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Cal Golf: Max Homa, Collin Morikawa Set To Make Their Presidents Cup Debuts

The U.S. squad is heavily favored to win the event at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC.

Collin Morikawa has won two golf majors and Max Homa is coming off his third tour victory in a span of barely 12 months.

But this week the two Cal grads will join forces while representing the U.S. for the first time at the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC.

The U.S. team has dominated this event against its international rivals, posting an 11-1-1 record since its inception in 1994. The matchup appears more lopsided than ever this week because the international roster has taken a hit from LIV tour players barred from the event, including four players ranked among the world's top 33.

Homa is one of the hottest golfers in the tournament, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.

The 31-year-old defended his title at the season-opening Fortinet Championship in Napa on Sunday, knocking in a chip shot from 33-feet on the 18th hole at Silverado to win for the third time since the 2021-22 schedule began.

Homa has climbed to a career-best 16th in the latest official world golf rankings, up six spots from a week ago. He was No. 35 when 2021 ended.

Here’s how the Golf Channel evaluated Homa’s ascension:

He’s coming into his own: He’s an elite player, proficient throughout the bag, growing increasingly confident and comfortable in this position. He entered the week as the betting favorite, and, for perhaps the first time, he viewed it as a privilege and not an expectation or burden. And at the end of the week, well, he walked away with the trophy.

“It’s a little bit like a dream,” Homa said Sunday, “and then oddly enough, a little bit like this is where I’m supposed to be. I work very hard – I work very, very hard. I give pretty much everything I’ve got into being as good as I can at this game.”

Golf Digest rated Homa as the 16th-best player in the 24-man field:

It was only a matter of time that we got to see Homa in a team event. And could there be a better location for his U.S. team debut? Homa picked up his first career win at Quail Hollow in 2019, and has since won . . . on some of the toughest courses and against some of the better fields in golf. . . . He won’t shy from the spotlight, and considering his history at Quail Hollow and his ability to get along with just about anybody, we could see a scenario in which U.S. captain Davis Love III trots him out for all four sessions.

Morikawa, who didn’t play at Napa, resides at No 9 in the world rankings, a drop from No. 2 at the end of 2021.

Still, Morikawa gets great respect on the tour, having played at an elite level in big tournaments and boasting an irons game that is the envy of most players on the tour.

Golf Digest, in its tournament preview, rated Morikawa as the No. 6 player in the Presidents Cup field:

This should be the first of many Presidents Cups for Morikawa, who went 3-0-1 in his Ryder Cup debut last year. His elite iron play allows Captain Love to pair him with just about anybody on the team, and it speaks to just how good Morikawa is that his recent form could be characterized as a “slump” for him. That slump has included three top-five finishes in his last 11 starts, naturally. It also speaks to how ridiculous the American team is that this two-time major champ and former World No. 2 checks in at sixth in our ranking.

Here the five entries Golf Digest rated ahead of Morikawa:

1. Scottie Scheffler (USA); 2. Justin Thomas (USA); 3. Patrick Cantlay (USA); 4. Xander Schauffele (USA); 5. Sungjae Im (International).

And here are the full lineups for each team this week, with their current world rankings in parenthesis:

U.S. team: Scottie Scheffler (1), Patrick Cantlay (4), Xander Schauffele (6), Justin Thomas (7), Collin Morikawa (9), Sam Burns (12), Jordan Spieth (13), Tony Finau (14), Billy Hoschel (15), Max Homa (16), Cameron Young (18), Kevin Kisner (25).

International team: Hideki Matsuyama (17), Sungjae Im (19), Joohyung “Tom” Kim (22), Corey Conners (26), Adam Scott (30), K.H. Lee (41), Mito Pereira (49), Sebastian Munoz (63), Cam Davis (66), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (67), Si Woo Kim (76), Taylor Pendrith (109).

Based on those world rankings, it’s pretty clear the U.S. has a huge advantage.

Homa’s ranking places him 10th among the Americans but it’s better than any international player brings into the event.

Golf Digest isn’t convinced the competition will be a walk-over:

And while it’s abundantly clear how outclassed they are on paper, the underdogs might prove to be a little friskier than prognosticators are predicting. There are 33 combined PGA Tour victories on the International side, a decent amount of experience between Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, and plenty of youth.

The Presidents Cup will contest 30 matches, starting with 18 team matches using the Foursomes and Four-balls formats over the first three days, and 12 singles matches on Sunday.

There are no playoffs — the point is split in the case of a match that is tied. The first team to 15 1/2 points wins.

Cover photos of Max Homa and Collin Morikawa by John David Mercer and Bill Streicher, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo