Every two years, the Americans get nervous about holding their own against their European rivals in the Ryder Cup, especially when they’re not playing on home soil. But that’s not the case at the Presidents Cup, where the U.S. has won the biennial tournament against an international team nine times in a row. This year’s showdown will be held at Royal Montreal in Canada, and with three Canadians on the international team, there’s bound to be plenty of excitement in the crowd to beat the U.S.
The United States is expected to have a 3.5-point advantage at -285 odds to win the Presidents Cup. The International team is a notable underdog at +270, but they will hope that experience and familiarity will help them reverse a 20-year-old trend of American victories. In fact, the International team has only won once in the event’s 13 editions, back in 1998 in Australia.
In 2024, the U.S. will have two of the best golfers in the world in Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, plus a few newcomers looking to make a comeback in the red, white and blue. It remains to be seen whether that’s enough to hold off the Internationals, which will be led by veteran Adam Scott and feature golfers from Canada, South Korea and Australia (among others).
Ultimately, the question will be whether the Americans will continue their dominance in this tournament — playing at a level they never achieved in the Ryder Cup — or whether the international team will end a long losing streak and win in Montreal.
This week, let’s take a look at how CBS Sports experts predict the 2024 Presidents Cup will play out.
2024 Presidents Cup Predictions, Experts’ Predictions
USA MVP
Xander Schauffele: It’s easy to plug Scottie Schauffele into this position, but he’s quietly struggled in recent team events. Schauffele, who made his Whistling Straits debut in 2021, is 0-5-3 in his last eight team events in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. Meanwhile, Schauffele has played nearly as well as Schauffler this summer, posting an impressive 4-4-0 record in team events. The U.S. will rely on him throughout and will likely benefit from a better match play partner (Patrick Cantlay) than Schauffler. Top American: 9/2 | Top Scorer: 13/2 — Kyle Porter
Collin Morikawa: It’s hard not to look at the top two players in the world here, but Morikawa isn’t as bad as he looks. He’s had great results in the three team events and Royal Montreal seems to suit his tastes, with fairways at a premium and quality iron play required. Scheffler and his teammates, as well as Schauffele and Cantlay, will form two strong duos, with Morikawa captaining the third. That’s where this competition will be won and lost, and that’s where Morikawa will shine. Morikawa will be a big threat in both formats and should have a good chance of scoring four points. Top American: 11/2 | Top Scorer: 8-1 — Patrick McDonald
International MVP
Adam Scott: Scott’s summer resurgence has been one of the most entertaining stories of the entire season. Scott has been great since July 1 with three top-five finishes in six starts. He should get plenty of opportunities to play against these Americans (all five in 2022). It’s arguable he’s playing better golf than all but two players on the U.S. team. Top International: 15/2 | Top Scorer: 20-1 — Porter
Taylor Pendrith: Quail Hollow was a tough match for Pendrith to say the least, going 0-4-0 alongside Corey Connors. Despite the ineffectiveness of the two Canadians, Coach Weir has brought them back and I expect they will be more successful this time. Over the past three months, Pendrith has ranked 3rd on the international team in strokes gained approach and 5th in strokes gained putting. If the Canadian starts to go downhill early, he could turn into a runaway train that the US can’t keep up with. Top Internationals: 12-1 | Top Scorers: 40-1 – McDonald
Breakout Candidate
Sahith Teegala (USA): I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but Teegala has a chance to be the new Spieth on Team USA. I’m not sure if the team will rely on him as much as they did on Spieth initially, but he makes so many birdies (top 15 among players playing a similar schedule) and he plays with so much emotion, which is half the battle in these tournaments. I think he’ll have a great week. — Porter
Russell Henley (USA): Accurate off the tee, precise with a scoring club and an underrated flat stick. Henley has all the ingredients to be a match play guru for the U.S. team. While his debut in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup is a surprise, Henry is expected to perform at his best in these tournaments after coming off the best results of his career. Players will be eager to be paired with him in a foursome where his skills will be on full display. –McDonald
Surprising predictions
USA falls behind on Saturday night: Well, my final predictions are below, but I think this U.S. team is a little scrappy and doesn’t have the momentum of past teams. This is the first time in 30 years that a Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas won’t be on the team, and those three seem to be the spiritual center. The U.S. may get off to a somewhat mediocre start in the team tournament and struggle before overwhelming the international team with talent on Sunday. — Porter
The Canadians will be in the match and I believe their success in the international tournament will depend a lot on the three Canadians on the team and I hope they hold up. Pendris and Connors are 0-8-0 combined and Hughes is making his debut but there is something about them that intrigues me. As I said, Pendris should have a solid performance and Hughes is No. 1 out of 24 players in strokes gained putting and strokes gained around the greens and will be a real headache for the US. McDonald
The winning side
Odds: USA -285, International +270, Thailand +1600
Handicap: USA -3.5 (-120) | International +3.5 (-110)
USA (16-14): I’m actually going to pick the International team because I don’t really like the composition of this team, but I think American talent will overwhelm them in the end and the U.S. will win the Presidents Cup for the 10th year in a row. — Porter
USA (16.5-13.5): The U.S. has won its 10th straight Presidents Cup title, but there are still some moments of doubt. The first three days of competition were closely fought, with the red, white and blue team taking a narrow lead in singles on Sunday before eventually pulling away. From top to bottom, this U.S. team is much stronger than the International team, and that will be evident when they go head-to-head on the final day. — McDonald
Patrick McDonald and Greg Ducharme look ahead to the 2024 Presidents Cup from a DFS perspective. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.