I'm Actually Excited to Watch Golf This Month

I want to be upfront about something: I am not a good golfer. I love this game with my whole chest, I want very badly to be better at it, and I have done approximately none of the things — practice, lessons, the mysterious "working on my short game" people talk about — that would actually make that happen. I am, in other words, exactly the kind of golf fan who gets genuinely thrilled about a tournament without being able to explain a single stroke of strategy involved in it.

Which brings me to the Presidents Cup.

The Basics, For Anyone Else in My Boat

It's the biennial team event that isn't the Ryder Cup — the U.S. against a team of International players (everyone except Europe, essentially), and this year it's being played September 24–27 at Medinah Country Club, just outside Chicago. You can catch it on NBC and Golf Channel. I'll be watching from home, remote in hand, exactly the way I watch every golf event I have zero intention of ever qualifying for.

Chicago, for what it's worth, is a city I've spent real time in — deep dish opinions I will defend to the death, a genuine soft spot for the Art Institute, and the kind of skyline that still gets me every time I see it from the water. I won't be making the trip for this one, but I like that I can picture exactly where everyone's standing.

The Storyline I Actually Care About

Team USA has won ten straight Presidents Cups. Ten. The International team's only win in the whole history of the event came back in 1998. So on paper, this isn't exactly a nail-biter. What I'm actually excited about is one specific guy: Jackson Koivun.

He's 21. He turned pro a matter of months ago, left Auburn, and in his third — third! — start as a professional, he beat Scottie Scheffler to win the 3M Open. He wasn't even in the top 25 in the points standings, and the U.S. captain picked him anyway, which is the kind of bet that either looks like genius or gets talked about for years regardless of the outcome. He's the youngest American to make this team since Jordan Spieth back in 2015.

I'll be honest about why he's got my attention: he reminds me of Anthony Kim. Not in a "here's a detailed statistical comparison" way — I told you, I don't know anything — but in that specific, electric, "this guy might just do something nobody expects" way. That kind of swagger doesn't come along often, and it's the exact thing that makes me actually want to sit down and watch instead of just checking scores later.

What Else I'll Be Watching For

Xander Schauffele has never lost a singles match at this event, which feels like the kind of streak that has to end eventually, and I want to see if this is the year. Justin Thomas is back after sitting out in 2024, and by every account he brings a level of energy that's fun to watch even when you don't know what a "four-ball" is (I looked it up; still not confident I could explain it back to you).

Mostly, though, I'm just looking forward to a few days of good golf on TV, an underdog team with basically nothing to lose, and a 21-year-old who might make me feel something I haven't felt watching golf in a while.

Are you watching the Presidents Cup this year? Team USA lock, or are you rooting for the upset? Tell me in the comments.

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