Take a scroll through the history of the Presidents Cup.
There’s something to be said for representing your country or region on an international stage, and that’s what makes events like the Presidents Cup so special.
“When you look at our team, what we’re trying to tap into is the International team represents billions of people all over the world,” said 2022 captain Trevor Immelman. “So we’re trying to tap into that, inspire the youngsters all over, and welcome fans from all of those countries to come on down and support us in some way, shape, or form because we’re their team.”
The best players from the United States and around the world (Europe aside) gather every other year to compete in a series of matches, and even though the Americans have dominated the event, there have been close calls (and a fair share of blowouts) along the way.
As the 15th playing of the biennial bout prepares to tee off at Royal Montreal Golf Club, take a scroll through the year-by-year history and results of the Presidents Cup.
The win is the 26th of his PGA Tour career and second of the season.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —The stars showed up at the PGA Tour’s sixth big-money, no-cut signature event of the season, where two top-five players in the world separated from the pack to set up a slugfest on Sunday.
In the end it was Rory McIlroy who donned the crown and took the throne as the King of the Queen City. The 35-year-old Northern Irishman entered the final round one shot back of Xander Schauffele but flipped the script around the turn to win the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship by a whopping five shots at 17 under after a 6-under 65 at Quail Hollow Club, where he’s now a four-time winner dating back to his maiden victory on Tour in 2010.
“I must say, I do go on Zillow quite a lot and look at some of the properties around here,” McIlroy joked. “I love coming back here, I love spending time here. It’s a place that I’m very comfortable at with Quail Hollow, the city of Charlotte in general and the people. For whatever reason, I get so much great support here.”
“I said it on the 18th green after I won there that all these people have sort of watched me grow up. I won here for the first time as a 20-year-old and now at 35, so they’ve sort of seen my progression throughout the years,” he continued. “I’ve sort of grown up in front of their eyes and I think that’s one of the reasons I get a lot of support here, too.”
Rory McIlroy acknowledges the gallery after winning the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
McIlroy won his last start at the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with his partner and good friend Shane Lowry and now has 26 PGA Tour wins to his name. The four-time major champion hasn’t missed a cut this season on Tour in nine starts and has eight finishes inside the top 25, including a trio of top 10s.
“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable, winning a PGA Tour event for the fourth time or getting my (26th win),” said McIlroy. “Whenever I sort of hit some of these milestones or do these things, I always think back to, for example, like 20-year-old me playing in this tournament for the first time. If I had known back then that this is the way everything was going to pan out, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”
Schauffele, who finished solo second at 12 under after an even-par 71, hasn’t missed a cut in 12 PGA Tour starts this season and has now bagged 11 top-25 finishes, with eight inside the top 10, including a T-2 at the Players Championship. Ben An (66) continued his solid season with a third-place finish at 9 under, his fifth top-10 finish in 13 starts this year. Jason Day (70) and Sungjae Im (73) finished T-4 at 6 under.
“Mixed bag, for sure,” Schauffele said of his round. “I mean, (Rory) played unbelievable. Looked up at the board and I’m like, ‘Dang, he’s 6 under through 6 on the back nine.’ It’s something else. With that being said, yeah, I mean, overall I felt like I was doing pretty well for most of the day and then had that costly stretch and he capitalized like no other. Big reversal there.”
“I felt like I controlled the ball off the tee pretty well, some of those fairways are pretty daunting. Hit some incredible iron shots that I haven’t been able to do in quite some time, you know, right to left and left to right,” Schauffele explained. “Overall, I just need to clean up my short game, it’s always been a deciding factor whether I win a tournament or not, sort of a trigger stat for me, and it definitely hurt me today.”
McIlroy began the day with a birdie on the first hole to briefly tie Schauffele but fell back with a bad bogey on the par-3 4th hole after his tee shot was a club short and found the bunker.
On No. 6, Schauffele left a birdie putt, albeit a lengthy one, criminally short, which would foreshadow what was to come the rest of the round. From off the green, McIlroy nearly holed his chip and put the pressure on Schauffele to make his knee-knocker for par from eight feet. The putt skated by and the pair were once again tied.
