2022 Presidents Cup: Why the numbers love the U.S. Team this week
By Bill Felber
Overall Ranks
Statistically, the U.S. team is superior in every aspect of this competition, and by margins that justify its status as the prohibitive favorite.
To review, here is the skill-by-skill comparison of the adjusted average standard deviation differences between the two teams:
Off The Tee Approach Around Putting Total
U.S. .496 .702 .389 .248 1.835
International .421 .458 .106 .041 1.026
Only from Off The Tee is the International team – on paper, anyway – competitive.
Looked at on an individual basis. The competition is equally lopsided. Here’s how the 23 players – minus Tom Kim, for whom no Strokes Gained data exists – rank in order of the adjusted standard deviations of their overall games.
1. Justin Thomas U.S. 2.645
2. Scottie Scheffler U.S. 2.632
3. Xander Schauffele U.S. 2.485
4. Sungjae Im Intl. 2.431
5. Tony Finau U.S. 2.296
6. Patrick Cantlay U.S. 2.170
7. Sam Burns U.S. 1.965
8. Max Homa U.S. 1.863
9. Mito Pereira Intl. 1.688
10. Cameron Young U.S. 1.685
11. Corey Conners Intl. 1.677
12. Hideki Matsuyama Intl. 1.606
13. Collin Morikawa U.S. 1.479
14. Jordan Spieth U.S. 1.313
15. Billy Horschel U.S. 1.295
16. Christiaan Bezuidenhout Intl. 0.724
17. Taylor Pendrith Intl. 0.724
18. Adam Scott Intl. 0.635
19. Cam Davis Intl. 0.617
20. Sebastian Munoz Intl 0.551
21. K.H. Lee Intl. 0.334
22. Si Woo Kim Intl 0.297
23. Kevin Kisner U.S. 0.198
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The average U.S. team member scores 1.835, substantially superior to the 1.026 average of the Internationals.
Since the 2022 Presidents Cup won’t be played on paper, it’s important to acknowledge that anything could happen.
The numbers, however, provide an ample illustration of why the U.S. team is considered the prohibitive favorite this week.