International players helped by having a PGA Tour card when it comes to making Presidents Cup team

The International team for the Presidents Cup is for players from all over the world except for Europe. It also helps to have a PGA Tour card in America.

One of the tougher phone calls for International captain Geoff Ogilvy was to inform Casey Jarvis, the 23-year-old South African, he would not be on the team that goes to Medinah.

Jarvis won four times in four months, concluding with a South African Open title that earned him a spot in the Masters. Ogilvy also was impressed Jarvis came over to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and they had kept in touch via text messages over the last few months.

Jarvis closed with a 66 at Royal Birkdale to tie for sixth in the British Open.

“He was very determined to make the team,” Ogilvy said after announcing his captain's picks. “But then the European schedule is tough."

Europe had a three-week break after the British Open. Jarvis played twice leading up to Ogilvy's picks and missed the cut both times.

Ryan Fox had won on the European tour and had three runner-up finishes to get inside the top 50 when he was left off the International team in 2022. Thriston Lawrence was worthy of consideration in 2024 playing a European tour schedule, though the Internationals had enough depth that even two Canadians were left off that team in Royal Montreal.

Even so, Ogilvy conceded not having a PGA Tour card can be a detriment.

“If you have two equal golfers, one who plays fulltime in Europe and one fulltime here, you have to lean toward the guy who plays here,” Ogilvy said.

“Not only because you know him, but he's used to being in the locker room with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns. There's a comfort level. Take a kid who plays in Europe. He might be playing the same level of golf, but you don't know how he's going to react on the first tee if you drop him on Scheffler and Burns."

Ogilvy said Fox was disappointed not to make the 2022 team at Quail Hollow, a team that already was gutted by players leaving for LIV Golf.

“Talk to him now and he's like, ‘Yeah, that was probably the right call because I don’t know how ready I would have been,'” Ogilvy said. Since then, Fox has three PGA Tour victories, including the British Open this summer at Birkdale.

“Golf is golf, but playing over here is challenging,” Ogilvy said. “It's a different environment. They've got big auras around them and it takes a while to get used to that.”

Jon Rahm is playing the Irish Open this week amid questions about his future, and not just a busy schedule of as many as five European tour events, depending on the birth of his fourth child.

The big question is his future with LIV Golf, which has lost the financial backing of Saudi Arabia.

"There’s just a lot of things in place. There’s a lot of things that could happen. It’s one of those things with time, time’s going to tell,” Rahm said Tuesday to BBC Northern Ireland.

Most telling was when he was asked if he would like to see a path back to the PGA Tour, similar to what was offered to Brooks Koepka. There's also the route of Patrick Reed, who played a full European tour schedule this year and will earn one of 10 PGA Tour cards.

“I still have a contract with LIV 1.0 that I'm more than willing to fulfill,” Rahm said. “Like I said, time will tell.”

Pressed again on whether he'd like to play the PGA Tour, Rahm smiled and shrugged when he said, “We'll see what happens.”

The Americans have brought 13 players to the Solheim Cup. Lilia Vu is with the team at Bernardus Golf in case she is needed as an alternate.

The main focus is Angel Yin, who endured a troublesome stomach ailment that caused her to lose 35 pounds and kept her from playing for two months. Yin only returned two weeks ago to the FM Championship at the TPC Boston, where she missed the cut.

Vu, who made the clinching point for the Americans at the last Solheim Cup, is with the team just in case. U.S. captain Angela Stanford said she is expecting Yin to play.

“She's played two practice rounds,” Stanford said of Yin.

She said the captain's agreement requires each player to compete in at least two matches, meaning every player will be in one match ahead of Sunday singles.

“So we’re still trying to gauge and we’re watching, but she’s here,” Stanford said. “She’s very happy to be here and she’s playing.”

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp hopes to have the entire Championship Series schedule for 2028 ready to announce during a TV show next February before the start of the Florida swing.

In the meantime, another tournament got added to the elite list when the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town was announced last week. Of the current $20 million signature events, that leaves only the Genesis Invitational and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that have not been announced.

Newcomers include GO by Raymond James in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the new Sompo Championship that would appear headed to the Seattle area in 2028. The tough decisions are determining which six tournaments will be elevated to the Championship Series.

Justin Thomas didn't want a month off ahead of the Presidents Cup and has entered the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville in North Carolina next week. The only other American to have entered so far is Jacob Bridgeman, who will be making his Presidents Cup debut. Bridgeman grew up about an hour away in South Carolina.

The International team already has four players entered in the tournament — Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. None made it to the Tour Championship.

The entry deadline is Friday afternoon. Even so, it's different from a year ago when all the eligible Americans (except new father Xander Schauffele) played in Napa, California, to avoid having too much time off ahead of the matches.

The Irish Open will be finishing later than usual this weekend to minimize a conflict with the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands and try to give each event as much exposure as possible. Saturday's round in Ireland will end at 7:30 p.m. local time, and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. ... Assistant captain Paula Creamer showed up at the first Solheim Cup news conference Tuesday wearing a Cattleman cowboy hat. It was a gift from the players and caddies to honor the Texas heritage of U.S. captain Angela Stanford, who grew up in the Fort Worth suburbs. “They wanted to bring in some Texas into the team, a little yeehaw action,” Creamer said. ... TMRW Sports and the LPGA have announced the inaugural WTGL indoor league will be broadcast on ESPN and ION, which also carries the WNBA and NWSL.

Twelve of the top 15 players in the women's world ranking are ineligible for the Solheim Cup.

"Medinah is his little thing, but this my thing now.” — Luke Poulter, 22-year-old son of Ian Poulter, after Great Britain and Ireland rallied to win the Walker Cup.

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