Geoff Ogilvy will need no one to tell him of the size of the challenge the International Team face at Medinah later this month as they look to win only their second ever Presidents Cup title.
Ogilvy announced his six picks on Tuesday, with the likes of Corey Conners, Sungjae Im, and Nico Echavarria all included.
There were a couple of potential surprises, with Nick Taylor given the chance to make his debut in the event, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout selected from 18th in the standings.
Of course, depth tends to be where the International Team comes unstuck, particularly with 30 points to play for over the four days of competition.
The 12 highest ranked International players on Data Golf ahead of the Presidents Cup
The formation of LIV Golf definitely hit the Internationals hard, with Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann on course to qualify automatically for Trevor Immelman’s team in 2022 before they defected.
The Presidents Cup is a PGA Tour event, so Ogilvy was never going to be able to pick those on LIV anyway. But it would be interesting to know who the Australian would select if he had no limitations.
With that in mind, we have used the current Data Golf Rankings to put together the best possible International Team before asking Google Gemini to predict what the score would be at Medinah.
Unsurprisingly, a number of players from this year’s team make the fantasy lineup.
Si-woo Kim is the highest ranked International at 12, while Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, and Adam Scott also make the team.
Elsewhere, Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners, Ryan Fox, and Nick Taylor also qualify.
There is, however, no place for Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, and Bezuidenhout.
Cam Smith also fails to make the team in this world. But there is better news for both Joaquin Niemann and Lucas Herbert. Niemann is actually the fifth highest ranked International player.
But the most intriguing name on the list is undoubtedly Kevin Yu. Yu failed to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, and has missed the cut in all but one of his major championship appearances across his career.
Nevertheless, Yu is currently 69th in the Data Golf Rankings, leaving him two places above Bezuidenhout.
Unfortunately, the AI prediction does not look good for the International Team.
How the fantasy International Team would fare against Team USA at the 2026 Presidents Cup
It is believed that Team USA would emerge 17.5-12.5 winners, with Brandt Snedeker’s side increasing their lead after every single day.
Perhaps it is no surprise that Scottie Scheffler has been earmarked as the leading points scorer on the American team. The world number one does not have a great record in team competition, but is backed to win 4.5 points.
Meanwhile, Niemann apparently makes a triumphant return to the event as the Internationals’ best player, delivering four points.
Both Yu and Fox are backed to contribute just half a point each for the Internationals. Meanwhile, Chris Gotterup is predicted to produce the same return for the home team.
While many will expect a similar final score later this month, there will not be a lot of people who expect Gotterup to struggle on the Presidents Cup stage.