The Presidents Cup: What Every Golfer Needs to Know
The Presidents Cup is a biennial golf competition between 12 of the top American and 12 of the top International golfers from outside of Europe.
The inaugural Presidents Cup was played in 1994, making it a relatively new event compared to many of golf’s other premiere tournaments including the Open Championship (1860), U.S. Open (1895), and
Ryder Cup (1927). Even the Solheim Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup which debuted in 1990, predates the Presidents Cup.
The first four Presidents Cups were played in even years, but when the Ryder Cup postponed its 34th matches from Sept. 28-30, 2001 to the following year after the 9/11 attacks, the Presidents Cup followed suit, moving to odd years through 2019. The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 flipped the script, bumping the Ryder Cup from 2020 to 2021, and the Presidents Cup from 2021 to 2022, and the two events will continue biennially.
American Dominance
The United States has dominated the 13 Presidents Cups, leading the International team 11-1-1 overall.
| Year | Winner | Score | Venue |
| Sept. 16-18, 1994 | USA | 20-12 | Robert Trent Jones G.C, Prince William County, Va., USA |
| Sept. 13-15, 1996 | USA | 16.5-15.5 | Robert Trent Jones G.C, Prince William County, Va., USA |
| Dec. 11-13, 1998 | INTL | 20.5-11.5 | Royal Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia |
| Oct. 19-22, 2000 | USA | 21.5-10.5 | Robert Trent Jones G.C, Prince William County, Va., USA |
| Sept. 20-23, 2003 | TIE | 17-17 | The Links at Fancourt, George, South Africa |
| Sept. 22-25, 2005 | USA | 18.5-15.5 | Robert Trent Jones G.C, Prince William County, Va., USA |
| Sept. 27-29, 2007 | USA | 19.5-14.5 | Royal Montreal GC, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Oct. 8-11, 2009 | USA | 19.5-14.5 | TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, USA |
| Nov. 17-20, 2011 | USA | 19-15 | Royal Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia |
| Oct. 3-6, 2013 | USA | 18.5-15.5 | Muirfield Villiage, Dublin-Columbus, Ohio, USA |
| Oct. 8-11, 2015 | USA | 15.5-14.5 | Jack Nicklaus GC, Korea, Songdo IBD, Incheon |
| Sept. 28-Oct 1, 2017 | USA | 19-11 | Liberty National GC, Jersey City, N.J., USA |
| Dec. 9-15, 2019 | USA | 16-14 | Royal Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia |
All-Time Presidents Cup Captains
There have been just six International and eight United States captains in the history of the Presidents Cup. Among the notable captains are Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Peter Thomson is the only International captain to defeat the Americans, though Player was able to lead his team to the only tie. Nicklaus captained the most teams with four Presidents Cups under his belt, going 2-1-1.
In 2019, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els captained their respective teams. Els and the International squad led Woods’ American team through four sessions. Woods, who served as a playing-captain, then led the United States to its first comeback victory in Presidents Cup history.
Woods was only the second playing-captain to lead his team to victory. Hale Irwin first did it in 1994. Woods’ 3-0-0 record in 2019 helped secure the victory.
| International | United States |
| David Graham - 1994 | Hale Irwin - 1994 |
| Peter Thomson - 1996, '98, 2000 | Arnold Palmer - 1996 |
| Gary Player - 2003, '05, '07 | Jack Nicklaus - 1998, 2003, '05, '07 |
| Greg Norman - 2009, '11 | Ken Venturi - 2000 |
| Nick Price - 2013, '15, '17 | Fred Couples - 2009, '11, '13 |
| Ernie Els - 2019 | Jay Haas - 2015 |
| Trevor Immelman - 2022 | Steve Stricker - 2017 |
| Tiger Woods - 2019 | |
| Davis Love III - 2022 |
Who is Eligible for the Presidents Cup?
Eight American PGA Tour players earn automatic qualification based on FedExCup points over the previous two seasons, with the most recent season weighted more heavily. In 2019, players earned one point for each FedEx Cup point they received from the 2017 BMW Championship through the 2018 TOUR Championship, and two points from the first event of the 2018-19 season through the 2019 BMW Championship.
The International team includes eight automatic qualifiers based on points accumulated from the Official World Golf Rankings. International players who are eligible for the European Ryder Cup team are excluded from Presidents Cup qualification. Beginning in 2022, International captain Trevor Immelman announced new qualifying guidelines for his team that takes strength of field into greater consideration.
The United States and International captains each get four captains picks.
Presidents Cup Format
The Presidents Cup is played over four days and includes 30 total matches. A team must accumulate 15.5 points or more to win.
| Day 1 | 5 Four-Ball Matches (best-ball) |
| Day 2 | 5 Foursome Matches (alternate-shot) |
| Day 3 - AM | 4 Four-Ball Matches (best-ball) |
| Day 3 - PM | 4 Foursome Matches (alternate-shot) |
| Day 4 | 12 Singles Matches |
As of 2019, each player was only required to play a minimum of one match before the final-round single matches. Prior to that, players had to play in at least two matches before the final day.
Each match is worth one point. There are no playoffs, and each side earns a half-point if a match ends in a tie.
Donations Galore and a Heavy Trophy
Players do not receive money for participating in the Presidents Cup. Instead, the PGA Tour pledges contributions to charities nominated by players, captains and assistant captains on the two teams.
Since 1994, the PGA Tour has donated roughly 53.2 million dollars to the respected charities.
In addition to bragging rights for another two years, the winning team takes home a 28-pound trophy.
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