The Presidents Cup has returned after a three-year absence, bringing with it the thrilling spirit of team golf between the Americans and the Internationals.
Observing the captains, in this case Davis Love III and Trevor Immelman, pair their players for different forms is one of the most captivating aspects of this competition. The golf ball is one piece of equipment that needs be taken into consideration in the alternate-shot format, even if sophisticated metrics have become a significant factor as both sides try to combine players to create super duos.
Every shot, from the driver off the tee to high spinning pitches around the green, only uses the ball. This is a constant, and many players are reluctant to change it.
Similar to the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup has chosen not to implement the PGA Tour local “one ball” rule, allowing players to use a different ball model for each hole.
A difference in feel might mean everything around the greens, but with today’s launch-monitor technology, it’s not too difficult to spend time fine-tuning on the range to nail down driver numbers.
Most pairings will choose to use the preferred ball of the player hitting the approach shot rather than the drive off the tee because of how well-tuned players’ carry distances and iron trajectory are. However, this still leaves some players not using their regular ball for any shots that miss the green, and that’s where things could get interesting.
Here are the balls that each player on Team USA and the Internationals used.
Team USA
Sam Burns – Callaway Chrome Soft X
Patrick Cantaly – Titleist ProV1X
Titleist ProV1 Left Dot – Tony Finau
Max Homa – Titleist ProV1
Billy Horschel – Titleist ProV1
Kevin Kisner – Titleist ProV1X
Collin Morikawa – TaylorMade TP5
Xander Schauffele – Callaway Chrome Soft X
Scottie Scheffler – Titleist ProV1
Titleist ProV1X – Jordan Spieth
Titleist ProV1X – Justin Thomas
Cameron Young – Titleist ProV1 Left Dot
International Team
Callaway Chrome Soft X – Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Corey Conners – Titleist ProV1
Cameron Davis – Titleist ProV1
Sunjae Im – Titleist Prov1X
Si Woo Kim – Callaway Chrome Soft X
Tom Kim – Titleist ProV1X
K.H Lee – Titleist ProV1X
Hideki Matsuyama – Srixon Z Star XV
Sebastian Munoz – Titleist ProV1
Taylor Pendrith – Srixon Z Star XV
Mito Periera – Titleist ProV1
Adam Scott – Titleist ProV1
Can you identify any possible pairings for the alternate-shot matches?
Original article posted on Golf.com
Photo Credit: poncacitynews.com
