Mike Weir will get emotional speaking Canadian Presidents Cup snubs

Seven months in the past it appeared like Nick Taylor could be a lock to make the Presidents Cup workforce. He had simply gained the WM Phoenix Open and jumped to twenty eighth within the Official World Golf Rating. And that win got here on the heels of an emotional victory on the RBC Canadian Open in June 2023, making him the primary Canadian to win the nation’s males’s nationwide open in seven many years.

The latter was such a large accomplishment, Golf Canada even included Taylor’s celebratory silhouette into its emblem for the 2024 event.

This is the reason it was so surprising to see Taylor left off this month’s Presidents Cup workforce, which is able to play a house recreation towards the Individuals at Royal Montreal Golf Membership in Quebec on Sept. 26-29.

Captain Mike Weir introduced his six captain’s picks to spherical out the 12-player Worldwide squad on Tuesday, and Taylor and fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin have been notably omitted. Weir famously turned the primary Canadian to win a males’s main when he gained the 2003 Masters, and leaving a few his countrymen off the Presidents Cup roster was not a straightforward choice for him.

“I can’t inform you how robust these calls have been. These guys, I respect these guys, I like these guys, and so they’re like brothers. You understand, they’re Canadians, and the hardest a part of being a captain was these calls,” Weir stated Tuesday on Golf Channel, preventing again tears. “I’ve a number of respect for them and even have extra respect for them now the best way they dealt with it.”

On the U.S. facet, captain Jim Furyk went proper down the listing, choosing Nos. 7-12 within the factors standings so as to add to his roster of six auto-qualifiers, however Weir had a number of surprises in his again pocket. There weren’t any Canadians among the many Internationals’ six auto-qualifiers, however three — Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith — have been named to the workforce on Tuesday, making it the primary time three Canadians have ever been on the squad. Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee and Christiaan Bezuidenhout have been Weir’s different captain’s picks. Kim and Hughes have been 14th and fifteenth, respectively, within the standings, and so they leap-frogged Australian Cam Davis (eighth) and Taylor (twelfth). Hadwin was thirteenth.

Regardless of Taylor’s win in Phoenix in February, he’s recorded only one top-20 in common stroke-play occasions since. He additionally missed the lower in any respect 4 majors (though he certified for the Olympics, tying for thirtieth).

“He was wanting excellent to make the workforce, and because it occurs in golf, typically you undergo somewhat spell that’s not your best,” Weir stated. “It was an excellent robust choice for me however one which was effectively thought by, and thru plenty of totally different analytical issues and intestine emotions and all types of issues, it got here to that conclusion, however it was very troublesome.”

Hadwin had an analogous story. He had 5 prime 10s final season — together with a 3rd on the Memorial — however failed to complete within the prime 20 in his final eight begins. Hadwin was on the Presidents Cup workforce in 2017 and 2019, however he’ll now miss his second in a row.

“Once more, each these calls to these guys have been extraordinarily troublesome, and like I stated earlier after I was speaking to among the Golf Channel guys, the best way they dealt with it simply confirmed me so much about their character, which I already knew, however even made me respect them much more,” Weir stated. “I simply instructed them that they’re going to be on these Cups going ahead, and keep engaged with this Presidents Cup workforce as a result of Adam has been on a few groups, he is aware of how particular they’re, and needs to be on them. So did Nick.”

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of many sport’s most-read information and repair web sites. He spends most of his days writing, modifying, planning and questioning if he’ll ever break 80. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF.com in 2015, he labored at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State College in Mankato, Minn., he resides within the Twin Cities along with his spouse and two youngsters. You’ll be able to attain him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.