President's choice

Weir surprises some by selecting Hughes for his International squad

- JASON LOGAN

For his Presidents Cup wild card picks, Mike Weir chose three Canadians and then rounded out his roster with South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Australian Min Woo Lee and South Korean Si Woo Kim.

From the day in November 2022 that Mike Weir was named captain of the Presidents Cup International Team for this month’s matches in Montreal, Canadian golf fans have wondered how many of Weir’s countrymen would be on his roster.

In the end, no Canuck made the squad on points, a fact surely to Weir’s chagrin. But with Corey Conners finishing one spot outside the automatic cut-off mark in the points standings and Taylor Pendrith the only Canadian to advance to the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship, it seemed obvious that those two men would be chosen.

Indeed, they were the first two names out of Weir’s mouth Tuesday afternoon when he announced his six wild card selections. The good pals made their Presidents Cup debuts in 2022, though they were pointless in eight matches combined.

That left Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes — 12th, 13th and 15th in the standings, respectively, as additional possible picks. Would Weir take all three? Could he leave just one at home?

In the end, Weir surprised some by choosing Hughes and passing on both B.C. boys. Taylor — the 2023 RBC Canadian Open champion and this year’s WM Phoenix Open winner — was an especially noteworthy snub, though he’s played poorly for months. It’s possible politics were a factor and in his postpick news conference Weir noted his responsibility as captain to be “fair to the entire international community.” To that end, he rounded out his team with South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Australian Min Woo Lee and South Korean Si Woo Kim.