Category: Presidents Cup

‘I don’t know if that was official or not’: How Tiger Woods spilled the beans on Webb Simpson being a Presidents Cup assistant captain

Simpson told Woods he had to call him back because he had to order his hot dogs.

It’s not every day Webb Simpson looks down at his phone to see a call from Tiger Woods.

But that’s what happened last Tuesday at Trolley Stop, a local hot dog joint in Wilmington, North Carolina, while Simpson was out with his family. When Simpson was trying to order, his phone rang.

“My kids had already made the owner mad because they continued to open the door, so I’m stressing, it’s my turn to order, my phone rings, I looked down and it’s Tiger,” Simpson said. “I told Tiger I had to call him back, I got to order my hot dogs. So order my hot dogs, get out of there, call him back and yeah, he just kind of referenced me being from — you know, living in Charlotte, Quail Hollow’s my home, that he thought it would bring a lot to the team.”

Woods was referencing the Presidents Cup, which is set for next month at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. Quail Hollow is Simpson’s home course, so the Presidents Cup has been on his mind for some time.

Yet Tiger’s call came at a time when rumors were swirling on whether Simpson may be selected as an assistant captain.

“(The call) meant a lot, but honestly, I got done with the phone call and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if that was official or not,'” Simpson said. “I don’t know if he meant like he’s rooting for me to be assistant or if I am assistant. So I just waited, and I saw Zach (Johnson) on Wednesday, or I guess yeah, the next day in Detroit and Zach and I had a laugh about it. I said, Davis (Love III) still hasn’t called me, so I don’t know. And then Davis gave me a shout I guess maybe the next night.”

On Tuesday, Love, the U.S. Captain for the Presidents Cup, announced Simpson and Steve Stricker, the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, would serve as assistant captains at Quail Hollow. Johnson and Fred Couples are the other two assistants.

On Thursday and Friday, Simpson will be grouped with Love and Kevin Kisner for the first 36 holes at the Wyndham Championship. Kisner is the defending champion.

For Simpson, who has played in three Presidents Cups (2011, 2013 and 2019), the selection is special.

“Not that I feared not being a part of it, but there was a part of me that’s like, ‘If I don’t make the team and Davis goes a different direction, that’s fine, but it’s going to be hard to see the Presidents Cup happen there and not be a part of it in some way,'” Simpson said. “So I was really, really relieved to get a chance to be a part of it.”

Simpson is in the field at this week’s Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has five straight top-10 finishes there.

Wyndham Championship: Best bets | Tee times | PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

He acknowledges there’s still time to qualify as a player, but being selected in this role is something he has dreamed about.

“I’d give anything to be a part of it because as Jim Furyk told me in 2011 in Melbourne, when you’re done with your golf career, you’re going to really look back and remember your wins and your team events,” Simpson said.

“That’s a big dream and goal of mine. There’s still quite a few things I want to accomplish as a player, but just seeing these captains in the last few years take that role, and you can tell it means so much to them to represent the players, our country. So I definitely want to do that.”

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Quail Hollow member Webb Simpson and Steve Stricker named captain’s assistants for 2022 Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup is scheduled for September 20-25 at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In April, Captain Davis Love III named Zach Johnson and Fred Couples as two of his four assistants for the 2022 Presidents Cup. He’s now filled the two remaining spots.

Webb Simpson, a member of Quail Hollow Club, and Steve Stricker, the 2021 Ryder Cup winning captain, will both serve as assistant captains to Love at the matches scheduled for Sept. 20-25 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I am thrilled to join Davis, Fred, Zach and Webb at Quail Hollow this September, and look forward to helping the U.S. Team as much as possible in an effort to retain the Cup,” Stricker said in a release. “With the current standings, many of the players on my team at Whistling Straits will be competing in Charlotte, and I know we’re all excited to watch these rising stars continue to perform on a global stage.”

Stricker served as Presidents Cup captain in 2017 at Liberty National where the United States won 19-11.