On the par-5 7th, McIlroy missed fairway then barely held the green to leave a lengthy effort for birdie that he didn’t give enough respect nor pace. Schauffele, meanwhile, found the fairway and played the contour of the green to perfection to set up an eagle and bounce back from the bogey and take a two-shot lead after McIlroy three-jacked for par. Then the tide turned.
“You know, that was a big moment on 7. I three-putted, Xander made an eagle. Then Xander was inside me on 8, I knew I really needed to hole that putt just to try to stay or keep up with him,” McIlroy said of the situation. “Then he missed his, I birdied mine and then I just went on a run that for whatever reason I’m able to go on at this golf course.”
McIlroy made birdie on Nos. 8 and 9 from just outside 10 feet while Schauffele missed his birdie efforts from 10 and 31 feet, respectively, to make the turn to the back nine tied at 13 under. McIlroy curled in a 33-footer for eagle to one-up Schauffele’s birdie on No. 10 to take his first lead of the tournament and he never looked back. McIlroy extended his lead with a birdie-birdie-eagle run on Nos. 13-15 – after his eagle he threw his ball into the crowd – while Schauffele stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 12, 13 and 16 and a lone back-nine birdie on No. 15.
Standing on the 18th tee box, McIlroy had a seven-shot lead, which came in handy as his approach to the back pin on the par 4 skipped off the edge and found the creek that runs along the entirety of the hole. A double-bogey six put the cherry on top of a five-shot win.
With Wells Fargo in its final year of sponsorship, fans have been flocking to the merch tent to pick up their gear.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This week marks the final year that Wells Fargo will sponsor the PGA Tour’s annual stop at Quail Hollow Club in the Queen City, and fans have been flocking to the merchandise tent to get the gear.
The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship merchandise tent has a little something for everyone. There are classic golf polos and quarter zips, plenty of hats to celebrate the tournament and Charlotte area, unique head covers and more. There are also a handful of t-shirts that pay homage to the Green Mile, Quail Hollow’s famous closing three-hole stretch.
Check out some of the best gear that’s for sale at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
Matsuyama pulled out of the tournament before his first round tee time on Thursday.
Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the PGA Tour’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship just minutes before his weather-delayed first-round tee time on Thursday afternoon.
The 32-year-old from Japan cited a back injury as the reason for his withdrawal, which brings the signature event field down to 68 players after Ludvig Aberg withdrew earlier in the week.
Matsuyama hasn’t missed a cut in 10 starts on Tour this season and picked up his first win in two years back in February at the Genesis Invitational, the ninth victory of his career on Tour. In five previous Wells Fargo starts Matsuyama hadn’t missed the cut and bagged two top-25 finishes.
The injury and withdrawal have put Matsuyama’s status for next week’s 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, in question.
Hideki Matsuyama WD prior to the start of his first round at the Wells Fargo Championship due to a back injury.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) May 9, 2024
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The PGA Tour’s best players are at Quail Hollow Club this week for the sixth of eight $20 million signature events this season, but the early discussion so far at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship has been focused off the course.
PGA Tour Policy Board member Webb Simpson had planned to step down from his role and have Rory McIlroy – who resigned from the board back in November – take his place. After some “complicated” and “messy” discussions, Simpson will see out his term which ends in 2025 after players voiced their concerns about McIlroy returning.
“There’s been a lot of conversations,” McIlroy said with a coy smile, noting how the discussions partly reminded him of why he left the policy board in the first place. “It got pretty complicated and pretty messy and I think with the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before.”
“There was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason,” he added. “I think the best course of action is if, you know, there’s some people on there that aren’t comfortable with me coming back on, then I think Webb just stays on and sees out his term, and I think he’s gotten to a place where he’s comfortable with doing that and I just sort of keep doing what I’m doing. I put my hand up to help and it was — I wouldn’t say it was rejected, it was a complicated process to get through to put me back on there. So that’s all fine, no hard feelings and we’ll all move on.”
Simpson contradicted McIlroy no less than an hour later and denied any negative sentiment towards the world No. 2’s potential return to the board.
