PRESIDENTS CUP International hopes boosted by US team’s late arrival to Melbourne

Internationals badly need to win the Presidents Cup in Melbourne and we here at Aussie Golfer are going to ride every bit of advantage we can get.

Alex Myers at Golf Digest has reported that almost all of the US Presidents Cup team will be playing in the Tiger Woods hosted Hero World Challenge tournament in The Bahamas the week before the Presidents Cup tees off in Melbourne.

And while the tournament is due to finish on Saturday to give the team more time to travel nearly halfway across the planet, preparation at Royal Melbourne will be limited with an ounce or two of jetlag.

Anyone else hoping for an extended playoff and a Sunday finish?

Perhaps most intriguingly is the absence of world number one Brooks Koepka from Bahamian field.

World No. 1 Brooks Koepka is not among the 16 golfers committed to the tournament in a list announced on Wednesday. Koepka, who was also the leading points earner in the Presidents Cup standings, will take the week off before playing for Woods—and possibly, alongside Woods—at Royal Melbourne the following week (Dec. 12-15).

Could Brooks Koepka be “taking the week off” in Sydney at the Australian Open?

This is pure speculation only but it would’ve been better news for the International team if the world’s best golfer was also arriving in Melbourne with limited preparation and a dose of jetlag.