(L’Île-Bizard – Sainte-Geneviève) In order to prepare his men for the immense challenge that awaits them against the Americans at the Presidents Cup this weekend, international team captain Mike Weir called on Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis.
St-Louis is among the hockey players who were met by the winner of the 2003 Masters Tournament in anticipation of the prestigious team competition that will take place at the Royal Montreal Golf Club from Thursday to Sunday.
“Yes, I met with Martin yesterday (Monday) to discuss with him how he uses advanced statistics to prepare his team,” the 54-year-old Ontarian first mentioned in a press conference Tuesday morning. “Like Jim (Furyk, the captain of the American team) does, the team around me advises me and uses these statistics to determine the pairings, depending on the game format.”
Weir also said he has met in recent months with Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Team Canada, and Doug Armstrong, general manager of the St. Louis Blues and Team Canada.
“Jon even gave a speech to the team,” Weir said. “I won’t go into the details of what he said, but the message he got across was that we have to be a family, that we have to be united, that we have to involve the players’ wives and children, so that there’s a sense of belonging. Doug (Armstrong) also offered some valuable advice.”
PHOTO JOHN LOCHER, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Jon Cooper
In short, Weir is aware that the international team will have to rely on emotion to cause the surprise. And on the feeling of belonging. The international team will line up three Canadian golfers in Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith.
This will be the first time in history that three representatives of the maple leaf will play together within the international team. Of the group, Hughes will be making his first participation, while Conners and Pendrith will be making their second.
Conners also took advantage of a crowd bath Monday evening at the Bell Centre, during a duel between the Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers, to gauge the extent of the support the international team will benefit from this weekend.
“It was very cool to be invited to the Bell Centre. I met some of the players on the team, and “Marty” (St-Louis), one of my favourite players, who had a great career. It was my first time at the Bell Centre, and I have to admit that the arena is incredible. There is so much history inside those walls… It was a packed house, for a pre-season game, so it was incredible to see.”
The international team will be completed by Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Jason Day, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott.
“It’s not a race, it’s a marathon,” Furyk said.
The fact remains that even if it finds itself in hostile territory, the American team will be favorites to win.
After all, it plays this kind of competition every year – it alternates between the Ryder Cup, against Europe, and the Presidents Cup, against the rest of the world – while the international team is only involved every two years.
The international team has only managed to beat the Americans once in the history of this prestigious team competition. That victory dates back to 1998, at the Royal Melbourne club. Apart from a draw in 2003, the United States has triumphed 12 times in 14 editions.
In addition, the United States appears to be favored once again by its intimidating roster; it notably counts among its ranks the No. 1 and No. 2 golfers in the world in Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. The Americans even have five players among the top 10 world, against only one for the international team, Matsuyama (no. 7).
Furyk has chosen to pair them this weekend with their compatriots Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Brian Harman and Max Homa. A team that will have a lot of depth, and a lot of experience.
Furyk, as an old fox, is however aware that the game is not won in advance.
“This kind of competition is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” said the 54-year-old American. “It’s very different from a regular tournament. Guys are used to being very calm on the course, even when they’re making birdies or eagles. This will be different because guys are going to be raising their fists to the sky, screaming with joy or anger. Emotions are going to be high, the tension is going to be so high. So it’s going to be important to stay focused and not get carried away.”
The Presidents Cup is a four-day match-play competition with a total of 30 matches and 12 golfers on each team. It begins Thursday, and the team with the most points after four days will be declared the champion.
Five matches will be presented as a curtain-raiser, and they will be played according to the four-ball format. In these confrontations, two playing partners team up, each playing their own ball, and the score of a team that will be retained for a hole will be the one that is the lowest of the two. The duos for these confrontations will be revealed Wednesday afternoon.
In addition, this is the second time that the Royal Montreal Golf Club has hosted the Presidents Cup. The last time, in 2007, the United States team won 19.5 to 14.5.
However, it was Weir’s victory over a certain Tiger Woods on the final hole that caught the attention at the time. So, will the advice from St. Louis and company help Weir pull another rabbit out of his hat against the American colossus in 2024? The next few days will tell.