Major champion says Presidents Cup ‘mistake’ cost Mike Weir

Former major champion Rich Beem insists Mike Weir ‘lost’ the Presidents Cup on Saturday.

The Canadian’s international team fell to a tenth consecutive defeat in the biennial match, despite playing on home soil.

A four-point deficit split the two sides heading into Sunday singles, and much of that damage was incurred on a torrid Saturday for the home team.

Weir, 54, was questioned after sending out the same eight players on day three, which Beem reckons was costly.

“I think Mike Weir lost it on Saturday by not mixing up some of his pairings going into the afternoon foursomes,” Beem wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“I think that was a mistake and I think he’ll reflect upon that, but they clearly had a game plan going into it.

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“Putting Adam Scott out there for the fourth straight match on Saturday afternoon, at the age of 44, was the wrong decision.

“I mean he had to have been drained and even Scott said himself that night that he was tired.”

On his 11th start in the match, Scott was looking to earn a first win. Instead, he lost three of his five matches, including a 2&1 singles defeat to Collin Morikawa.

That’s where Beem thinks a rested Scott could’ve made a difference.

“Then you look at where Weir put him out in the singles,” the American said. “He was down in one of the bottom groups.

“I would have thought that a fresh Scott – had he not played on Saturday afternoon – might have been in the top three matches and I think that’s where you needed him.

“The International side has got all kinds of game, but when you have as much depth as the United States side, it’s a massive difference.

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“Anybody can beat anybody on one given day, but if you stretch it out to four different days, that’s a different thing.”

Under the contest’s current format, the seven-point margin of victory was the second largest.

The 18.5-12.5 score was only bettered by the USA’s 19-11 result at Liberty National in 2017.

Meanwhile, Weir said after the match that the Internationals are not far away from turning the tide and ending a drought that extends to 1998.

“I take a lot away from this,” he said. “We’re close. A lot of these matches were so close. It’s disappointing not to get a win.

“We put our team together to win this thing, and when you don’t get a win, it’s disappointing, but a lot of great things to take away.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.