Davis Love III, Captains Assistant of the U.S. Team, and Steve Stricker, Captain of the U.S. Team, wear We The People fan hats on the first tee during the Sunday singles matches at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club on October 1, 2017, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)

“I’m excited to see the Presidents Cup contested on my home course in a great sports town like Charlotte, and I know the fans are going to show up with tremendous support for the U.S. Team,” said Simpson. “I’ve had the good fortune of playing for Davis in past international events and he will have this team prepared to play each day. It’s an honor to be named a captain’s assistant, and I look forward to helping the guys with a bit of course knowledge and a fun, enjoyable team atmosphere.”

Simpson, who will be an assistant for the first time, has represented the United States in three Presidents Cups (2011, 2013 and 2019).

As of August 2, the six automatic qualifiers for the U.S. team are Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau.

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America’s next dream team? U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III gets a sneak-peek in Detroit

“If they made the team, they’re a natural. It’s like Xander and Patrick, they’re like peas in a pod” — Davis Love III

DETROIT – U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III may have found America’s next winning tandem.

It was by no accident that Love was grouped for the first two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic with young stars Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris. The former Wake Forest University teammates put on a show, especially Young who fired a 9-under 63 on Friday to grab the lead during the second round at Detroit Golf Club.

“Well, if they made the team, they’re a natural. It’s like Xander (Schauffele) and Patrick (Cantlay), they’re like peas in a pod,” Love said. “The only thing I asked them, you know, we’ve had guys before that hang out together all the time and do everything together but they don’t really want to play together. I said, ‘Do you want to play together? ‘No, no, no, we do everything together.’

“They say they play 75 percent of their practice rounds together…they seem to get along great. You can see it when after I hit and they take off running down the fairway, they’re chitchatting the whole day, comfortable with each other and giving each other a hard time.”

The Presidents Cup will be held at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, beginning September 22.

Rocket Mortgage Classic: Scores | PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

Zalatoris, who finished second at the U.S. Open and is ranked No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, entered the week ranked 10th in the U.S. team point standings while Young, No. 19 in OWGR, is 13th.  The top six in points automatically qualify for the team and Love will have six captain’s picks to round out his squad, the same number as U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker had last fall. Love said he has about 25 players on his radar.

“You want guys that are hot. All the way back to 2010, like Rickie Fowler had a hot finish and his putter was hot and Corey Pavin picked him. So everybody’s kind of still on the radar. It’s not like it’s narrowed down. We have six picks so it’s still kind of wide open,” he said.

But there are few hotter players on the planet than Young, who finished second in the British Open and tie for third at the PGA Championship and has recorded four runner-ups and two thirds in an impressive rookie campaign.

“It would be very special. I mean, I’ve been a part of a couple teams throughout my life and it’s just very fun,” Young said. “Anytime you get to put on red, white and blue is a special experience, and I think this would be on a little different level for me. But yeah, I think obviously nice to play well in front of him and good just to spend some time around him. He’s an awesome guy and has been around the game a long time, so it was a lot of fun.”

Zalatoris won the Arnold Palmer Rookie of the Year Award last season and Young looks to be the favorite to follow suit. About the only thing Young and Zalatoris, who shot 71 on Friday, haven’t done yet on the PGA Tour is win a tournament. Could this be the week for Young to hoist a trophy?

“Cameron is trending up. He has been all the way,” Love said. “Obviously got to finish this weekend, but his game just looks so solid right now.”

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Internationals captain Trevor Immelman names four assistants for Presidents Cup

Trevor Immelman will captain the 2022 International squad in Charlotte.

Making his debut as captain of the International team for the upcoming Presidents Cup, Trevor Immelman can call on plenty of experience from his coaching staff.

Immelman, a South African who played in the Presidents Cup twice and was an assistant to Ernie Els in 2019, named his four vice captains Wednesday: Canadian Mike Weir, South Korean K.J. Choi, Australian Geoff Ogilvy and Colombian Camilo Villegas.

The U.S. leads the series 11-1-1. The Americans came from behind on the final day in 2019 at Royal Melbourne in Australia to win, 16-14. This year’s matches are Sept. 22-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Weir, who competed in the Presidents Cup five times and is one of five International players with 10 more match wins, will make his third appearance as a vice captain. He has eight PGA Tour titles, including the 2003 Masters, and one PGA Tour Champions victory.

