Presidents Cup 2022: Even in knockout matches, the golf team excels in entertainment thanks to its unique format

The aftermath of the 2022 Presidents Cup won’t produce tearful essays or exaggerations about the future wrought by last year’s Ryder Cup, but an event that ends with the United States’ ninth straight win. Ky is still a great success. If you just look at Wikipedia’s history of the President Cup, it would be easy to assume that the event was a bit of a failure; However, that would completely ignore the unique setup of group events and why they are remarkably entertaining.

At some point in the last 10 years with the Ryder Cups, Solheim Cups and Presidents Cups, it became clear that even most (not all, but most) of the losses at these team tournaments felt feel close until the end. They always seem to have weird moments that are sure to come before the end.

On the Saturday afternoon of this year’s Presidents Cup, shortly after Tom Kim hit the weekend header to end his game day, the International team’s chances of winning the Presidents Cup improved from 3% up 3.6%, according to Data Golf. . And yet, because of what happened at the 2012 Ryder Cup, and because it feels like Kim can’t lose, and because we like to believe in miracles in sports, that feeling is a lot closer.

Fast forward to Sunday. Although Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay took singles points in the routes, Justin Thomas was still on the ropes against Si Woo Kim, and there was a black and gold board on the board as the afternoon progressed. It feels like it has really come close and the International teams have a real chance of taking 8.5 points in singles in their first event of the century.

According to Data Golf, the Americans’ win rate never dropped below 89% and most remained well into the 90s. Even the International team won 8.5 points in 12 games with 12 players. are in the top 25 in the world, it turns out, is also an extremely difficult question.

This is the part where you talk about how events are not broadcast on paper. While that’s true, probabilistic models also provide a reality check of our emotions. Unlike us, they don’t predict based on motivation, feeling, or admitting how many times Si Woo has taken JT’s hand, but based on skill and math. While the invisibility of sport seems to influence the countless games and events we’ve watched over the years, we underestimate the invisible – the most important thing – mainly because they I want to believe.

This is where the beauty of team golf comes in. You can convince yourself in a particular match that is flipping or that certain games are playing out in other ways. If you ignore reality – and I almost always like to ignore reality in events like this – it is quite interesting. That’s because team events are set to become increasingly volatile in terms of point distribution. Nearly half of the points were obtained at an ongoing team event over a small five-hour span on Sunday afternoon, and the rest of the week looks set to add up in that span.

As long as you don’t have a real roadmap, which sometimes happens, hope almost always lingers longer than necessary. Even in five-point wins (considered losses in team competitions like this), you can still count on it. That can be both beautiful and tragic.

“This week, you know, we had a rough Friday,” said International Team Captain Trevor Immelman. “We showed courage to fight back. At some point, I don’t know about you, but at some point this afternoon I think there is still a chance. And when you think we are, went 8-2. On Friday night, this team was no joke, and I was sick and tired of being told it was a joke.

“We love this event, and we love our team, and we can’t wait to rerun this event and have another shot.”

There has been much talk this week about how the format and setup of the President’s Cup needs to change. Limitless possibilities were hung and mentioned as possible “solutions” to an event dominated by the United States. Although I could be talked about in a mixed team event, the Presidents Cup was fun and good because the setup was absolutely perfect. As long as the International team maintains the basic competitiveness that it has shown over the last four Cups, the structure of events like this one mostly takes its toll.

And if you’re really a statistician or a data junkie and can’t get away with the fact that this President’s Cup (like many other games) is never really in doubt even if it feels If so, then there’s good news for you too. It seems the tides have become constant and stimulating in the International team room. Now they, like the United States in the past, just need to plug in some future stars.

Adam Scott said: “It still hurts if you don’t win. “I think the big difference I’ve felt over the last couple of years is what’s going on in our team room, what’s going on between the captain and the players, the caddies, all the participants. I think good things are really starting to happen in that environment.

“Once some of the players sitting here for the first or second time start playing a few more teams and the teams, that relationship that has formed over the years, I think we won’t be disappointed to leave here. A Cup is coming for us.”

Once they find those additional stars, the event will be more exciting (and perhaps competitive) than ever. And even if it doesn’t, it will likely continue to feel that way, which for us sports fans is all that really matters.