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Brandt Snedeker made a bold pick for his U.S. Presidents Cup team (Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
Give Brandt Snedeker a ton of credit for taking a chance and looking at the big picture as it comes to United States team play in both the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup.
It would have been easy for Snedeker — the U.S. captain — to go with a safe veteran pick on Tuesday when he filled out his 12-man U.S. roster for the Presidents Cup, which takes place Sept. 24-27 at Medinah against an International squad.
But Snedeker made the surprising move of picking 21-year-old Jackson Koivun, the recent Auburn star who won the 3M Open in late July in just his third PGA Tour start as a professional.
Back then, we advocated for Snedeker to take a chance on Koivun as a nod toward the future. Team USA needs to develop fresh young stars for international team competition and the talented young Koivun fits that narrative.
Nobody involved wants to admit that this is a chance for Koivun to gain valuable experience for next year’s Ryder Cup in Ireland — where the U.S. will be trying to win in Europe for the first time since 1993. But coming off of consecutive losses to a motivated and experienced European team, the Americans need to try something new.
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Snedeker, however, said he isn’t thinking about next year. He wants to win this month, and that is more than fair. And he believes Koivun can help him do that.
The U.S. has dominated the Presidents Cup since its inception and will likely be a heavy favorite again when the four-day competition begins with five four-ball matches on Sept. 24. The International side has had its moments recently — it won more total holes two years ago in Montreal — and there is a sense that the International side is due.
The truth remains that the U.S. has won 10 in a row since it played to a tie in 2003 in South Africa. The only time the U.S. lost the Presidents Cup was in 1998 in Australia, back when Tiger Woods had a grand total of one major title to his name.
(Source: The Presidents Cup)
The U.S. can certainly still be a formidable team even with a very inexperienced Koivun, who just a few months ago was playing college golf and helped lead Auburn to its second NCAA team title in three years there. But nothing he experienced in NCAA singles matches in front of boutique crowds will have prepared him for what he’s about to face on a Presidents Cup stage.
But if he is to be a help for the U.S. team next year in Ireland, he needs this experience outside of Chicago.
“I think he’s a great young talent,” Snedeker said. “I think he’s proven himself to go out there and do what he did at 3M and stare Scottie Scheffler down on the back nine and not blink. That was very impressive.
“I spent a lot of time researching him. I spent a lot of time talking to people who know him and who coached him and have spent time with him. Every conversation I had, I came away more impressed.
“So I’m super excited to have him on the team. I’m super excited to see what he brings. I’m super excited for him to kind of show the world who he is. I think he brings a lot to our team room. He brings a lot to our pairings. Just super excited to have him on.”
Since Snedeker mentioned pairings, why not put Koivun with Scheffler?
The No. 1 player in the world — who gave Koivun a strong run on the final day of the 3M Open — hasn’t exactly lit it up in these team competitions over the past few years.
Finding a partner for him has proven problematic. He’s 1-6-2 overall in his last two Ryder Cups and went 0-2 with Russell Henley at Bethpage, so trotting out that pairing again would be a mistake. Even at the 2022 Presidents Cup, when Scheffler was paired with his buddy Sam Burns, they went 0-2-1.
Both Burns and Henley are on Snedeker’s team and are a good bet to qualify for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland next year. But Koivun is a more intriguing option to get placed with Scheffler as a mentor-rookie combination.
Snedeker didn’t bite on that speculation, noting that it’s important to find good partners for all of the players. It’s also fair to remember that the U.S. has been horrible in foursomes of late, including two years ago at the Presidents Cup when it was wiped out 5-0 on the second day before going 3-1 on Saturday. (The U.S. went 2-6 at the Ryder Cup in foursomes and can blame that format for falling behind so far it couldn’t catch up in singles.)
Finding a partner for Scheffler is hugely important. The best U.S. player needs to perform the best, and he’s not done that for two straight Ryder Cups and even a Presidents Cup.
Is Jackson Koivun a promising option to pair with Scottie Scheffler? (David Jensen/Getty Images)
Is Koivun the answer? Perhaps Scheffler becomes to Koivun what Seve Ballesteros was to José María Olazábal all those years ago when they melded into an unstoppable force for Europe. It’s worth at least exploring.
To pick Koivun, Snedeker bypassed two players who were on last year’s Ryder Cup