Choi, who played in three editions of the Presidents Cup, will be making his third appearance as an assistant captain. He has won eight PGA Tour titles, including the 2011 Players Championship, and one PGA Tour Champions victory.

Ogilvy, who played in three Presidents Cups, has eight career PGA Tour victories, including the 2006 U.S. Open, and won two of Australia’s biggest titles – the 2008 Australian PGA and 2010 Australian Open.

Villegas will make his debut as an assistant. Villegas is the only player from Colombia to compete in the Presidents Cup, doing so in 2009. He’s won four times on the PGA Tour.

“The comradery that continues to grow within this team is irreplaceable,” Weir said in a release. “We can all sense the momentum that is building, and it’s been exciting to see Trevor’s incredible dedication and focus on his role. I can’t wait to see what tournament week holds for us and to be a part of the 2022 team.”

Said Ogilvy: “After getting a glimpse into the future of our team in 2019, I am very excited to return as a captain’s assistant. The collection of international players has only had time to improve and that is evident when you look at guys like Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama and Joaquin Niemann, who have had tremendous success on Tour in the last year.

“I can’t wait to see what they bring to the table under Trevor’s captaincy.”

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Davis Love III says Tiger Woods can have ‘any role he wants’ at the Presidents Cup, even as a player

Davis Love III says Tiger Woods has an open invitation to take on any role he wants.

No one thought Tiger Woods would have been ready to play the Masters, much less make the cut and walk 72 holes at Augusta National, just 14 months after a horrific car crash.

And no one should rule him out playing in the Presidents Cup in September.

Davis Love III, the captain of the 2022 squad that’ll gather in Charlotte at Quail Hollow Club to take on the Internationals, says whatever happens, Woods has an open invitation to take on any role he wants for the U.S. team.

“We had to pry him off the couch a little bit last winter and spring to get involved in the Ryder Cup and then once we got him going, he was very engaged and loved it,” Love said ahead of the 2022 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina. “Obviously it’s been a long year and a half for him, so that’s one thing that Fred [Couples] and Zach [Johnson] and I need to do is get him in the loop and say, ‘All right, what do you want to do?'”

Couples and Johnson were named vice captains by Love on Wednesday for the Presidents Cup. Love did indicate that there is one job he won’t cede to Woods.

“I mean, if he says, ‘You’re not captain anymore, I’m going to be the captain’, we’ll probably have to talk about that one,” Love quipped. “But anything else, if he wants to be co-captain or assistant captain or player. … whatever he wants to do.”

Justin Thomas Tiger Woods
Playing Captain Tiger Woods of the United States team and Justin Thomas of the United States team celebrate their match win at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Course on December 13, 2019, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Woods was a player captain in 2019, leading the U.S. squad to a 16-14 win in Australia. Love said Woods playing for the 2022 squad shouldn’t be unexpected.

“I didn’t think he would ever play again and he proved us wrong. And then I didn’t think he could walk 72 holes at Augusta, because that’s one of our hardest walks, and then he proved us wrong again.

“I’ve seen and talked to him a lot over the last year and a half and I know what he was working towards, but, you know, he’s unbelievable at overcoming whatever happens to him, whatever, whether it’s his swing or his putting or his body, he just can will his way towards his goals.

“Now, can he do it? I’ll just say no, he’s not going to play enough golf and he won’t be able to do it, so then he’ll do it.”

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Tiger Woods an assistant captain at 2022 Presidents Cup? Davis Love III hopes ‘he comes back and starts playing’

Love wasn’t the first choice for Team USA’s captain at the 2022 Presidents Cup, and he’s OK with that.

SAINT SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia — Davis Love III may be serving as Team USA’s captain of the 2022 Presidents Cup, but he wasn’t the first choice for the job, and he’s OK with that.

The other guy was none other than Tiger Woods, who led the American side to a spirited comeback in 2019 at Royal Melbourne in Australia. What will his role be next fall at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina?

“It would have been a great captaincy for Tiger to continue on,” Love said. “At the time we were discussing it, he said, ‘No, I’m playing really good, I’m gonna make the team, and I enjoyed Australia being playing captain, but I want to be a player on the team.’ So, his role is whatever his role wants to be. If Tiger calls me up and says, ‘Hey, you’re kicked out, I’m taking over,’ that’s Tiger’s role. If he wants to be an assistant, you know, I would hope that he comes back and starts playing and can make that a goal, to be on the team. He was a big part of our Ryder Cup.”

