MONTREAL — Mike Weir’s captain’s assistants for the 2024 Presidents Cup are hearty leaders, proven winners, and experienced with what it means to be part of the International Team.
And now, Weir said, the pieces are in place for a special week at Royal Montreal in September.
“The guys are there for one goal now,” Weir said Monday in Montreal. “To win this thing.”
In a downtown hotel ball room with the Presidents Cup trophy to his left, Weir announced his captain’s assistants for September’s event at Royal Montreal would be Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas.
There’s a chance Weir may announce a fifth assistant later this summer.
“The four of them each have their own special history with this event and today’s announcement is a mere formality, as we have been working closely together through the years to ensure the International Team continues its momentum from 2019 and 2022,” Weir said.
The 2003 Masters winner said Els was a big catalyst for the start of the new International team. He implemented the team logo (the shield) in 2019 and began using analytics more to try to put together the best team possible.
“It started there. And Trevor built on that, and the continuity of guys (as assistants) makes my job easier as well,” Weir said. “I think, also — the careers that those guys have had and the young guys who look up to those type players … they’re major champions and have so much experience in match play, and that’s another factor as well.”
Els and Immelman were the captains of the previous two International Presidents Cup teams. Immelman — who is the lead analyst for CBS Sports and is quite close with the current crop of the PGA Tour’s best — has been an assistant once before, along with Villegas, who won on Tour last fall, breaking a nine-year winless drought. Ogilvy has been an assistant three prior times.
“Mike has been a long-time friend, is a true icon of sport in his home country, and it’s an honour to participate captain’s assistant as his captain’s assistant as he leads the International Team into Montreal in 2024,” said Els in a press release.
“This team has built a lot of momentum over the past five years, and I am eager to get to work and ensure our players are prepared to compete in Canada.”
The 15th Presidents Cup goes Sept. 24-29 at Royal Montreal. The American side defeated Immelman’s International Team 17.5-12.5 in 2022 at the Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina.
Weir said he’s excited with how his squad is shaping up. He hosted a dinner with about a dozen of the highest-ranked Internationals at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in March and will host another dinner the week of The CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Dallas in two weeks.
The guys who potentially could be on Weir’s team have shown the captain they’re eager to be on his team. He doesn’t have to do much outreach when he is out on Tour.
“They want to talk to me — it’s high on the priority list to make the team. I think anyone who has been part of the Presidents Cup, they know how special it is,” Weir said. “You play this individual sport and you’re focused on your own game, and for that one week you get to bond with 11 other players, the wives, the caddies, the caddies’ wives, and it’s such a special week and that lasts a lifetime.
“Anyone that’s been part of it wants to be part of it again.”
Weir’s International Team will consist of six automatic qualifiers via the Official World Golf Ranking as of the 2024 BMW Championship and six captain’s picks.
Weir was quick to say it’s not “Team Canada” and he’ll be sure to pick the best players when it comes time later this summer. But he knows how important it would be for the Canadian fans to see plenty of their countrymen to cheer on in Montreal.
Weir played in five Presidents Cups — and he was the only Canadian at each one. He believes, however, there could be three or four Canadians to dress for the Internationals later this year.
“As the captain, it’s exciting that that’s a real possibility that could happen,” Weir said.
Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith were part of the International Team in 2022, while Adam Hadwin played in 2019. Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson are also in the mix. Nick Taylor, on the back of his win at the WM Phoenix Open earlier this season, has seemingly locked up a spot.
Although the American side holds a dominating 12-1-1 record at the Presidents Cup, Weir said unlike years’ past when team’s choices may have been “a bit thinner,” this time around there is a lot more depth.
Weir will head Monday afternoon to Royal Montreal for a springtime scouting visit to see how the golf course wintered and work with the PGA Tour rules officials and set-up staffers to see if there needs to be any changes that could benefit his team.
As the home-team captain, Weir has a say in how the golf course is set up.
With Weir’s leadership squad rounded out, the combination of experience, data-driven decision making and a squad hungry to break a hefty drought could mean a big win come September.
“We’re tired of losing,” Weir said. “We want to win.”