Unsurprisingly, the golfers on the International team have turned to hockey as a bonding experience as the Presidents Cup returns to Canada for the first time in 17 years.
Captain Mike Weir arranged for the Internationals — featuring golfers from Canada, South Korea, Australia, South Africa and Japan — to attend the Montreal Canadiens’ 5-0 win pre-season win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. It was a critical exercise for a team that only officially formed three weeks ago with players from five countries speaking three languages.
“You know, it kills me to say this, but it was pretty cool,” said avowed Toronto Maple Leafs fan Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. “Those are some good dudes, and it’s a cool building. They were super first class.
“We got to meet the coach, Martin St. Louis, and it was a real fun experience. We were on the bench for warm-ups and some of the guys came up and told us they were rooting for us this week.”
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., was also enthusiastic about the visit to the Bell Centre, even though he had a Maple Leafs-themed golf bag for part of the 2023 PGA Tour season.
“A lot of the guys probably have never been to a hockey game before,” said Pendrith on Wednesday. “A couple of the Korean boys got hockey pucks so they were really fired up. Really cool.
“They put us on the Jumbotron, the big screen, and it was neat. It was a fun time. Good to be with all the guys there and show them what Canada is all about.”
The Presidents Cup is a biennial best-on-best tournament that sees 12 American golfers face 12 players from around the world, excluding Europe.
That format gives the United States two advantages, however.
First, the U.S. can build chemistry year-over-year as it also competes in the Ryder Cup against Europe’s best. Also, unlike the Internationals, the Americans don’t have to find common ground in a hurry.
Cultural differences
Weir, from Brights Grove, Ont., saw a lot of similarities to how NHL teams have to overcome cultural differences to excel as a team and made a conscious effort to learn from some of hockey’s brightest minds, including coaches Ken Hitchcock and Jon Cooper and all-time great Wayne Gretzky.
“It’s different than the U.S. Team. It just is,” said Weir. “We have, obviously, all these cultural differences. Not that they don’t have differences too, but ours is just some cultural things.
“It’s gotten a lot better, and our guys have a great vibe going. I like where our team is at right now.”
Australia’s Min-Woo Lee has been also been a key ingredient in bringing the International team together. Playing in his first-ever Presidents Cup, he had INT shaved into the side of his head ahead of the tournament and has helped interpret for his South Korean teammates Sung-Jae Im, Byeong-Hun An, Kim Si-woo and Tom Kim.
“It’s amazing for all of us to bond as well from different countries,” said Lee of the Habs game. “A few of the other guys don’t really know how to speak a hundred per cent English but we still managed to have poutine and enjoy it together.
“I’m glad I can speak a little bit in Korean and bond the group together.”
A point is up for grabs in each match, with a total of 15 1/2 points required to win the entire five-round tournament. Weir chose four-ball as the format of the first round on Thursday at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
Weir and American captain Jim Furyk announced the first round’s pairings in a brief ceremony at Royal Montreal Golf Club on Wednesday afternoon.
Australia’s Jason Day and An will be first over the boards on Thursday, facing Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau of the U.S. in the opening match. An all-Australian pairing of Adam Scott and Lee will play Americans Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala second.
South Korea’s Im and Kim take on Russell Henley and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the day’s third match.
Pendrith will partner with South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout against Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley of the United States in the day’s fourth match. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., will be paired with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama in Thursday’s final match against Americans Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.
Hughes and Woo will not play in the first round.