Those conversations regarding the captain’s role happened before Woods was involved in a car accident in February that has kept him sidelined ever since. During the Ryder Cup in September, Woods served in an unofficial advisory role.

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“It took us a while to get him to the point where he would engage,” Love said. “He had a rough start to the year, but once we got him in the loop, he was a big help and a lot of fun for the Ryder Cup and for the team. Obviously the guys were going to see him down there in south Florida all summer, but leading up to the Ryder Cup, obviously he had a watch party at his house. He can do whatever and I know he’ll be a big part of it.”

Love noted that he and the rest of the Team USA leadership has learned a lot of why he beat them all these years.

“Tiger went from a guy we didn’t know to now he’s a leader and an inside guy, so he has good information on some of the players that we don’t know,” Love said. “He was really helpful in captains’ picks. I think for me in ’16 and then as an assistant captain, he’s very helpful in strategy and pairings. He’s a tactician, he watches a lot more golf than I do, so he has a lot of information.

“What I’m amazed with him and with Phil, with Jack Nicklaus is the incredible memory of things that happened in the past. I will go, ‘Yeah, I played the Ryder Cup in ’97. That was at Valderrama.’ Tiger and Phil remember every shot and what everybody else did.”

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Love recalled that during his victorious captaincy at the 2016 Ryder Cup that it was Woods, serving as an assistant at Hazeltine, who helped him be more decisive when it came to submitting his pairings.

“One of the great things Tiger does is, (he’ll say,) ‘Would you please make a decision?’ That’s really good for me,” Love said. “Like quit waffling around, you know what you want to do, let’s make a decision and stick with it.”

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Presidents Cup: Future sites include Quail Hollow, Royal Montreal, Medinah, Bellerive

The PGA Tour has added Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis to its roster of future locations.

The biennial competition pitting the United States against the rest of the world (minus Europe) will be heading to America’s heartland in 2030.

The PGA Tour has selected Bellerive in St. Louis as host site for the competition. The event is staged every two years, opposite the Ryder Cup. The American squads have dominated the competition: over the 13 matches, they are 11-1-1, including a comeback win in 2019 in Australia.

The 2022, 2024 and 2026 locations have also been announced, so with the naming of Bellerive in 2030, we await in the international location for 2028.

Below is a closer look at the future sites for the Presidents Cup.

Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis will host the 2030 Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup is bound for the Midwest once again in 2030.

On Wednesday the PGA Tour announced that Bellerive Country Club would host the 2030 Presidents Cup.

Located just outside of St. Louis, Bellerive previously hosted the 1965 U.S. Open, the 1992 and 2018 PGA Championships as well as the 1981 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2004 U.S. Senior Open, the 2008 BMW Championship and the 2013 Senior PGA Championship. Established in 1897 and designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., the club will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year. Renovations in 2005, 2013 and 2019 were all led by Jones’ son, Rees Jones.

“St. Louis is a passionate and iconic sports town and one which embraces teams and events such as the Presidents Cup with tremendous enthusiasm. The combination of St. Louis and Bellerive Country Club will make for a memorable experience for fans onsite and those watching around the world,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan via a release.

The United States has dominated its International counterparts in the biennial event held opposite the Ryder Cup. Over the 13 matches, the Americans are 11-1-1. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina will host next year’s event, Sept. 19-25, followed by: Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada (2024), Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois (2026). The 2028 site has yet to be announced.

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Opinion: Cognizant’s strong commitment to PGA Tour and LPGA is a model for Fortune 500 companies

In looking to extend its global reach, Cognizant didn’t just enter the women’s golf space, it raised the bar.

Mike Whan wasn’t yet LPGA commissioner when he met Louise Suggs for the first time in a hotel lobby in Houston. Michelle Wie happened to walk by, and Suggs proudly noted that the $220,000 check Wie had earned for winning the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational was more than she’d earned in her entire Hall of Fame career.