“I think the players on the board were very supportive of him being more involved, and in those conversations I think they all see the vital role he plays not only on the PGA Tour, but he’s a DP World Tour member and they’re such an important piece in the game of golf and our Tour,” said Simpson, who also noted he didn’t get any sense that McIlroy wasn’t welcomed. “So his perspective is tremendous to us. He’s a global player, always has been, so I just think his views are important, and the other guys feel the same.”
Rory McIlroy in action during the pro am at Quail Hollow Club on May 9, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
McIlroy, who has been on the front lines for the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, joined the board in 2022 and was supposed to serve out his term until the end of this year until he abruptly resigned late last fall. McIlroy was then replaced by Jordan Spieth via a board vote. After sticking up for the Tour for the better half of two years, his decision to bail on the board didn’t sit well with his colleagues.
“He was very clear that it was too much for him. He had business dealings, he has a kid, he wants to focus on his game. Trust me, I get it. But once you quit, you’re not getting back,” Kevin Streelman, a former member of the policy board who ran against McIlroy for Player Advisory Council chairman, told Golfweek. “I wouldn’t quit on something that you were elected to by your peers. To want back in is peculiar.”
Since he left the board, McIlroy has been adamant and outspoken on why the Tour needs to get a deal done with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – LIV’s financial backer – in order to reunite the game.
“Golf and the PGA Tour has been so good to me over the years, I just feel like it’s my obligation or duty to try to give back and try to set the next generation of players up like we were set up by the previous generation,” McIlroy said of his reasoning to try and rejoin the board after stepping down. “I think there’s a responsibility with every generation to try to leave the Tour, leave the place that you’re playing in a bit of a better spot than it was before. That’s what it’s about.”
Despite being stiff-armed out of consideration, McIlroy is “still optimistic” a deal will get done and believes Simpson staying on “is a really good thing.”
“I think he’s got a really balanced voice in all of this and I think he sees the bigger picture, which is great,” McIlroy explained. “My fear was if Webb stepped off and it wasn’t me that was going in his place, what could potentially happen. Yeah, I’m really happy that Webb has made that decision to stay on and serve out the rest of his term.”
As a 35-year-old from Northern Ireland, McIlroy made an interesting comparison of the current state of professional golf to the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland and Ireland in the 1990s.
“I would say I’m impatient because I think we’ve got this window of opportunity to get (a deal) done, because both sides from a business perspective I wouldn’t say need to get it done, but it makes sense,” he explained. “I sort of liken it to like when Northern Ireland went through the peace process in the ’90s and the Good Friday Agreement, neither side was happy. Catholics weren’t happy, Protestants weren’t happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated, right?”
“That’s sort of how I, it’s my little I guess way of trying to think about it and trying to make both sides see that there could be a compromise here. Yeah, it’s probably not going to feel great for either side, but if it’s a place where the game of golf starts to thrive again and we can all get back together, then I think that’s ultimately a really good thing.”
The Tour’s Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis wasn’t able to provide a material update on the status of the conversations between the PIF and the Tour, but did note the discussions are still ongoing and positive.
“It has nothing to do with me being on the board,” Simpson said of his place on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Outside of the four major championships, players have circled the PGA Tour’s eight signature events on the 2024 schedule seeing as the limited-field tournaments boast a $20 million purse and offer up even more FedEx Cup points than a normal event.
This week at Quail Hollow marks the Tour’s sixth of eight elevated stops, and the big-money event has brought another round of criticism for the four players who received sponsor exemptions to the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship: Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland. As members of the PGA Tour’s Policy Board, players like Scott and Simpson have been in the social media crosshairs, and the latter – a Quail Hollow member since 2011 and resident since 2014 – defended his selection during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Look, it’s a different day and age now than it was. I know these sponsor exemptions are probably the most coveted sponsor exemptions in the history of the Tour, but we’re not going to make everyone happy,” said Simpson. “As we’re looking at what criteria should these sponsor exemptions be, yadda yadda, we’re trying to balance making sponsors happy, giving them the opportunity to invite — you know, these tournament directors, who do they want to bring to their tournament, to their community, who do they think will add value to their tournament. These tournament directors are working round the clock for a year trying to make their tournament the best. We want to give them the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, you have a few spots, four spots in these Signature Events to be able to invite who you want to invite.’”
