Presidents Cup: International captain Mike Weir to take ‘hard look’ at questioned tactics after defeat to USA

International Team captain Mike Weir said he would have “plenty of time” to think about what he could have done differently in this year’s Presidents Cup after his side fell to an ultimately-convincing defeat to the USA amid scrutiny on the Canadian’s tactics.

The International side’s long wait to add a second title to their sole triumph in the biennial teams competition from 1998 was extended in Montreal on Sunday as Jim Furyk’s USA team eased to a comfortable 18.5-11.5 point victory.

Weir’s side had threatened to mount a sterner challenge after a remarkable showing on Friday, when they fought back from a 5-0 defeat in Thursday’s opening fourballs with a foursomes clean-sweep of their own.

But the Internationals then won only two of the eight points available to them across Saturday’s double session to leave themselves four points down heading into Sunday’s decisive singles matches.

For the first time in Presidents Cup history, Weir used the same eight players across Saturday’s fourballs and foursomes whereas US captain Furyk adopted a more conventional approach and named all-but one of his 12 players in those matches.

Asked after the United States’ subsequent win on Sunday whether in reflection there was anything during the tournament he would have done differently, Weir said: “Of course I’m going to be thinking about things I would have done differently.

“I think that’s human nature, when you don’t win, you’re going to look at yourself in the mirror and see what you could have done different, no doubt about it.

“I have plenty of time to do that after.”

Weir, the 2003 Masters champion and an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, added in the later press conference: “Of course when you lose the cup, as captain you look back and say ‘was that a good idea or not?’

“You’ve got 12 great players here, and you’re trying to make the best decisions over the course of four days out there. Look, I’ll second guess it. You know what, we didn’t win.

“I think in my career anytime I’ve fallen short, I’ve taken a hard look. So that will be something I’ll do when I have time to process it.”

Did Weir’s unchanged Saturday line-ups cost the International team?

Assessing the Internationals’ Saturday strategy – a move which meant four players sat out the third day entirely before returning for Sunday’s singles – the Sky Sports Golf pundits expressed surprise at Weir’s bold yet unprecedented tactic.

Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA champion, said of the carry-over significance it had on Sunday’s matches: “Putting Adam Scott out there for the fourth-straight match at the age of 44, he had to have been drained.

“He even said it last night, ‘I’m tired’, and if you look at where he put him out [on Sunday], he put him out at the very bottom. I think he was in the third final group.

“So I’d have thought that a fresh Adam Scott if he hadn’t played [on Saturday afternoon] might have been in the top three matches and I think that’s where you needed him because he had been playing so well.

“You’ve got to keep guys in matches because it’s not just going out there and playing, it’s playing with pressure, and that’s what it is out there.

“You want to make sure you have those nerves going through you, maybe not all the time, but you’ve got to have those nerves going on. A full day’s rest does not do any player any good in these types of situations.”

When put to him that the International Saturday selections had been “bizarre”, Wayne Riley replied: “It was [bizarre].

“But it seems every two years when we get to the Presidents Cup that the captain always cops it, but it really does come down to the players getting the ball in the hole in fewer shots than the opposition.

“That’s what it all comes down to and the Internationals don’t seem to be able to do that.”

Weir offers Internationals hope: We’re close

While the USA ended up running away with the 2024 title to record their second-largest margin of victory under the tournament’s current format, Weir still took heart from how competitive so many of the individual matches had proved to be.

“I take a lot away from this,” he said. “We’re close.

“A lot of these matches were so close. It’s disappointing not to get a win.

“We put our team together to win this thing, and when you don’t get a win, it’s disappointing, but a lot of great things to take away.”

Team USA will next be looking to regain the Ryder Cup from September 26-28 next year at Bethpage Black against Team Europe, with the next Presidents Cup taking place in 2026 at Medinah Country Club. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and more with NOW.