Presidents Cup captain reflects on leaving Max Homa out, says ‘bench’ is an ‘extremely harsh word’
The 2024 Presidents Cup begins on Thursday, September 26, at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, Canada. Ahead of the biennial team competition’s tee-off, US Team skipper Jim Furyk and International skipper Mike Weir picked the players competing on Day 1 of the competition and the American captain left out Max Homa.
Homa was one of the two names left out of the five pairings picked by Furyk on Wednesday. Brian Harman was the other. Following this, the US skipper reflected on the same and stated that the decision was only tactical and Homa’s role in the squad remains intact. The 2018 Ryder Cup captain claimed that saying the former was “put on the bench is an extremely harsh word.”
He reiterated having a “lot of confidence” in Homa and added that the player will be back on the field soon.
Replying to a media query about ‘putting’ Max Homa ‘on the bench to start,’ Jim Furyk said at Montreal on Wednesday:
“Putting him on the bench is an extremely harsh word. You've got to have two folks that don't play tomorrow. Max, I have a lot of confidence in his game. I have a lot of confidence in what he brings to our team, not only from a playing standpoint, but in the team room as well. You're going to see him play a lot of golf this week.”
It is pertinent to note that the Presidents Cup fourball pairings are picked using the ‘snake draw’ format. The defending team’s captain, Furyk this year is allowed to make the first pick, while Weir selects second and third. The US skipper picks next alternatives and so on. The process goes on until both sides have five pairings ready.
Following Day 1’s play, the two skippers will begin the process anew on Thursday evening.
2024 Presidents Cup Thursday matches
The 2024 Presidents Cup Day 1 is set to tee off on 11:35 am ET on Thursday. The US Team’s Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau will take on the International Team’s Jason Day and Byeong Hun An in the first matchup. Notably, Scottie Scheffler will tee off at 12:11 pm ET alongside Russell Henley in the third match against Sungjae Im and Tom Kim.
Listed below are the Day 1 fourball matches in Montreal:
- 11:35 am - Jason Day/Byeong Hun An vs. Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau
- 11:53 am - Adam Scott/Min Woo Lee vs. Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala
- 12:11 pm - Sungjae Im/Tom Kim vs. Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley
- 12:29 pm - Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout vs. Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley
- 12:47 pm - Hideki Matsuyama/Corey Conners vs. Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns
Furyk and Weir will pick pairings for the Day 2 matchups at the 2024 Presidents Cup on Thursday evening. It’ll be interesting to see if Homa gets a pick to take on the competition on Friday.