The Tour’s idea with the signature events was for players to earn their way into the amped-up tournaments and reap the rewards for their efforts. A member of the Tour’s Policy Board earning four spots into the six signature events so far brings the meritocracy into question, especially given his form this season. Across seven starts, Simpson has made six cuts but hasn’t cracked the top 25. He’s 152nd in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 227 in the world.
“I know that I’ve gotten, this is my fourth sponsor exemption, and Adam Scott’s received his fair share. There was controversy and guys were trying to link us being on the board, but it has nothing to do with me being on the board,” Simpson. The seven-time winner on Tour (not since 2020) argued his relationships with tournament directors and specifically his connection to the Charlotte area have made him a worthwhile selection.
Webb Simpson hits a tee shot on the first hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
“So I certainly think the criticisms, I knew they were going to come depending on who got them, but I’m very comfortable knowing that we’ve given the sponsors the opportunity to pick, and the tournament directors,” he added. “I want to move on from it and realize that the Wells Fargo Championship is an amazing tournament.”
As a player in the field this week, Simpson has spent time with kids in the hospital and will spend time with the First Tee of Charlotte on the range at Quail Hollow on Wednesday afternoon.
“There’s things that I’m way more interested in and that get me excited than kind of worrying about what a certain person thinks about who should get sponsor exemptions,” Simpson said.
While Simpson doesn’t care about the perception of sponsor exemptions to signature events, the fans clearly do. The last thing the Tour needs right now is to alienate its supporters and water down its biggest events as it continues to be challenged each year by the threat of the guaranteed money offered by LIV Golf. The powers that be in Ponte Vedra Beach at Tour HQ are in a tough position as they try to make players, fans and sponsors happy.
“What the PGA Tour Policy Board has committed is that at the summer meeting, they’re going to review how things have progressed in terms of the metrics we looked at, you guys might remember me talking about this a year ago, retention rates, and the sort of aspirational nature of the PGA Tour,” said the Tour’s Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis. “We’re gonna look at all of that and I’m sure sponsor exemptions will be one of those things and see what, if any, changes might be made for the 2025 season.”
In 2019, Wells Fargo signed a 5-year extension with the PGA Tour, but after next year’s playing, the popular event will need a new sponsor.
Several big names have won the Wells Fargo since 2003, including Tiger Woods (2007), Rory McIlroy (2010, 2015, 2021), Vijay Singh (2005), Jim Furyk (2006), Rickie Fowler (2012), Jason Day (2018) and Max Homa (2019, 2022).
McIlroy’s win in 2010 and Fowler’s win in 2012 were both player’s breakthrough wins on Tour.
Wyndham Clark, the tournament’s defending champion, went on to win the U.S. Open later that summer.
On Coronation weekend it’s only fitting a first-time PGA Tour winner would be crowned in the Queen City.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seeing as it’s Coronation weekend across the pond in the United Kingdom, it’s only fitting a first-time PGA Tour winner would be crowned in the Queen City.
After five long years, the wait is over for Wyndham Clark.
Clark held a two-shot lead over world No. 5 Xander Schauffele and said after Saturday’s third round he was looking forward to the challenge of a high-stakes final round and was curious how he’d handle the pressure. The 29-year-old shot a 3-under 68 on Sunday at Quail Hollow to finish at 19 under and win by four shots over Schauffele for his maiden victory on Tour.
After a handful of close calls, Clark was truly beginning to wonder if he’d ever win on Tour.
“I know that sounds crazy because I’ve only been out here five years, but I had a lot of chances to where I was within two or three shots either going into the back nine or starting on a Sunday and I always seem to fall short, and not only that, but seem like I fell back in positions,” Clark explained. “I think in the past I sometimes shied away maybe from those pressure moments because I would get too amped up.”
“Today, I was excited. When he made putts, I was like, ‘yeah, all right, now I’ve got to do it.’ I just think Xander and I fed off each other really well Saturday and Sunday,” Clark continued. “He played amazing and I think a lot of how good I played was because he was putting pressure on me. So I just felt like all right, I can’t just coast in and make a bunch of pars, I’ve got to make birdies. Yeah, I really like how I handled the pressure.”