“Your only real job,” Suggs told Whan, “is to leave it better for her daughter and her daughter’s daughter.”

Later at the hotel bar, Whan wrote down the words “celebration of the founders” on a napkin and put it in his briefcase. It wasn’t lost on Whan that he might be the last LPGA commissioner to have the great fortune of spending quality time with the founders.

What happens when future commissioners never get the chance to meet any of the women who started the LPGA 70 years ago? How easy it would be, he thought, to forget that personal philosophy.

And so Whan created the Founders Cup, which on Tuesday received a massive upgrade when the LPGA announced Cognizant as the new title sponsor, doubling the event’s purse to $3 million. It’s now the largest purse on tour outside of the majors and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

Cognizant’s commitment to keep the Founders Cup not only alive but thriving as Whan prepares to step down strikes a deeply personal chord for the commissioner.

But that’s really only half the story. The look of the press release alone – the name Cognizant flanked by the logos of both the PGA Tour and LPGA – sends a signal that would make any founder smile.

Cognizant announced its arrival in the golf space by partnering with both the LPGA and PGA Tour at the same time. The U.S.-based company joins Rolex and City as Global Partners for the Presidents Cup through 2026.

Just as Aon provides an identical year-long race for both tours with identical $1 million payouts, Cognizant provides a blueprint that other Fortune 500 companies should follow. As a leading professional-services company that supports equal opportunity and diversity in and out of the workplace, Cognizant put its core values into action.

“The world is full of platitudes,” said Gaurav Chand, Cognizant’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We wanted to put our money where our mouth was.”

In looking to extend its global reach, Cognizant didn’t just enter the women’s golf space – the U.S.-based company raised the bar.

Marilynn Smith
LPGA Founders Marilynn Smith (left) and Shirley Spork greet golfers after they finish their final round at the 2019 Bank of Hope Founders Cup.

Terry Duffy, Chairman and CEO of CME Group, is one of the LPGA’s game-changers. The kind of partner who sometimes comes in with a vision that’s bigger than the tour’s. It was Duffy who doubled the CME purse to $5 million in 2019 and raised the winner’s check to a record $1.5 million. Duffy hoped to push other companies to start thinking the same way.

“I actually think if you’re going to sponsor the PGA,” Duffy told Golfweek last December, “you should figure out a way to bifurcate.”

Even if a company didn’t want to title sponsor an LPGA event, for example, adding presenting sponsors creates another opportunity to narrow the money gap between genders.

Whan created the Founders Cup in 2011 with a mock purse – in other words, players didn’t get paid. All the money went to charity. Not everyone appreciated the idea. Comments, he once said, ranged from: “You just tell me when and where and I’ll be there” to “Have you slipped and fallen?”

Karrie Webb won the inaugural event, and there were three founders on hand that week: Shirley Spork, Marilynn Smith and Suggs.

Hall of Famer Pat Bradley came to Phoenix that first year for an exhibition match and told Spork that it was because of her that she became a golf pro. She’d attended one of Spork’s clinics while in college and was encouraged by her talk of the tour.

“That’s the reward I get,” said Spork, “the thank yous.”

Jin Young Ko of South Korea poses with the trophy after winning the Bank of Hope Founders Cup on Mar. 24, 2019 at Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott in Phoenix, Ariz. (Via OlyDrop)

The challenge of creating the tour, the warm reception founders receive from current players on the 18th, the commitment to the game’s future – these are all elements that drew Chand into the Founders story. Much of his excitement also traces back to the joy his 10-year-old daughter Kaia has found in the game.

Chand hopes other companies take note of Cognizant’s unique entry into golf.

“Across the board I’d love to see a measured balance between investment in all sports,” he said. “Again, we’re talking about world-class athletes, people at the pinnacle of the game, giving them a platform and thereby encouraging the next generation to get into sport. To get into sport with these kind of values is really critical to us.”

Whan now hands the Founders Cup baton to a company that ultimately might have a bigger vision for the event than he dared to dream.

May it always be so.

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Davis Love III named Presidents Cup captain for 2022

The World Golf Hall of Fame member will get his third captaincy. He was at the helm for the U.S. in the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cups.

Davis Love III got the call again.

