Presidents Cup 2022: Dave Tindall's best bets for Quail Hollow

Presidents Cup history

There's a sense without checking the history books closely that the USA routinely hammer the Internationals in the Presidents Cup.

With an overall score of 11 wins for the Americans, one tie and just one International triumph way back in 1998, it's very easy to see this as a one-sided contest and hence very different to the Ryder Cup which has been won by the host in seven of the last eight editions.

But what about the perception of big winning margins? The truth of that is rather different.

The contest was tied in 2003 and the Americans have won the last eight. The winning margins in that time are: 0, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 1, 8, 2.

In other words, apart from the 19-11 rout at Liberty National in 2017, the Internationals have stopped the scoreline getting out of hand.

The course

Quail Hollow is well known for its closing stretch (16-18) called the Green Mile. However, those holes will now be played as 13-15 while the par-4 9th is the new 18th.

It's a 7,571-yard par 71 that underwent a Tom Fazio redesign in 2017. Justin Thomas won his first US PGA title there the same year.

Outright market

Add in home advantage and Davis Love's United States are predictaby massive favourites to beat Trevor Immelman's Internationals.

After all, the last two Ryder Cups held on American soil have produced crushing wins of 17-11 (Hazeltine 2016) and 19-9 (Whistling Straits 2021).

Of course, this year's contest has been shaped by the emergence of LIV.

It's had a big effect on both line-ups. The Internationals must do without Open champion Cam Smith, Mexico's Abraham Ancer, Chile's Joaquin Niemann and surely skipper Immelman would liked to have had Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel available to him.

Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri would have been potential picks too.

For the Americans, LIV defectors Dustin Johnson (five points out of five at Whistling Straits), Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed not under consideration while Will Zalatoris is injured but it still leaves a strong American XII.

United States: Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young.

Internationals: Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Joo Hyung 'Tom' Kim, Corey Conners, Adam Scott, Mito Pereira, Taylor Pendrith, KH Lee, Sebastian Munoz, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Si Woo Kim, Cam Davis.

It would be brave to take on the USA and they're trading at just 1.171/6 to win again. The Internationals are 8.615/2 while the Draw is 2423/1.

But I do think it will be closer than many think.

Immelman strikes me as a meticulous captain, who will relish trying to squeeze every drop out of a side that doesn't have much of a chance on paper.

He, himself, didn't when winning the US Masters at 150/1 and 15 years on Immelman will want to show that same grit and belief remains as strong as ever.

So I'll throw out some correct score bets and hope that a combination of the Internationals being greater than the sum of their parts and a bit of American complacency gets us a reward.

This could be terribly wrong but I'm going for the sweetspot of a USA four-point winning margin. So I'll back 17-13 to the hosts and the two nearest margins either side: by three points (16.5-13-5) and by five (17.5-12.5).

The respective prices are 11/1, 14/1 and 11/1.

Top American points scorer

Top US points scorer seems tough to judge.

DJ used to be the powerhouse in this market and he won the maximum 5pts in the last Ryder Cup and also top scored in the last Presidents Cup on home soil with 4.5.

There were five others with 3.5pts at Liberty National, including Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

At the 2019 event in Royal Melbourne, Thomas was top US scorer with 3.5pts, a tally matched by Sungjae Im and Abraham Ancer of the Internationals.

It's tricky but Justin Thomas at 13/2 would seem a fair shout again, especially given his history with this venue.

Max Homa, who scored that remarkable win over Danny Willett last Sunday, is also a course winner but, a bit surprisingly, Kevin Kisner is the only other American to have posted a top 10 there.

That's a contrast to Whistling Straits where so many Americans had shone previously.

Top International points scorer

One tactic always worth trying in these events is backing a first-timer.

Im and Ancer were debutants in 2019, Thomas Pieters top scored for Europe in a Ryder Cup when making his first appearance and so it goes on.

Therefore, I'm going to take a punt on Joohyung Kim.

Immelman is a huge fan apparently and Kim has some obvious partners if the skipper goes down the Korean/Asian route.

Not that he has to. Kim speaks excellent English and that adds to his versatility.

'Tom' Kim has had a brilliant last few months after finishing 23rd in the US Open and third in the Scottish Open before following a seventh in the Rocket Mortage Classic with a victory in August's Wyndham Championship.

A straight hitter, he'll be a good assett for both fourballs and foursomes and don't fall off your chairs if he plays all five matches.

Adam Scott will probably play four or five and the injury-prone Hideki Matsuyama may be rested at some point.

Sungjae Im clearly loves this format and was only beaten by Rory McIlroy on actual score at the recent Tour Championship.

I'll back him for this market too.

Im is the deserved 9/2 favourite while Kim is 6/1 and I'll play both each-way (1/4, 3 places)

The only other one to mention is Taylor Pendrith as a few have identified him as an excellent course fit.

Again, he may play more than you think and shouldn't be written off as one of the rags in this market.