Schauffele, 29, shot a 1-under 70 on Sunday to finish runner-up at 15 under and inside the top five for the fifth time this season. Harris English (69) and Tyrrell Hatton (70) finished T-3 at 12 under.
Clark bogeyed the first hole and Schauffele birdied the third to tie the lead at 15 under before he briefly took the solo lead with another birdie on the par-5 7th hole, the second easiest hole of the week. It didn’t take long for Clark to respond with his first birdie of the day on No. 8, and a Schauffele bogey on the ninth returned the lead to Clark with nine holes to play.
“Sure, early on it wasn’t as pretty as I wanted and I didn’t maintain the lead, but as I started making birdies and putts, I started to really believe that I could do this,” said Clark. “And fortunately Xander made some mistakes and then it really propelled me to continue playing well.”
Clark extended the lead to two with a birdie on the par-5 10th, and after a poor tee shot on the 11th found the pine straw among the trees, he managed a crucial up-and-down from the greenside bunker to save par and increase his lead to three after a bad Schauffele bogey. He then took a four-shot lead with six to play with a birdie on No. 12.
Both players made consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, but Schauffele’s third bogey of the day on the par-3 17th gave Clark a four-shot lead and the win.
Play big ❤️
Remembering his mom, these are words @Wyndham_Clark lives by on and off the course.
While Clark may not be a household name, if you’ve been paying attention this season you’d know a victory was coming sooner rather than later for the Scottsdale, Arizona, resident. After a career-best Players Championship finish earlier this year in March (T-27), Clark has consistently been in the mix ever since with consecutive finishes of 5-6-T29-3-T24 entering this week. In 19 starts this season, Clark now has nine top-25 finishes, with six inside the top 10.
As the PGA Tour’s ninth designated event of the season, the 156-player field was competing for a $20 million purse. Clark took home the top prize of $3.6 million, a whopping seven times more than his previous largest paycheck on Tour, $485,000 after a 10th-place finish at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open.
The win doesn’t just earn Clark a massive payday, it also earns him a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool as well as his first-ever Masters invitation for the 2024 event at Augusta National.
“I’ve dreamt about this since I was probably 6 years old,” said Clark. “Since I’ve been on the PGA Tour, you fantasize about it all the time, and I’ve done it multiple times this year where I catch myself daydreaming about winning, and to do it at this golf course against this competition is better than I could ever have imagined.”
“I really walked up (the 18th fairway) and I tried to do as good a job as possible to stay in the present but also look around and keep my head up and look at the sight and having all those people there,” he said. “You only can win your first tournament once, so I was really trying to soak it all in.”
A few big names will be leaving Quail Hollow early.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This year’s Wells Fargo Championship is the ninth designated event of the PGA Tour season, meaning the 156-player field was competing for a $20 million purse, with a whopping $3.6 million going to the winner.
After two rounds of play at Quail Hollow Club, 68 players made the weekend cut and another 88 are now heading home early and empty handed.
Three players who competed for the American team at the 2022 Presidents Cup last fall at Quail Hollow were sent packing, as well as a major champion, a rising PGA Tour star and a former world No. 1 who seemed to be rounding into form.
Here’s a closer look at some of the notable names who didn’t survive the 36-hole cut at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship, which came in at 1 under par.
Here’s what you missed from Friday’s second round at Quail Hollow.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nobody has separated from the pack after two rounds of play at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. In fact, the leaderboard is rather bunched.
While the usual stars may not be in contention, 37 players are within five shots of the lead entering the weekend, setting up for what could be a thrilling finish at Quail Hollow Club.
Everyone’s favorite Angry Golfer Tyrrell Hatton fired a 6-under 65 to tie the low round of the day and claim a share of the lead at 8 under alongside Nate Lashley (66) and Wyndham Clark (67). Six players are all T-4 and just a shot back at 7 under, including Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Adam Scott.
Rain was in the forecast for Saturday’s third round, but it appears to have cleared up for the final stretch in the Queen City. Here’s what we learned from a busy Friday at Quail Hollow.