The member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, who counts 21 PGA Tour titles on his resume, including the 1997 PGA Championship, will lead the USA charges in the 2022 Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday.

It will be the third captaincy for Love; he was at the helm for the USA in the 2012 and 2016 editions of the Ryder Cup. Love also has been a vice captain in the Presidents Cup in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and in the Ryder Cup in 2010 and 2018.

And this fall, he will be an assistant for captain Steve Stricker in the Ryder Cup.

Love’s playing card in the two events has been equally full – he played in the Presidents Cup in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2005 and in the Ryder Cup in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2004.

“My history with this event dating back to 1994 conjures up indelible memories of competition, camaraderie and sportsmanship, and I’m thrilled to be leading the top American players into Quail Hollow Club,” Love, 56, who was born in the Queen City, said in a release. “The U.S. team has been guided by some of the game’s all-time greats since 1994, and I will do my best to carry on that legacy as we look to retain the Cup.”

In Love’s first go as captain in the 2012 Ryder Cup, the Europeans stormed back from a 10-4 deficit to win 14½-13½ at Medinah north of Chicago. Four years later, Love and the U.S. avenged the crushing defeat at Hazeltine in Minnesota, winning 17-11.

As for the Presidents Cup, the U.S. has dominated the Internationals, losing just once and tying once in 13 contests. The U.S. is in possession of the Cup after playing captain Tiger Woods led the Americans to a 16-14 victory in 2019 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.

The 2022 Presidents Cup will be contested at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 23-25, an ideal setting for the Tarheel that is Love.

“He’s got player respect through and through, experience in that venue and a guy that from a leadership standpoint is more willing to listen than speak, if that makes sense. He’s a good listener. He’s the epitome of a self-less leader,” two-time major champion Zach Johnson told Golfweek. Johnson, who has played in the Ryder Cup five times and the Presidents Cup four times, was an assistant to Woods in the 2019 Presidents Cup and will join Love as an assistant this fall for the Ryder Cup.

Johnson said the decision to name Love involved many parties, including PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, the Ryder Cup committee and Tiger Woods.

“The process of getting to this point was actually quite extensive,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of discussion. For the betterment of the lineup of the Cups, for the betterment of the team, this was the best option. There were a lot of individuals involved in the process; it just got down to the point where we all felt that given where we are, Davis was the best option and to maintain what we’ve already established and get some new blood in as vice captains so we can be more selective and have more options in the future.

“Throw in the ties to North Carolina and that neck of the woods. He’s a Tarheel at heart. Things just kind of lined up.”

South African and 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelmann, who was named captain of the 2022 Internationals squad in April 2020, played in two editions of the Presidents Cup and was an assistant to Ernie Els in the 2019 Presidents Cup.

He told Golfweek a formidable team anchored by Love awaits.

“He’s so accomplished in the game,” Immelman said. “On the course his results speak for themselves and the longevity he’s had at the highest level is really fantastic. He’s one of the nicest guys you would ever wish to meet. Just a tremendous man. The charitable work he’s involved in with his family is tremendous. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Davis.

“He’s been captain of a couple of Ryder Cups, both emotional ones with obviously the first one with a bit of a mishap Sunday at Medinah, but then made amends for it the second time. Now he gets a shot at the Presidents Cup.

“I just hope when the fall of 2022 rolls around we will be able to have full capacity. Davis is popular wherever he goes, but to be in that role in Charlotte, a lot of people will be out there rooting for him. And the better the atmosphere, the better the event. I’m extremely happy for him to get this opportunity.”

Love was a three-time All-America at the University of North Carolina.

“The Carolinas mean so much to me and my family, and it’s humbling to know that I will return to Charlotte in this new role to help carry on the rich sports tradition the Queen City has developed through the years,” Love said. “Quail Hollow is one of the best tests of golf we see all year on the PGA Tour, and it will be a perfect venue for a match-play event given the variation of challenges it presents. I think you will see players taking on a number of risk-reward shots throughout the week, presenting an exciting environment for fans onsite and watching around the world.”

Quail Hollow Club has hosted the Wells Fargo Championship since 2003 and was the venue for the PGA Championship won by Justin Thomas in 2017.

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