Presidents Cup: NBC broadcaster offers insight from caddie perspective

It’s Tuesday morning at Royal Montreal, and NBC Sports broadcaster John Wood is on the range, watching the American team practice and warm up. The U.S. players will play the front nine before half of the team addresses the media in the afternoon ahead of the Presidents Cup. But the team looks as relaxed as ever, unlike the Ryder Cup, where the U.S. seemingly faces an overwhelming amount of pressure year in and year out.

The difference here, though, is that the U.S. has dominated this competition, having won nine in a row and 13 of 15 cups overall. Meanwhile, in the Ryder Cup, Europe has won 10 times dating back to 1995, while the Americans have emerged victorious only four times. When the U.S. last won the Ryder Cup on European soil in 1993, the Presidents Cup did not even exist.

Hence, Wood’s colleague, Dan Hicks, described this reality as “The Tale of Two Cups,” as the longtime broadcaster has called golf for NBC since 2000. The Americans dominate the Internationals, while the Europeans have stymied the U.S. in the Ryder Cup.

Wood agreed with this assessment and thus provided a solid reason for the Internationals’ struggles over the years.

“I feel like the Internationals at this event have been a little handicapped by language barriers and guys not knowing each other as well. I think that can be tough,” Wood said to Playing Through.

“But, you know, even though the U.S. has won a lot, there have been some close ones. Korea [in 2015] came right down to the very last match. [In 2019] in Melbourne, the Internationals dominated for the first two days and looked like they had a chance to run away with it. Then, the Americans found their footing, started playing better golf, and won. So, you know, you look on paper, and yes, the U.S. has dominated in terms of wins and losses, but there have been some close ones as of late.”

There is no doubt that the International Team has improved over the years. Ernie Els’s introduction of the International Shield in 2019 helped give this team an identity. Even throughout this season, International Captain Mike Weir has held meetings and dinners to help foster that camaraderie and create the all-important bond required to pull off a win.

The Internationals are still the underdogs against the heavily favored Americans, with all 12 of its players ranking among the top 25 in the world. But the Internationals have some terrific players, too, boasting three major champions of their own: Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, and Jason Day.

“I think Mike Weir is going to be a great captain. I think he’s embracing the underdog role. And, at the end of the day, these guys are all good, and anything can happen in match play,” Wood said of this year’s International Team.

“I think Mike is probably really stressing that to his team, and I think he’s going to lean on some of those veterans, Hideki, Adam Scott, to really set the tone. But other guys, Tom Kim and Sungjae Im, played unbelievably in North Carolina together [at the 2022 Presidents Cup.] They have some sneaky picks, sneaky pairings, and sneaky partnerships that could be really good that most guys might not think about.”

So, who are those under-the-radar, dark horse players that the Internationals will need to rely on?

“If the Canadians can get going, and those three guys get the crowd involved, I think it’s a whole new ball game,” Wood said.

Jamie Palatini/Golf Channel

“I’m fascinated by that threesome because the last time, Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners were the only Canadians in North Carolina. They didn’t play well. They didn’t even get a half-point between the two. So if they can get going, they will be the key.”

Pendrith will play alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout in Thursday’s fourth Fourball match against Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley.

Conners, meanwhile, will have Hideki Matsuyama by his side as this duo will face Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns in the final match of the day. Mackenzie Hughes, a Presidents Cup rookie and the third Canadian on this team, will sit out the opening session, a surprising development since he hails from Canada.

Nevertheless, if the Internationals want to pull off the upset, they must be, at the very least, tied after Thursday’s opening session.

“Like any sport, when the home team gets off to a good start and the crowd gets involved, that’s huge for momentum,” Wood said.

“Obviously, the U.S., on paper, are big favorites, world ranking wise and the history of the event. But, you know, in any sport, if the favorite lets the underdog hang around, hang around, hang around, all of a sudden, the pressure completely switches. If the international team can they keep it close, for two or 2.5 days, all of a sudden that pressure starts to shift to the Americans, who begin to think, ‘We should be dominating this, we should be winning this, and we’re not.’ All of a sudden, the confidence grows on one side and it drops on the other. So I think they need to stay close, they need to get the crowd involved, and the longer they can hang around, the better their chances.”

As for the course itself, rain on Wednesday evening into Thursday morning will soften Royal Montreal, making the rough thicker and creating mud-balls that could wreck havoc on any given hole.

“If we get that rain, I think it’s gonna be much more of a, ‘You gotta find these fairways’ type of day,” Wood added.

“I don’t think you necessarily need to be a bomber to play well here at all. And as we all know, these team events, I don’t care what happens, They always come down to putting. You can say all you want about a horse fitting the course, but these team events always come down to what team makes the most putts at the crucial time.”

Wood would know because he has caddied in plenty of Ryder Cups and Presidents Cup before. He even caddied for Hunter Mahan in 2007, the last time Royal Montreal hosted this competition.

“I remember this course very well. I like this place, especially for match play. That back nine is so fun. So much can happen,” Wood added.

“It’s one of those courses that it really sticks in your brain.. Even though I haven’t been here for 10 years, I was looking at my old yardage books on the flight out here, and I remembered almost every single hole. That says a lot about a golf course.”

Wood then described this course as a ball-strikers golf course, meaning matches will be won or lost on whether or not players can find the greens from the fairways. Bombing it around this place will do players no good, as a misfire will settle in the thick, wet rough that lines these fairways. That will prevent a player from landing it where they want to up on the green. So being accurate off the tee outweighs the importantce of being long. You have to find the fairway, even if you layup just so you have a chance to find the putting surfaces. If you miss these undulating greens, however, a lost hole looms. And if you lose enough holes, you lose a match. And if you lose enough matches, you suddenly find yourself in trouble.

Nobody knows that better than Wood, the man who wears multiple hats as a caddie, broadcaster, and team manager of the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.