Presidents Cup 2024: Predicting Most Intriguing Potential Pairings

The Presidents Cup offers up the opportunity for the best American golfers and International players to compete alongside each other.

The United States team is full off major winners, led by Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

Captains of both teams will try to align the pairings from Thursday-Saturday so that complementary skill sets are together.

That means we may not see Scheffler and Schauffele together, but one can dream of what that pairing would look like.

The International team could pair countrymen together, whether it be the host Canadians, South Koreans or Australians.

However, the top dream pairing for the International side can boast the most experience possible in the event.

Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele were the most successful golfers in 2024.

It would be amazing to see them play together at Royal Montreal while chasing down their final significant trophy of the calendar year.

While that would be awesome to see, it may not come to reality.

Schauffele is playing with Tony Finau on Thursday, while Scheffler is paired with Russell Henley.

Schauffele typically plays with Patrick Cantlay at team events, and there's a strong chance we see that pairing before he aligns with Scheffler.

However, one can still dream that United States captain Jim Furyk would place the two best golfers in the world together for one session.

Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama have 15 combined Presidents Cup appearances between them.

The International team will likely not pair them together because of how much experience they have.

Typically in the Ryder and Presidents Cups, the captains will pair veteran players with first-timers to ease the nerves and not leave two event rookies together.

For example, Scott is playing with fellow Australian and Presidents Cup rookie Min Woo Lee on Thursday.

A Scott-Matsuyama pairing would be fun to see, though, because it is the best possible superpower pairing the International team could throw out on course this week.

Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay have two of the three best Presidents Cup records on the United States team.

Cantlay is 6-3, the same record as Schauffele, and Homa is a perfect 4-0.

The United States team could bank on their previous success to earn a point or two on Friday and Saturday.

The pairing would also put together two opposite personalities. Homa is far more outgoing, while Cantlay is typically reserved on the course.

However, that may be the ideal dynamic for the pairing to work because opposites can attract in team events.

Homa may only have one or two chances to compete with a partner before Sunday's singles matches. He is in some of the worst form of any American golfer, and while the Presidents Cup may re-energize his form, he is sitting out Thursday's four-ball and could be benched for another session as well.