nobody made a better case for a spot on the team than this South Korean, finishing tied for sixth, eighth and 14th. It’s not like he was exactly an underdog heading in. An was mentioned by name by Els in August as a potential pick: “He’s one of the supreme ball-strikers around the world, which I really love and which you need to do in Melbourne. … He’s kind of on my favourite list.” An would also be a natural partner for Im, who is still learning English. An’s recent form could put him over the top.
Joaquin Niemann, 20: Niemann is a media and fan favourite for a pick. He was the world’s No. 1ranked amateur for a year before turning pro in spring 2018. All he did to kick off his pro career was finish inside the top 10 in four of his first eight PGA Tour tournaments to earn full status. He began the 2019-20 season in September by blowing out the field at The Greenbrier by six strokes for his first win on tour. The talent is obvious and his early career results show no fear of the moment. But the Presidents Cup is an entirely different sort of pressure for a young golfer.
Adam Hadwin, 32/Corey Conners, 27: As much as we’d like to believe there’s room for both, it’s very unlikely. Two weeks ago, Hadwin was the most likely Canadian to earn a pick. The native of Abbotsford, B.C., began his 2019-20 season with a runner-up finish at the Safeway Open and a fourth-place tie a week later at the Shriner’s Open. But the script flipped in Asia, where Conners finished tied for 12th, sixth and 20th and showed off his trademark fantastic ball-striking, which lends itself to team play. Both players told us earlier in the fall a spot on the team was goal No. 1 for the rest of 2019. Hadwin even went as far as to give Els a shout-out during an interview after his final-round 63 at September’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. Hadwin stumbled in Asia though, finishing tied for 41st and 46th, which was unfortunate considering he went there playing possibly the most complete golf of his career. Conners is getting plenty of late buzz, but Hadwin was a member of the 2017 team.
(Byeong Hun An is) one of the supreme ball-strikers around the world, which ... you need to do in Melbourne.
Our prediction: Day, Im, An and Hadwin.